Adobe Analytics

Satchamo · 5/12/23

Ok So I just spent an hour trying to create monthly copies of our projects to save in a folder. I know i can adjust filters and export into PDF's and have them but we have insights sections for adding text and I want to be able to preserve old copies for future use.

So I was hitting copy/save as on an existing project and renaming them to the proper month. From there I was adjusting my filters for each project to be monthly specific on my free form tables/data sources. Well an hour into this, I realized that ANY time i changed a filter or date range on a free form table for my dashboard that that filter then applied across ALL copies/saved as versions of this project. I'm ready to pull my hair out over this. Is this really how this product is supposed to function? Or am I hitting an issue?

I need to be able to create copies that are separate from the original that doesnt have the filters linked to the original - IE i make a change to january, it doesnt apply to the February.

What am am I missing here?

Jennifer_Dungan · 5/12/23

Each of the segments and calculated metrics (regardless of whether or not they are added as permanent components that appear in your component lists) have a unique identifier (which you can see in the URL when you open them for editing). Let's use "123" as a simple example.

When you copy a Project, the new copy still links to the existing components.. so if you change them, both reports are linked to segment "123" and any changes that you make will apply to both reports.

At this time, there is no way to copy an "Ad Hoc" segment / calculated metric... in order to get access to the "Save As" function, the component must be a "public" item...

it would be nice if Adobe added an option when "Saving a Report As" to allow the user to choose which items to make copies off (obviously if you have some standard segments like "logged in users", or "mobile app traffic" you wouldn't want a million variations of these.. (first off, that would just be a waste of storing the same thing multiple times, but then they wouldn't get the updates if the system admin tweaks the main record which would cause problems with many of your reports)

But in many cases, when a copy of a Report happens, it's often used by people to just do extra breakdowns and investigative work without impacting the report that everyone else is using... so the concept of using the same segment makes sense.....

Right now, when you make a copy of a report, the only option is to make new segments and calculated metrics....

That said, in your example, since your edits were just around making variations for previous months... have you considered just changing up your report slightly and using the new "Make date range components relative to panel calendar" feature?

If you build this out, all you have to do to see the comparison between Dec and Jan, or between Nov and Dec, etc would be to choose "Dec" in the calendar for the panel... and let the columns load "this month" and "previous month" based on "Dec"?

View solution in original post

yuhuisg · 5/12/23

When you say you were changing the filters and date ranges, were you referring to those (blue) segments and (purple) date ranges? If so, then those segments and date ranges are defined at your user level, not at the project/dashboard level. (Well, segments can be defined at the project/dashboard level too, but that's not commonly done.)

Since these segments and date ranges are defined at the user level, then they are shared resources within all of the projects/dashboards that use them. So yes, when you update them in a specific project/dashboard, then AA applies them to all other projects/dashboards where they are used (including projects/dashboards that other users have created but have included your segments/date ranges).

The solution is to not only have copies of your project/dashboard, but to also copy the corresponding (blue) segments and (purple) date ranges ... and also (green) metrics if you have created your own calculated metrics.

Satchamo · 5/12/23

The filters I am changing are just the free form data column filters. I need to use those so I can use the % change column they give you when using the compare time periods within the free form tables.

So you're saying I'd have to copy all my segments and metrics separately from the project itself? IE i'd have to have a monthly copy of each segment?

As far as copying the purple filters - I don't think this is possible is it? These are just applied to the table themselves and I didn't think were stored out?

Thank you for your help!

yuhuisg · 5/12/23

@Satchamo wrote:
The filters I am changing are just the free form data column filters. I need to use those so I can use the % change column they give you when using the compare time periods within the free form tables.

If you're changing the freeform table filters, then those shouldn't have been applied to other projects. If that's happening to you, then that sounds like a major bug that needs to be raised with Customer Care promptly.

@Satchamo wrote:
So you're saying I'd have to copy all my segments and metrics separately from the project itself? IE i'd have to have a monthly copy of each segment?

It's quite unusual for (blue) segments to be defined differently month-on-month, unless you have a date condition in your segment. If you do have a date condition, then I would suggest removing that date condition into its own (purple) date range, and combine that date range with your segment in your report.

@Satchamo wrote:
As far as copying the purple filters - I don't think this is possible is it? These are just applied to the table themselves and I didn't think were stored out?

To see if you're really using your own user-level (purple) date ranges, in the very top menu in AA's interface, go to Components > Date Ranges, then see if your date ranges are there. If you see them there, then you are, indeed, using your own user-level date ranges in your projects/dashboards.

Jennifer_Dungan · 5/12/23