8. Comparing two time periods

This example shows how you can compare current and past periods. In this example we’re comparing the current months time spent by developers to the time spent in the previous month - you could, of course, easily adapt this example to compare the current year with the previous year.

To achieve this example, we set a Category Object filter for the Month Name and a hidden Category Object filter for the Month Number.

We then created two identical charts but on the second chart we changed the Filters screen to ‘Manually apply category filters’ and then specified the {{Month Number}}-1.

The resulting Merged chart displays the current month and previous month side by side, allowing users to quickly compare figures.

When the month is changed, using the Category Objects filter, the Merged chart will be automatically updated to show the current month and the previous month.

You could also use this method to compare the current month with data from 2 or 3 months ago by changing the number next to {{Month Number}} on the Filters tab for one of the child charts.

Please take a look here for step by step instructions on how to recreate this example.