Our recent redesign combines raw and modelled data sources into a single object called a data feed.
If you see Data Feeds in the left navigation sidebar, you’ll learn how about data refresh in this article. If not, go here.
The data feed refresh rate is the interval at which your data is updated. You can select an alternate refresh rate for any number of data feeds in your account as long as your selection fits into your current plan limit. To attain more frequent refresh rates, you can upgrade to a different plan.
This article includes:
- The automated refresh queue
- Manually queuing a data feed for refresh
- Changing the refresh rate for data feeds
- Changing the refresh rate for instant and custom metrics
- Data refresh failures
The automated refresh queue
Data feeds are automatically added to the refresh queue based on their specified refresh frequency rate. When refreshed, the data in the data feed and in its associated metrics is automatically updated.
Note: Data feeds that are connected to data from uploaded files cannot be set to automatically refresh. If the data in the file changes and you want the data feed to include the new data, you must manually re-upload the file.
The time it takes for a data feed to refresh depends on:
- The number of data feeds already in the queue.
- The number of data feeds in your account being refreshed simultaneously.
- The time it takes for the source system to respond to the query defined in the data feed.
- Whether or not the refresh needs to be deferred in order to avoid exceeding the API limits for the service.
Note: Data feeds are refreshed on a first-in-first-out order of priority. This ensures that resources are made available to active users. The only exception is deferred refreshes. When a refresh is deferred past the scheduled refresh time frame, the deferred refresh request is automatically added to the front of the queue.
Manually queuing a data feed for refresh
You can also manually queue data feeds to be refreshed.
To manually queue a data feed to be refreshed:
- In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds to open your list of data feeds.
- Select the data feed you want to add to the refresh queue.
- Click the
Edit button in the upper-right corner of the open data feed.
- Under Last refreshed, click the link, as shown below.
- Click Save data feed.
The data feed is added to the refresh queue.
Note: If the data feed is connected to data in an uploaded file, then manual (and auto) queuing for refresh is not applicable. To update the data feed, click in the field under Data service and manually re-upload the most recent file version. (See below.)
Changing the refresh rate for data feeds
To change the refresh rate for a data feed:
- In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds to open your list of data feeds.
- Select the data feed whose refresh rate you want to change.
- Click the
Edit button in the upper-right corner of the open data feed.
- Under Queue for refresh, click the drop-down and select a different refresh frequency rate from the list of available options. (See below.)
Note: The choices available to you depend on your pricing plan. If you want to access more frequent refresh rates, click Upgrade to move to a different plan.
Changing the refresh rate for instant and custom metrics
You update the refresh rate for instant and custom metrics from within their associated data feed.
Note: When you add instant metrics, we create your data feeds for you. To ensure the integrity and accuracy of your instant metrics, note that the underlying data in these data feeds is managed by Klipfolio PowerMetrics and cannot be edited. However, you can update their refresh rate frequency.
To change the refresh rate for an instant or custom metric:
- Click Metrics in the left navigation sidebar.
- In your list of metrics, select an instant or custom metric. The metric homepage opens in view mode.
- Click the Edit button at the top of the page.
- Beside Data feed, click the 3-dot menu and then click Open data feed in new tab.
The data feed opens in view mode.
- Click the Edit button at the top of the data feed page.
- Under Queue for refresh, click the drop-down beside your current refresh frequency rate and select a different one from the list of available options.
Note: The choices available to you depend on your pricing plan. If you want to access more frequent refresh rates, click Upgrade to move to a different plan. Note that this change will also impact related instant metrics that use the same service.
- Click Save data feed.
Data refresh failures
There are various reasons why data feeds can fail to refresh and actions you can take to get them up and running again.
This section includes:
- Finding data feeds that have refresh errors
- About data refresh intervals
- Data refresh errors
- Troubleshooting refresh failures
- Viewing data feed refresh information for the account
Finding data feeds that have refresh errors
To see which of your data feeds have refresh errors:
- In the left navigation sidebar, click Data Feeds to open your list of data feeds.
- In the Status filter, click the drop-down and select In error. (See below.)
The list now displays all of the data feeds that are currently experiencing refresh issues.
About data refresh intervals
Klipfolio attempts multiple times to connect to your data before disabling refresh. Refresh intervals are designed to make sure the maximum amount of time is given to retrieving new data and to enable errors to be cleared.
We attempt to refresh your data using the following intervals:
- After one refresh failure, Klipfolio attempts to refresh again every 5 minutes until successful.
- After three refresh failures, Klipfolio attempts to refresh again every 30 minutes until successful.
- After five refresh failures, Klipfolio attempts to refresh again every 6 hours until successful.
- After 20 refresh failures, the data feed is disabled.
Data refresh errors
If you see one of the following refresh errors, it means the data feed is having a problem refreshing:
- Disabled due to connection not found: Indicates a data feed has been deleted or is no longer shared with you.
- Warning (one or more refresh failures): Indicates we’ve tried unsuccessfully to refresh the data feed between 1 and 19 times. See the troubleshooting section for more information.
- Disabled due to multiple refresh failures: Indicates we’ve tried unsuccessfully to refresh the data feed 20 times. See the troubleshooting section for more information.
Troubleshooting refresh failures
Service API limits can impact queue refresh times:
- Some APIs, like Google Analytics, impose a limit on the number of requests per profile, number of concurrent requests per profile, and the number of tokens per user account. For more information on the Google Analytics API, see Limits and Quotas on API Requests. Issues are most commonly seen when you have a large number of queries set to refresh in close succession. Klipfolio monitors the number of API calls for each OAuth token and profile. Klipfolio may defer a new refresh request from executing for a short period of time in order to prevent an account from violating an enforced limit. To help avoid this issue, when setting data feed refresh rates, make sure the rate complies with limitations set by the service you’re connecting to.
Here are some possible causes of data refresh failure:
- OAuth tokens for some services expire and must be reauthorized on a regular basis. For example, a Facebook OAuth token must be reauthorized every two months. Go here for more information.
- Some APIs impose a limit on the size of file you can upload.
- Some data feeds, such as SQL data feeds inside your firewall, require you to add the Klipfolio dashboard IP addresses to your allow list. For more information, see Allow list IP addresses.
- API limits can affect the refresh interval for services. For example, due to the API limits set by Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, the shortest refresh interval that can be selected for these services in Klipfolio is every 15 minutes.
- A query might be incorrect. For example, a Google Analytics query returns a "Connection Service" error if there is a line break at the end of a query.
- A file name might be incorrect. For example, if a file in Dropbox has been replaced with a file using a different file name.
- To ensure all of our customers experience optimum performance, we apply fair use limits. As such, there’s a maximum number of rows of data that can be ingested when creating and refreshing metrics. Most customers don’t approach these limits but, if you do, the ability to refresh your data may be impacted.
Viewing data feed refresh information for the account
To see how often data feeds are being refreshed for the account, administrators can click on the Refresh History link on the Activity page. This snapshot of data feed activity helps you better understand the overall usage of data feeds for an account. For example, you might want to check that data feeds are not exceeding the Google Analytics limits and quotas. For more information, see Limits and Quotas on API Requests.
The Refresh History link enables administrators to view the:
- Total number of refreshes in an account for the current day.
- Total number of refreshes in an account for the past 30 day period, sorted by date.
- The top ten data feeds to refresh in an account for a given day, including the current day.
To access the Refresh History page:
- Click the
button in the left navigation sidebar and select Account. Then, on the left, select Activity > Refresh History.
Click the link under Total Refreshes to see a list of data feeds that refreshed during the related time period. From here you can click the link for a specific data feed (listed under Data Feed) to access its details page, where you can optionally modify its refresh interval.