When you are adding a user defined period and setting the period as part of defining a measure (in Custom mode or advanced search), you have the option to use offset dates. Administrators also have the option to offset dates when setting a defined period across a database.
Depending what you are doing, you will be presented with a slightly different window but the concept of the Offset option is the same. Rather than selecting a fixed date, such as Start: January 2016, you to define a ‘dynamic’ date range, such as year to date or last month based on today's date, so that the data continues to update.
The offset dates option is available for all period types (time units) other than Day. See below for information about setting day-based date ranges.
Select the Offset checkbox to activate the offset date setting.
Enter the offset date as a number. The timeframe displays in words next to the offset box. For example, if you select Month as your time unit, an offset of 0 means the current month, an offset of -2 would be two months ago (as in the image below), and so on. You can set both the start and end dates as offsets, or just one.
Common offset settings for months and years
The settings in the following table are ‘set-and-forget’. They are designed to work into the future, without needing to adjust them every month or every year.
Example | Time unit | Current | Previous | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Start | End | ||
Calendar Year to Date | Month | Not Offset. Choose January and 'most recent' | Offset: 0 | Not Offset. Choose January and 'second most recent' | Offset: -12 |
Financial Year to Date | Month | Not Offset. Choose start month of financial year, e.g. July and 'most recent' | Offset: 0 | Not Offset. Choose start month of financial year, e.g. July and 'second most recent' | Offset: -12 |
Month to Date | Day | Special. Choose first day of month 0. | Offset: 0 | Special. Choose first day of month -1 (or -12) | Special. Choose match today of month -1 (or -12) |
Last month | Month | Offset: -1 | Offset: -1 | ||
This month | Month | Offset: 0 | Offset: 0 | ||
Rolling 12 months | Month | Offset: -11 | Offset: 0 | ||
Today | Day | Offset: 0 | Offset: 0 | ||
Yesterday | Day | Offset: -1 | Offset: -1 | ||
Last 7 days | Day | Offset: -6 | Offset: 0 | ||
Last three years | Year | Offset: -2 | Offset: 0 | ||
Offset options for day-based date ranges
When you are defining a date range using the Day period type, three options are available; Actual, Offset and Special.
Click the date box to display the options window, then select the tab of the option you want to use.
Actual
On the Actual tab, select a specific date.
Offset
This option is essentially a day offset, either forwards or backwards from today. You could select this option to set a rolling 7-day period, for example.
On the Offset tab, enter or select a specific number of days.
A quicker way of getting the correct offset value here is to select the date on the Actual tab first, then select the Offset tab. The offset value will match the selected date.
Special
The Special option allows you to select a day that is based on a month offset (selecting a certain type of day in a particular month). This option is useful, for example, when analyzing the month-to-date performance.
On the Special tab, select one of four 'match' options (see table below) and offset that match against a chosen month:
Option | Example | |
|---|---|---|
Offset | Offset date displayed | |
First Day - First day of the offset month. | -3 | First day of 3 months ago. |
Last Day - Last day of the offset month. | 1 | Last day of next month. |
Match Today - Tries to match today's date in the offset month. For example, if today is the 13th, you will get the 13th of the offset month. But if today is the 29th, 30th or 31st and a direct match is unavailable, you will get the closest match. | 0 | Today |
Match Yesterday - Tries to match yesterday's date in the offset month. For example, if yesterday is the 12th, you will get the 12th of the offset month. If today is the 1st, you will get the last day of the month prior to the offset month. If yesterday is the 29th or 30th and a direct match is unavailable, you will get the closest match. | 0 | Yesterday |
Common offset settings for days
Example | Current | Previous | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Start | End | Start | End | |
Month to Date | Special > first day of month 0. | Offset: 0 | Special > first day of month -1 (or -12) | Special > match today of month -1 (or -12) |
Today | Offset: 0 | Offset: 0 | ||
Yesterday | Offset: -1 | Offset: -1 | ||
Last 7 days | Offset: -6 | Offset: 0 | ||
On this page
Videos for administrators
Create your own defined period (days) - month to date
For administrators: Add a defined period using Special Offsets (days) - yesterday