How can I check if custom dimensions data is working?

Question

I've set my custom dimension in Google Analytics and now I'd like to know if any data is coming to GA. Do I have to wait for data to show in non-real-time reports (how long does that take?), or is there another way that I can see it immediately?

This is how I send my data:

ga('set', 'dimension1', value); ga('send', 'pageview'); 

Answer 1

If you install the Chrome Google Analytics Debugger extension, and enable it, you will be able to see all the details of track event logged to the console in a nicely readable fashion.

Answer 2

An alternative to installing the chrome extension is to use this snippet, it's available in the official documentation.

window.ga_debug = {trace: true}; (function (i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {   // TODO: copy the implementation here }(window, document, 'script', '//www.google-analytics.com/analytics_debug.js', 'ga'); 

This basically writes the output of your ga operations (send, set, etc) to the console. So you'll be able to see if your hit was actually sent or ignored.