# Data Scopes - Sharing Information

## Sharing: Global and Local Elements <a href="#jentisaccountsandcontainers-sharing-globalandlocalelements" id="jentisaccountsandcontainers-sharing-globalandlocalelements"></a>

To efficiently handle multiple integrations, elements in JENTIS have references to containers.

The following elements are either local definitions or global. If a local element selects ALL containers, it becomes the same as a global element.

There are two types of Shared elements:

* Local: you can select which container those elements are implemented in
* Global: always the same for all containers, available in all containers

<table><thead><tr><th width="604.34375">Element</th><th>Scope</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Tools</strong><br>Each tool configuration instance (Google Analytics, Facebook, etc.) is always connected to a container.</td><td>Local</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Tags</strong><br>Each tag is always part of a tool and shares its setting, making it always connected to containers selected in the appropriate tool.</td><td>Local</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Codes</strong><br>All frontend code snippet elements are defined per container.</td><td>Local</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Triggers</strong></td><td>Global</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Variables</strong><br>(clientside, serverside, static and enrichment variables)</td><td>Global</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Transformation Functions</strong></td><td>Global</td></tr><tr><td><strong>States</strong></td><td>Global</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="info" %}
**Remember**: In your JENTIS account, you can have either a tool on multiple containers or a container with multiple different tool instances. Defining how various tools are connected to containers is up to you.\
\
If you want to manage a tool only once and share the configuration on multiple websites (domains), you can select it to be available in multiple containers.\
\
If a tool has a specific tag or configuration, then you can add a tool and assign it only to the required container.

A container can hold multiple configured tools, including the same tool (e.g., GA4) with two different instances.
{% endhint %}

A tool instance can be shared on multiple containers. So, the same configuration applies to multiple sites (with the same tags, triggers, and variables):

<figure><img src="https://docs.jentis.com/__attachments/842727466/JENTIS_Docs_tool_containers-20231121-082736.jpg?inst-v=aa3ba9ac-d790-475e-9fdc-12ee7a854875" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

**In conclusion,** you can use a tool on multiple containers with the same configuration. It scales from bottom to top, hierarchy speaking. At the same time, you can have one container and run multiple tool instances on the same container, scaling from the top to the bottom. Both directions are possible.

So, it is up to you to see if a common tool definition applies to multiple containers, if you want to have a single container with multiple tools or even multiple containers with different tool definitions on the same website.

The following parts will examine more complex topics related to setting up containers and tools.

a) **Shared elements**: reusing code, variables, triggers, etc., in multiple configurations.

b) **Sharing data**: accessing the same data with different tool instances.

***

When deciding on the appropriate account and container structure for your project, you must consider the scope of data. By design, a tool and container in JENTIS will not automatically share data with any other container or tool instance.

This basically means that when you have two tools, **Web Analytics A** and **Web Analytics B,** and two containers, **Website X** and **Website Y**, the data between those will **not** be shared. A visitor with a `client-id` in **Web Analytics A** will be a different user and visitor, with its own unique `client-id`, in **Web Analytics B**.

The same is true for Containers. If a user navigates both websites, `website-X.com` and `website-Y.com`, they are two different identities in JENTIS, meaning there is no common identifier. Again, both web analytics tools will count two unique visitors.

Now, there is a solution for this:

### **Cross-Domain Tracking**

With Cross-Domain tracking, the same user in two containers will be identified as the same user in JENTIS by sharing the `user-id` on both websites. If you have configured your web analytics tool as a single tool configuration that is applied on both containers for **Website X** and **Website Y**, the data will be merged. As of now, the client ID is consistently the same, even if the user navigates back and forth between both websites.

See more information on [Cross Domain Tracking](https://docs.jentis.com/use-cases-and-tutorials/sharing-information-cross-domain-tracking)

### Subdomains and Multi-Container on a single top-level domain <a href="#jentisaccountsandcontainers-subdomainsandmulti-containeronasingletop-leveldomain" id="jentisaccountsandcontainers-subdomainsandmulti-containeronasingletop-leveldomain"></a>

Generally, we do not advise having multiple containers on a single top-level domain (e.g., ".my-website.com" is the top-level part of your domain, excluding any subdomain or www), as data between those containers will not be shared by default.

### Tool Instance Data Sharing Limitations <a href="#jentisaccountsandcontainers-toolinstancedatasharinglimitations" id="jentisaccountsandcontainers-toolinstancedatasharinglimitations"></a>

The general idea of a tool instance is that it is a single configuration for a generic tool in your account. The generic tool is the "parent" (e.g., "Google Analytics 4"), and a tool instance is your configuration of this tool (e.g., "Google Analytics 4 - EN Shop"), the "child.”

As we know, you can have multiple interpretations of the same generic tool (e.g., "Google Analytics 4 - EN Shop" and "Google Analytics 4—All Shops"). Currently, the data between both tools is not shared, so for example, GA4 has a `client-id` assigned for each user. This `client-id` will be different for "Google Analytics 4 - EN Shop" and "Google Analytics 4—All Shops". Even if JENTIS recognizes the same user, the scope of the data is per tool configuration instance.

Today, this limitation can not be worked around. If you must share data explicitly on the tool, you can do so by using this one tool for all applications, if possible (i.e. by selecting multiple containers with this tool so it operates on multiple websites).