Custom Parameters (Pro)

The six standard UTM keys don’t cover everything. Ad platforms append their own click IDs, affiliate programs use their own referral keys, and most teams end up with at least one parameter of their own. UTM Manager Pro lets you capture any of them.

This is a Pro feature. Developers can register keys in code with the free utmm_custom_param_keys filter instead — see Developer Hooks.

Adding a parameter

1. Go to UTM Manager → Settings → Custom Parameters.
2. Click + Add Parameter.
3. Fill in the two fields:
   • Parameter Key — the exact query-string key as it appears in your URLs, e.g. gclid. Use lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores.
   • Label — the human-readable name shown in reports and export columns, e.g. Google Click ID.
4. Click Save Changes.

Capture starts immediately on the next page view — there’s nothing to add to your theme and no database change to run.

Use Remove on a row to stop capturing that key. Removing it doesn’t delete values already recorded.

Parameters worth adding

Key	Where it comes from
gclid	Google Ads auto-tagging
fbclid	Facebook / Instagram ads
msclkid	Microsoft (Bing) Ads
ttclid	TikTok Ads
ref	Generic referral links
partner_id, affiliate	Your own partner or affiliate program

Click IDs like gclid and fbclid are appended by the ad platform automatically, so you can capture them without changing your ad URLs at all — they’re already on the links your visitors click.

How custom values are handled

Custom parameters behave exactly like the standard six:

• They’re read from the URL by the same tracking beacon, so capture stays cache-proof.
• Both first-touch and last-touch sets are kept per lead.
• A visit that carries none of them never erases previously captured values.
• Values are sanitized server-side before storage.

Storage-wise, they go into a JSON column that already exists in the free plugin’s tables — which is why adding or removing parameters never requires a schema change or a migration.

Where your custom values show up

• Reports — each configured parameter gets its own breakdown panel on UTM Manager → Reports, ranking values by lead count. See Reports & Attribution.
• CSV export — each parameter becomes a tickable column at UTM Manager → Tools, labelled with the name you gave it. See CSV Export.
• Contact Form 7 emails — a [utmm_gclid] style mail tag resolves to the visitor’s captured value. See Integrations.
• WooCommerce orders — captured custom values are written to the order’s meta at checkout.
• Webhooks and the REST API — every lead payload includes a custom_params object.

Tips

• Keep the key exact. gclid and gcl_id are different parameters; the key must match your URLs character for character.
• One key, one meaning. Reusing ref for both affiliates and internal links makes the breakdown unreadable.
• Label for humans. Reports and CSV headers use the label, so Google Click ID beats gclid when you share the export with someone else.
• Don’t duplicate the standard six. Adding utm_source as a custom parameter isn’t needed — it’s already captured and toggled under Settings.