How WebTrends reports are constructed

Transcription

1 Working with Reports How WebTrends reports are constructed The reports shown in the WebTrends Desktop consist of three major sections: the calendar frame which controls the time period being viewed the table of contents frame which controls the report or dashboard being viewed and the report frame that displays the results. Calendar Frame The calendar frame appears in the upper left corner of the screen and shows a standard calendar for a month. (It is highlighted in the figure on page 21.) By default, the calendar appears showing the day closest to the current date. At any time, you can return to this nearest today date by clicking on the home icon above the calendar. Users can select any other day by clicking on that date in the calendar. Weeks are chosen along the right side, months at the top of the calendar, calendar quarters at the upper right corner (Q1, Q2, etc.). The longest time range that can be chosen is one year, chosen at the bottom of the calendar. You can scroll forward or backward by monthly or yearly increments as well. If a certain time frame is grayed out in the calendar, then either that time period has not yet been analyzed, or that time period type (days, weeks, etc.) has not been enabled in the profile you are using. Profiles can be set to purge report time ranges after a certain time has elapsed the most common setting is to remove daily reports that are more than three months old. This is done to reduce disk space consumed by the summary files required to keep the reports. Administrators can reset the starting day of the week for special business or international requirements. User s Guide 19

2 Table of Contents Frame The Table of Contents frame appears in the left pane below the calendar. (It is highlighted in the figure on page 21.) All of the available reports and dashboards are organized here. To load a report or dashboard, locate it in the Table of Contents, and click on its title. (You can expand or collapse folders that contain reports by clicking on the arrow toggle control next to the folder name. The results for the time period selected in the calendar will load in the report frame to the right. Report Frame The report frame on the right side of the Desktop displays either the report or dashboard chosen in the Table of Contents for the time frame chosen in the calendar. The default item to appear in the report frame is usually the dashboard for the default template (and the default template is defined in the analysis profile). The profile name and the web site name are displayed at the top left of the report frame, regardless of what dashboard or report is being viewed. Also, the details of the time range and specific dates covered are displayed as well. To view reports To view reports: 1. Highlight the profile you want to view reports for. 2. Select View Reports from the left profile menu. The report opens (shown on page 21) showing the calendar of available reports and a Table of Contents to the left, and an Overview Dashboard a clickable synopsis of report data to the right. 20 User s Guide

3 The Dashboard of a sample Streaming Media profile with the calendar circled Use the calendar, the Table of Contents, or click on the title of a graph or table in the Dashboard to navigate to the content you want to view. Reading the reports All reports consist of a title, a short description, and a table of results. Most reports also include a trend graph over time and a top items graph, but there are a small handful of reports that do not have associated graphs (such as the URL parameter analysis reports). In most reports, each table and graph is color-coded to allow you to relate items in the table to items in the graph. If there are more results than can be displayed in the table or graph, you can cycle through to the next 1, 5, 20, or even zoom to the end of the results by using the VCR-like controls at the bottom of the table or graph. Similar to the dashboard elements described above, each table or graph shown on a report can be collapsed by clicking on the small arrow button on the far right of the graph or table title bar. For each graph displayed, options appear at the top right of the graph to change graph type. Options available vary by the type of information displayed. User s Guide 21

4 Finally, each report has a unique help card associated with it, displayed below all other tables and graphs shown. If the report is very long, you can zoom to the help card from the top of the report by clicking the Help button on the report title bar. The help card contains information to help you interpret and make use of the information displayed in the report. Understanding Report Content WebTrends can be used for distributing reports to a wide number of users with differing analysis needs and differing levels of familiarity with web analytics terminology and concepts. For this reason, each report contains a help card containing information to help you interpret and make use of the information displayed in the report. The help card section marked with a? typically contains information about the different components displayed in the report, where this data is obtained, and how any results were mathematically derived. Pay close attention to this section to find out how totals, subtotals, and averages are calculated. This section also contains information about the measures and dimensions used in the report and how these dimensions and measures are calculated. The help card section marked with a light bulb icon typically contains information about how to make use of the information in making decisions. For more information about understanding reports, NetIQ offers both web-based training and instructor-led courses intended to help users of all levels of experience increase the value they derive from their reports. In these courses, you will learn what the statistics mean and why they are important to you. You will learn how to make e-business decisions based on the report data that will help you tailor your promotions and content to reach your customers more effectively. For more information on web-based training, go to: ht t p: / / www. net i q. com/ t r ai ni ng/ cat al og/ webr pt wr c. asp For more information on instructor-led courses, go to: 22 User s Guide

5 ht t p: / / www. net i q. com/ t r ai ni ng/ cat al og/ r pt wr c. asp Changing the language of a report At any time while using the WebTrends Desktop, you can choose the display language from the drop-down menu near the title of the report. All items in the Desktop will update to reflect the choice of language until you choose a different language. The default language to display is a setting in the template editor. The standard languages available are English, French, German, and Spanish. Other languages may be available from your local distributor. Changing the report template When you first enter the WebTrends Desktop, you are presented with a default template, shown in the template drop-down menu near the title bar at the top of the report pane. To change templates at any time, you can simply choose another option from the dropdown menu. By choosing a template, you are changing the table of contents and its organization. In many cases, you will have a template assigned to you that is appropriate to your department or area of responsibility. Other times, you will be assigned a template that contains an overview of certain reports and to get to a more comprehensive list of reports and dashboards, you will need to change templates. Simply choose the template that best suits your needs from this drop-down menu, and this change will continue until you close the browser window showing the WebTrends Desktop. Using the Dashboard to browse reports Dashboards appear in the report frame. They consist of a title, a short description, and a two-column arrangement each containing a variety of summaries, called dashboard elements, from reports available in this profile. There can be any number of elements in either column. Dashboard elements are either short tables, small graphs, or small blocks of external HTML code from other sources. If the dashboard element leads to more information, the title of the element will be a hyperlink. Click the link for more information about that element. (See WebTrends Dashboard on page 10 for an example of this.) Each dashboard element has a collapse button on the far right of its title bar which will collapse the element, allowing more to be seen on one screen. This can be useful for User s Guide 23

6 visually comparing two dashboard elements that do not appear next to each other in the columns. For dashboard elements that display a graph, you can change the graph type, depending on the subject matter in the dashboard element. For top items elements, you can choose between a bar chart and a pie chart. For trend elements showing information over time, you can choose between bar chart, line graph, or area graph. Choosing the Reporting Mode Non-comparative Mode This is the standard mode for report viewing. In this mode, you can select from standard date ranges that the WebTrends already recognizes: day, week, month, and quarter. You can also work with the following navigational aids in this mode:!select Report Dates Nearest Today icon: Click this to see the report for the most recent time period that has data.!searchable Month and Year lists: Click the arrows above the Calendar to change the month, or click the arrows below the Calendar to change the year.!day, Week, Month, Quarter, and Year links: If a report is available, a link appears in the calendar for that interval (e.g., day, week, month, quarter, or year). Click a date or interval link. The selected link is highlighted and the corresponding report will appear. Comparative Mode : Click this icon to toggle between viewing comparative reports (side-by-side comparisons of a set reports from one time period to another) and viewing a single report. In comparative mode, once you ve selected the two time periods that you want to work with, you can click the Transpose Comparison icon to swap the dates between the two calenders. The resulting reports can help you deepen your understanding of your web traffic data. Note: Depending on your licensing, you may not have access to Comparative Reports. Please see your administrator if you have licensing or permissions issues. Custom Date Mode Click this icon to view a report for a single custom date period (for example, the last three days of an ad campaign.) Custom Comparative Mode Click this icon to compare two custom date ranges (for example, weekend activity between two different weeks.) You will be prompted to correct your date range inputs if they are invalid. 24 User s Guide

7 Converting reports to alternate formats WebTrends reports are in HTML format. With a click of a button, they can be easily converted to Microsoft Word or Excel documents, a CSV (comma separated values) text file, or to PDF. This makes it easier to include the report s information in presentations or other documentation, or in the case of the CSV file for import into a database. This conversion is possible only if the workstation where you are running the WebTrends Desktop meets the following criteria:! The system requirements must be met. (See the WebTrends Administrator s Guide, or the online help for a complete list of hardware requirements.)! Microsoft Office must be installed on the workstation.! Microsoft Windows 95/98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows NT must be running on the workstation running the remote interface. To convert reports from HTML to an alternate format: 1. From the AdminConsole, select a profile. 2. Click Report. 3. Select the Export icon. 4. Select which format you want the report converted to, the scope of the data you want converted, and the scope of what you want displayed. 5. If you don t already have the current NetIQ Reporting Converter installed, you will need to do so. This utility contains the files needed to convert HTML reports to alternate formats. You will be asked to select either an Auto or Manual installation method. 6. Follow the additional prompts to complete the installation process, and the report conversion. 7. You may be asked to provide your user name and password during the installation of the utility. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer and experience trouble downloading the NetIQ Report Converter, it may be due to your security settings (found under Tools>Internet Options in most versions of IE). For more information, see the Troubleshooting chapter of the WebTrends Administrator s Guide, or contact your system administrator. User s Guide 25

8 Using the online help Use this menu to access WebTrends online help, contact technical support, and to confirm licensing information about the software. To open the online help:! Select Help>Help Links>Contents. The online help opens.! If you prefer to use the online help system via the index, select Help>Help Links>Index. The index of the help system opens. To contact or purchase additional technical support:! Select Help>Help Links>Technical Support. The customer support page of the NetIQ web site opens in a new browser window. Click NetIQ Online Support and follow the onscreen instructions to submit your question to the company.! If you need to purchase new or additional technical support, select Help>Help Links>Purchase Technical Support. The Technical Support Plans page of the NetIQ web site opens in a new browser window. To provide feedback on WebTrends software:! Select Help>Feedback. The Feedback page of the NetIQ web site opens in a new browser window. Use this page to send feedback to the company. To get information on your company s copy of the WebTrends software:! Select Help>About. Product information appears, including details on the version of the software, and the applicable license information. 26 User s Guide