Segment based on a sub time period of the time defined in panel

[sarvesh_pathak]

Hi,

I have a 37 day time range set in panel, for one metric, I need UVs who did  less than 3 visits in last 7 days of the 37 day time range.
Just doing Visits < 3 is considering the whole 37 day range : 

Doing Visits < 3 and 7-day time range is also giving the wrong numbers ( validated with another panel where only the 7 day range is set in panel)

Could anyone help with the right logic to be applied here? Much Appreciated

[PratheepArunRaj]

Dear @sarvesh_pathak,

The segment on Visits < 3 is fine but don't include the second condition.

While you take the visitors' number in the freeform panel, apply the Time Period 'Last 7 days' (Purple).

Thank You, Pratheep Arun Raj B (Arun) | NextRow Digital | Terryn Winter Analytics

[Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted solution]

This is incorrect.. sorry, but it is... The segment logic is calculated first! It will return ALL visitors who have ever had less than 3 visits across their lifetime if you don't include a date constraint in the segment. The segments DO not take the time frame of your workspace when they are processed.

The date in the workspace, then shows users who were returned in the "all time" state, who visited the site within the report period. (this is by design... if I want to create a segment of users who have ever made a purchase that are still active on the site, I wouldn't be able to do so if the segment only looks at this month based on the Panel date... and IF that were how it works, there would be no need to include date ranges in the segment builder)

The Segment MUST contain a date constraint to ensure that the Visitors who meet the criteria do so within a set time.

---------

@sarvesh_pathak when you say "validated with another panel where only the 7 day range is set in panel" - are you using the exact same time range on your Workspace? Or are you expecting the segment to take the place of setting a matching time for the Reporting Period?

You need both the workspace and the segment to use the SAME date constraints.

If you use the Segment alone, and your report is set to "this month", I can see that your date range is "Jan 8 - 14", if you use this segment... this will result in getting the list of users who had less than 3 visits in your date range, but will also show all the visits this month outside of that data range (before and after).

Think of your logic as boxes....

The first box to process is your Segment. Using household items as an example, you are filling a box with "what pots and pans did you cook with the week of X"

Next, if your Workspace is looking at this month... you will be counting the number of times this month, that each pot and pan was used (limited to items that are in the box), but still the uses of those items aren't limited to the specified week that the box constitutes.

So to get the number of times each pot/pan was used in the specified date range, both the segment and the workspace panel need to match.

-----

Segment = these conditions need to be met, or needed to be “true”
Date-based segment = these things needed to be true during this window

Workspace date range = these things happened in this window

Mixing date-base segment with workspace date range = these users met this criteria in a certain window, here is everything those users did in the reporting period

If you want to see what the users did in a the window of your segment window, those two ranges need to match.

[PratheepArunRaj]

@Jennifer_Dungan Yes, you are right. I have overlooked it a bit thinking that the ask is to narrow down the time period to 7 days irrespective of the date selection at the panel.

[Jennifer_Dungan]

No worries, this is a really common mistake, due to the complexity of how everything works.

It's really hard to even come up with an analogy to best describe it...

I just wanted to make sure that no one started going down the wrong path on this... cause this can result in really wrong data.

[sarvesh_pathak]

Hi @Jennifer_Dungan ,
Thanks for the detailed explanation! 

I created  two segments for UV with < 11 visits, in one (Original) I put only the < 11 visits filter. In the 2nd segment (starts with test_ ), I put both < 11 visits AND the 37 day range which I am using in the workspace. here are def snips : 

Original (incorrect) segment : 

New (Corrected) segment: (part snip, has all required dates in filter under OR condition)

The numbers I am getting from both segments is exactly same: 

[Jennifer_Dungan]

Your second segment isn't correct... you have an isolated "visitor" has less than 11 visits... then check if they have a hit in your date range (then some other criteria that is cut off - possibly additional weeks?).

You need to have the visit criteria and the date constraint in the same context.

You need to create a custom Date range which encompasses the entire range you are looking for (if it need to be rolling "37 day range", then make it a rolling definition - if fixed, then make it fixed.)

Your segment should be:

VISITOR

   Visits is less than 11

   AND

   Date Range "37 Day Range"

Notice the date range is NOT being added as a second "hit" clause, it's all part of the visit with an AND operator.

IF you need to use "OR" with multiple date ranges, it must be added again as a VISITOR definition:

VISITOR

   Visits is less than 11

   AND

   VISITOR

       Date Range 1

       OR

       Date Range 2

        ....

The first option is preferable, as it's simpler to ensure that everything stays in the correct scope, but the second should work.. IF you aren't mixing the scope.