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Report Periods

The Report period bar in the Report Builder limits a report to a date range in one click: "Past 30 days", "Start of this quarter" and so on, or a From and To date of your own. It writes an ordinary date condition that you can see and remove.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Data:

  • Report Builder — the Report period bar above the datastores

Admin Panel → Reporting:

  • Report Builder — the same screen, once granted

When it appears

The bar appears when the starting datastore has a date field. Every datastore has at least two, Created and Last updated, so in practice it is almost always there.

Using it

  1. Choose which date the period applies to, for example Date received rather than Created.
  2. Click a preset, or type a From and To date. Either end can be left open.
  3. Click Run. The condition appears under Filter by, where it can be edited or removed like any other.
  4. Click All dates to remove the period.

The presets

The buttons include Today, Yesterday, Past 7 days, Past 30 days, Past 90 days, Start of this week, Start of this month, Start of this quarter and Start of this year, with All dates last. The "Start of this ..." presets run from the start of that period up to now. There is no screen for adding presets of your own.

Periods are fixed dates when saved

This is the point to understand before you save. Clicking "Past 30 days" works out the actual dates at that moment and writes them into the report, for example 7 September to 6 October. The report does not remember that you meant "the past 30 days". So:

  • A saved report keeps the dates it was saved with.
  • A dashboard chart added from it shows that same fixed range.
  • A scheduled delivery sends the same fixed range every time.

For a rolling view on a dashboard or schedule, leave the period off and group by month instead, or open the report and click the preset again before you run it.

What goes wrong and how to tell

  • No Report period bar: the starting datastore has no date field you can read.
  • A weekly e-mail shows the same weeks every time: the report was saved with a preset's dates. Remove the date condition, or group by date instead.
  • A period seems to have no effect: it was applied to a different date field. Check which date is selected.
  • There is no comparison with a previous period: the bar sets a single range. Group by month to compare periods side by side.

Worked example

A complaints lead opens "Complaints by category", chooses Date received in the period bar and clicks Start of this quarter before their quarterly meeting. For the team dashboard, though, they save a separate version with no period and grouped by month of Date received, so the chart moves on by itself as new complaints arrive.

Recommendations

  • Use presets for one-off answers, not for saved reports that should roll.
  • Choose the date that matters, not just Created.
  • Name saved reports with their dates if a fixed range is intended ("Q3 2026").
  • Group by month for anything that should stay current.