New GA Feature: Date Range Selector
May 8, 2007 by Justin Cutroni 
As soon as you log into Google Analytics you’ll notice that the old date range selector is gone. The new date range selector is located at the top right corner of every page. If you click on the dates a large box will appear with lots of options.
There are two ways to specify a date range in the new GA. You can use the ‘traditional’ calendar method and choose days, weeks or months. Or you can use a new timeline selection tool.
The timeline selection tool is accessed via the timeline tab in the date range selector. The timeline selection method displays a graph of your visitation data over time. This small graph makes it easy to identify spikes in your traffic. If you see something that piques your interest you can drag the date range slider to cover the spike in traffic.
You can use the ‘handles’ on each side of the timeline slider to expand or contract the time segment.
The date range selector still let’s you compare two date ranges. Just click the compare to past checkbox and you can enter two date ranges using the timeline view or the calendar view.
You’re probably wondering why the timeline selector was added to Google Analytics. It’s all part of the new paradigm. The new GA interface is meant to facilitate analysis. The timeline selection tool makes it easier to identify time segments that may need more analysis. No more specifying a date range in a calendar and then checking the reports to see what happened. You can now identify major traffic changes right from the date selection tool and drill down on that time segment.
The timeline selection tool looks like the date range selection tool in Google Finance, huh? ;)
20 Responses to “New GA Feature: Date Range Selector”
The date range selector is a pain. Did they test that with actual users? I end up just entering dates.
If they had tested with users, they would have ended up with what AdSense has: preloaded range links: Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, This Month, Last Month, Previous Year. Nobody uses anything beyond that.
And where’s the most popular report, the intraday graphs? Andy why doesn’t the graph shrink to fit for periods less than one month?
By Mike on May 18, 2007
Hi Mike,
Believe it or not, yes. They did test the date range selector (and the entire interface) with lots of users.
I believe that it is pretty simple to segment the data based on the following time segments:
* Today
* Yesterday
* This Month
* Last Month
At most, it takes 3 clicks (one to open the date range selector, one to choose the calendar tool and one to click on a day, week or month) to select the above time ranges.
Year is a bit tougher, I’ll give you that one ;) As for last 7 days, that’s _always_ sucked in GA. Even the old version had no easy way to select the last 7 days.
I wish the date range was sticky, so you could always have the same range appear when you log into GA.
The intraday graph will be back. Google is adding that functionality back into the application. You can expect it in the next few weeks.
As to your last question, why the graph does not shrink. The reason is to give you context. If you only select a week, how does that week compare to a larger range of time.
Hope that helps and thanks for the feedback!
Justin
By Justin on May 18, 2007
I think the new data range selector is not so immediate but neither so bad…
But what about the hourly view of visits? Isn’t it available anymore? Or how can I get this information now?
thanks!
Manuela
By Manuela on May 25, 2007
Hi Manuela,
The hourly reporting is missing. Google is working to get that feature implemented soon.
Thanks for the feedback.
Justin
By Justin on May 25, 2007
Missing hourly report and not shrinking/extending graph is main reason to use old interface for me. Days after July 18th without it will be not like they was before.
I will wait for hourly report.
By lemiel on Jun 5, 2007
I miss the monthly reporting…
By Veronica on Jun 8, 2007
Hi Veronica,
You can still get monthly reporting. Just click on the name of a month using the calendar view.
Justin
By Justin on Jun 8, 2007
I wish the date range was sticky, so you could always have the same range appear when you log into GA.
Exactly.
And it’s 6 clicks a day for each website to simulate a dynamic date range
Select Date range
Select Start Date
Define Start Date
Select End Date
Define End Date
Confirm
Good HCI practice is different….
By jb on Jul 24, 2007
Hi JB,
I think you only need 3 clicks to set a date range:
1. Click the start date
2. Click the end date
3. Click Apply Range
Hope that helps,
Justin
By Justin on Jul 24, 2007
Let’s agree on 4 - you have to open the dialogue..
That’s 4 too many.
I want to define a default view. Period.
Which good HCI design should support
By jb on Jul 24, 2007
[[”I wish the date range was sticky, so you could always have the same range appear when you log into GA.”]]
AGREE!
It is a MEGA-pain to go through my 20+ sites and have to set the data range on EACH and everyone off them just to get the high-level idea of the general traffic on my sites…
Speaking of multiple sites - why not a little list/indicator that I could define for an overview of sites with key info for my use?
Vitus [jeeeez! New GA! dang!]
By Vitus on Oct 28, 2007
Hi Vitus,
There are a few ways to get ‘roll up’ reporting across multiple domains. you could use the same account number on all the sites and the segment the data using filters. Or you could use a hack to place multiple account numbers on each page to track traffic in multiple profiles.
But the date issue… there’s now way around that.
Justin
By Justin on Oct 28, 2007
Hi,
I just installed the Analytics and am having trouble with the Timeline. When I try to change the date range, I noticed that the dates stop at November 11. All dates after that are grayed out, thus I can’t expand my range. How can I ‘ungray’ these dates to change my range?
By Anne on Nov 12, 2007
Hi Anne,
I think the problem is that you’re trying to set the start date to a date that is AFTER your selected end date. Whenever you want to choose a date in GA you first need to click in the start data or end date field. Then click on the appropriate date in the calendar.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment.
Justin
By Justin on Nov 17, 2007
Without changing the current profiles on all 20+ domains that I have, is it, or will it ever be, possible to view the same report across multiple domains at the same time, even if it’s a download? e.g. We run several car dealership’s sites that have the same structure and I’d like to compare the pageviews between sites 1,3,4 and 6 because they are in a similar geographical region. Currently I have to create 4 CSV files, about 20 clicks each, then massage the date in Excel - or just enter them all in by hand…
Thanks,
Darryl
By Darryl on Nov 22, 2007
Hey Darryl,
There is a way to create the data in the format that you’re looking for.
You can put the same tracking code on all the sites to get ‘roll up’ reporting. Then apply an advanced filter that attaches the domain name to the request URI. Then you can compage the same page even though it may be on multiple domains.
Hope that helps and thanks for reading.
Justin
By Justin Cutroni on Nov 26, 2007
A “Last month” predefined entry would really a huge plus. I cannot imagine why it has been removed.
By default, I was getting the last 30 days. But since I have played with the end date, it is not dynamic anymore: every morning I have to set it to today’s date. This is extremely annoying.
I like the interface and the range selector. But being able to define/select dynamic ranges, at least the standard “Last 30 days”/”Last 7 days”/”Last Day” would really fill a gap.
Anybody knows if it is in Google plans to add this at some point?
Everything else just rocks!
Thanks,
–Mikael
By Mikael on Dec 21, 2007
Hi Mikael,
As of right now there are no plans to change the date range selector. But your ideas are good. It would be nice to have a pre-defined setting for last week.
As for the date range including the current date, I like the fact that GA does not include the current date. Intra-day data is often incomplete and I don’t want it skewing the rest of my data.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for reading.
Justin
By Justin Cutroni on Jan 11, 2008
For those people that require “sticky dates” when moving between profiles, the Google Analytics Suite (GAS) which runs on Adobe AIR offers that functionality.
You just need to select the appropriate data profile and then click on “Apply Range” (bottom left) to re-affirm the required date range.
By g1smd on Mar 23, 2008