HTMLRadar · Use case
How do I send a client report and know if they read it?
Updated September 2026
Send the report as a web page behind a private link for each client, not as an attachment. HTMLRadar hosts the file, e-mails you the first time a client opens it — at the e-mail gate, or after five seconds on an ungated link — and shows which sections they read. Free for two tracked links, then $15 a month.
You send the monthly report on the first. By the tenth nobody has replied, and on the call someone asks a question the report answered on page two. An attachment gives you nothing to go on, so the honest answer to “did they read it?” is that you have never once known.
One link per client, reused next month
Upload the report once, then create a separate link for each client. Every link can ask for an e-mail before it opens, carry a password, or expire on a date you set. When the engagement ends, revoke the link and the report goes dark — it stops being served, not merely hidden. Next month you replace the file rather than send a new link, so each client keeps one address all year and you keep one running record of their reading.
An e-mail the first time a client stays
On an ungated link, nothing is recorded until the visit has lasted five seconds, which drops quick bounces and most link previews. On a gated link the session starts when the client submits their e-mail. Either way you get one e-mail, on the first open, carrying the report title and whatever the gate knows about the reader, stamped in your own timezone. Opens it recognises as repeats stay silent; you read those off the dashboard.
[email protected] opened Northbank · August report
First open · Sep 04, 09:14 IST · Direct link
Which parts of the report they actually read
A section only accumulates time once it has been at least half on screen for a continuous second, so a scroll-past shows as glanced with nothing against it. What is left tells you which half of the report is doing the work: nearly three minutes on what changed, nine seconds on the method notes. That is what to lead with next month, and what to stop writing.
- What changed2m 41s
- Spend & results2m 18s
- Next month58s
- Method notes9s
- Appendix—
What is recorded, and what is not
Recorded: the e-mail address a client types at the gate if you asked for one, a random identifier stored in their browser, session start and active time, how far they scrolled, which sections they dwelled on, and coarse metadata — country and city derived from the address, browser and device, referrer.
Not recorded: the raw IP address, keystrokes, mouse positions, session replay, or anything at all from outside the document you uploaded. Links on the free tier carry a small “Powered by HTMLRadar” credit; paid links carry none. The full detail is on the privacy page, and you can open our public demo report to see exactly what a recipient sees before you send one of your own.
Common questions
- My report is a PDF, not a web page. Does this work?
- Not yet — HTMLRadar takes HTML uploads, normally a .html or .htm file, and will not accept a PDF. If the tool that builds your report can export HTML, use that version, and check it on a phone before you send it: exported HTML is not always responsive.
- Will the client know the report is being tracked?
- Free links show a small "Powered by HTMLRadar" credit; paid links show nothing, so on a paid link there is no visible sign on the document itself. A gated link tells the reader at the gate that reading activity is shared with you. What is measured is reading only, and a reader can opt out by calling window.HTMLRadar.optOut().
- What happens when I correct the report after sending it?
- Replace the file on the document page. Every link you already sent keeps working and serves the corrected version the next time it is opened, so you never have to send a second e-mail apologising for the first one. Version history records the filename, size and time of every version you upload.
First 2 tracked links free. No credit card. AGPLv3 source on GitHub.