I don't understand how to properly use distinct_id. I am trying to create a Mixpanel funnel using Rails. Currently I am doing this w/o using distinct_id and thus mixpanel trends are pretty accurate but funnel which depend upon unique user count doesn't appear to be working. How should I use distinct_id property to solve this problem?
I'm using BOTH the Javascript library and the Ruby library.
The funnels steps are:
1.) User invited 2.) Invited user receives invitation email and clicks invitation link 3.) Page loaded 4.) Open signup module 5.) Creates account
It would probably be easiest to send data only from Ruby (by the way, which Ruby library are you using?) since the link and account creation must be sent server-side.
You will have to choose a distinct_id that will identify a user through this entire process. The easiest way is to just use the invitee's e-mail address. This has the additional benefit of being able to track other events and "people" data with that e-mail and associate it with the right user.
The only tricky part is step 2. You will need to generate a link that looks like
http://api.mixpanel.com/track/?data=...&ip=1&redirect=http://www.your-site.com/invitation
to put inside the email as the invitation link.
See the docs for more info about the redirect parameter.