The Period vs Period comparison feature allows you to compare data in a chart to the same data source from a previous period in the past, e.g. temperature for the past 7 days compared to the previous 7 days.

Period vs Period comparisons can be applied to Combo Charts and Headline Figures in the Workbook view, Dashboard Widget Details view and as a configuration of the Widget Instance Settings. Comparisons applied to the Workbook and Dashboard Widget Details views are not persisted, while comparisons configured via Widget Instance Settings are persisted and automatically applied to the widget within the dashboard.

Period vs Period comparisons are available on Combo Charts and Headline Figures.

For Combo Charts the comparison is applied to every series displayed in the chart. The comparison data is displayed in the same colour and format as the base series data, but with a lighter shade of the colour applied to distinguish it from the base series. For clarity, the date range of the comparison is displayed beside the series name in the chart legend. Comparison series can be hidden or displayed by clicking the series name in the legend. The Combo chart also features a comparison mode tooltip to make it easier to compare the base range and the comparison range values.

For Headline Figures the whole of the comparison range is folded using the same fold type as the base range. It is then compared to the folded base range. When comparisons are enabled, the following additions are made to the Headline figure

Headline Figures with conditional formatting continue to show the same conditional formatting when comparisons are applied. There is no comparison based conditional formatting at this time.

Comparison figures are displayed below current figures in the datagrid as in the below example;

Please note that comparison data cannot be exported at this time.

Chart comparisons allow you to compare two different time ranges from a series, a base time range and a comparison time range. The base time range is set via the date range selector for the chart, and the comparison time range is set via a “Compare to” field. There are a number of different ways of defining the comparison time range depending on the type of period vs period comparison you are wishing to achieve. The comparison options supported are:

The previous period option allows you to compare the current base period to the period immediately preceding the current period. The duration of the previous period is defined by the base period you are viewing. E.g. if you are looking at a chart showing data for this week, the “Previous Period” comparison will display comparison data from last week.

Please note that the “Previous Period” comparison is defined by the number of days in the base view, rather than the number of days in the calendar month. This means that if you are using the “This month” view to view this month’s data, and this month is 30 days long, then the “Previous Period” comparison will show you data from the preceding 30 days, even if the month before was 31 days long for example.

A previous period comparison can be applied by selecting the "Previous Period" option in the Compare to dropdown menu.

The day offset period option allows you to view and compare data from a fixed offset in days to any base period you want to compare it to. This enables views such as; Compare to 1 day previous, compare to 4 weeks previous (28 days) or even compare to 365 days previous.

For Day offset periods, the duration of the comparison period is defined as being the same as the duration of the base period. E.g. if you are viewing a chart from the start of the 1st of September to the end of the 7th of September (7 day duration), and you applied a 14 days previous comparison, the comparison view will be from the 18th of August to the 14th, that is a 7 day duration, offset by 14 days.

Day offset periods can be applied by either using the pre-configured offsets such as “1 Day Previous”, “7 Days Previous”, “4 weeks Previous” or by defining a custom offset via the “Custom Offset” option in the Compare to dropdown menu. When using the custom offset option, you enter the number of days (or week) you want to offset by, and if the number refers to days or weeks. When you click “Apply” the new customer offset will be applied.

The custom range option allows you to compare your base period to a fixed date range, for example, compare the last 30 days to January 27th 2022 - February 27th 2022. With Custom Ranges it is possible to to select a custom range which is longer or shorter than the base range. E.g. compare the last 7 days to the 1st to the 10th of March.

For combo charts the base range determines the view, so the different options are handled as follows:

For Headline figures the whole of the comparison range is folded and compared to the fold of the base range, so the different options are handled as follows:

A "Custom Range" comparison can be applied by selecting the "Custom Range" option in the Compare to dropdown menu, and selecting the date range to use via the date range picker.

The owner of a dashboard can configure a comparison to be shown by default when the dashboard loads through the Widget Instance Properties. In the Widget Instance Properties display, the owner of the dashboard must first configure a Date Range and Interval for the widget, before configuring the comparison to use. Once these properties are saved, the chart in that widget will display a comparison by default when the dashboard loads.