Explore+ Overview

In this guide we’ll introduce you to key Listening concepts of Explore+ and how it fits with the wider Meltwater platform and API.

Meltwater platform

The Meltwater platform ingests and enriches data from a wide variety of sources, including news and social platforms. Data is enriched by a set of enrichments (sentiment, language, key phrases, etc.) and stored in a consistent data schema. Listening data is held a in central store. Using the listening features of the Meltwater API you can export, stream and analyze the data hel in this central index.

Learn more about listening features here.

Explore+

Customers with access to Explore+ have a private data index hosted by Meltwater, which is filled using searches that collect mentions from the central listening platform, but allow customers to add their own business context. For example, an Explore+ customer can add data structuring and classifications to listening data (such as their brands and products).

Explore+ customers also benefit from additional enrichments upon data in their index, depending on their exact package.

Given the additional data structuring and additional enrichments, Explore+ can perform more in-depth, custom analysis.

Explore+ API

The Explore+ API features allow you to access this same in-depth analysis, and structured, enriched content.

For example you can pull out content, filtered by your custom data structuring. Or perform analysis filtered by you own custom fields.

Note that broadly speaking you can access the same data through the API as a user sees in the application. However, due to the agreements we have with data providers there are some limitations on what data can be provided through the API.

For example, in the application we can provide the text of X posts, whereas due to X’s terms of service in the API we can only provide the ID of a post. An API customer needs to call the X API to rehydrate the post in order to get the post text.

Workspaces

Explore+ Workspaces allow customers to organize their assets to match their organization. Assets such as searches and custom fields exist either at the account level, or within a Workspace within an account.

When you access assets using the Explore+ API, you will need to provide the workspace_id parameter your API calls to ensure you are accessing assets at the account level or in a Workspace.

To access assets at the account level set the workspace_id to none. To access assets in a Workspace, set the workspace_id to the Workspace ID.

Optimized Searches

Optimized Searches in Explore+ are similar to Explore saved searches, in that they can be created with keywords and boolean, but it is these searches that also define what data is collected into your private Explore+ index.

An Optimized Search can be created in the Meltwater application using the Explore+ product, or by using the API.

Typically this will be a boolean query. For example, if you wanted to find news articles or social posts that mention Apple watches you may write:

(apple AND (iphone OR iwatch)) NOT ("apple sauce" OR "apple juice" OR "apple orchard*")

You may already have searches saved in the Explore+ application that you’d like to use with the API. If you’d like to create searches using the API take a look at the Managing Saved Searches guide.

Custom Fields

Custom Fields allow you to define your own content categorizations with predefined values.

There are 2 types of Custom fields:

  • Tag fields - allow you to tag posts based on one or more boolean rules.
  • Multivalued fields - A multivalued field allows you to precisely tag data based on a list of predefined values. Each value is assigned based on one or more boolean rules.

You may already have fields configured in the Explore+ application that you’d like to use with the API. If you’d like to create or manage fields using the API take a look at the Managing Custom Fields guide.

Searching mentions

Using the API you can search and fetch mentions stored in your Explore+ index. You could fetch the same mentions using the API listening features, but these wouldn’t be returned with any custom fields you have configured in your Explore+ account.

You search mentions by providing a time range, one or more Optimizied Searches, and optionally additional filters. The API will return any matching mentions, sorted by sort parameter you provide.

The fields available for documents depend on the source of the document and the template you choose for your export. See the Content Output Templates page for full details.

To learn how to search mentions using the API see the Searching Mentions guide.

Analyzing mentions

Using the API you can run analysis on mentions in your Explore+ index. You can recreate the same widgets you see in Explore+ dashboards using the API. The API will analyze any matching mentions base on the type of analysis you have requested.

For example, you could request a breakdown of the number of mentions over time.

You run an analysis by providing a time range, one or more Optimizied Searches, and optionally additional filters. You then specify a type of analysis (such as a date histogram), and additional dimensions or metrics as appropriate for the analysis type.

To understand what analytics are available see the Analytics Options page.

To learn how to request analytics using the API see the Analyzing Mentions guide.

Tagging mentions

You can apply your own tags to documents to help structure & classify data for your organization.

See our Tagging Mentions guide to learn more.

Documents tagged as described by the guide will be available in both your Explore and Explore+ environments.