You may notice a trend in the other support articles that we put a huge emphasis on how flexible the Comparison storyboard is – that’s because it is really flexible. A Comparison storyboard can take ANY time period that you set and compare two different sets.
For instance, in a periodic story board, you are able to see data by a daily, weekly, monthly, etc. basis. In a rolling storyboard, you see data by the last week, by the last month, by the last year, etc. Sometimes you need to get the data in between. The data from the past month may not be as valuable to you as the data from the past ten days – or any set of 10 days.
This may sound all confusing, so let’s break it down! First, enter the start and the end dates of the first set you want to compare. The data you see is static; this will not change like a rolling storyboard. Now that you have a ten-day range, chose another ten day span to look at! For instance, if I want to see my data from a beginning-of-the-month basis, I would set my range to March 1st- March 10th and my second set to April 1st – April 10th.
**Note that the months do not have to line up with the exact day numbers! You can choose any range and any set of dates to your heart’s desire.
How to Start
Creating a Comparison Storyboard is as easy as creating the other storyboard!
- Start at the initial login screen and hit the “+ New Storyboard” button.
- Choose the third option, Comparison Storyboard.
- Enter the following credentials on the “Set up your preferences” page: Title, Period Start Date, Period End Date, Comparison Period Start Date, Comparison Period End Date. Once all entered, click the “Create Stroyboard” button at the bottom!
Available Visuals
In a comparison storyboard, all of the visuals are available to you as if you were working in a periodic storyboard. The difference in a comparison storyboard is that you will see overlapping data. If you need to read more about visuals, click here!There are several different ways to see this.
| Graphical | Numerical | Listings |
| If you were to set a line graph for the amount of total like you received on your facebook pages account, you will see a line that represents your chosen period, and a line that represents the comparison period. These two lines are used to compare one another. The “campaignLine” visual is Optix’s graphical visual for the comparison storyboard editor. | You can simply use a headline visual to see the total amount of like on your Facebook Pages account for your set period. The visual will not only show the total likes for that period, but will show a percentage increase or decrease from the comparison period as well as the previous total number of likes. The “Headline” visual is Optix’s graphical visual for the comparison storyboard editor. | You can also compare periods by listing out the metrics and dimensions just as any other grouped list. The formatting will look the same but receive the same treatment as the headline visual: The visual will not only show the metrics for that period, but will show a percentage increase or decrease from the comparison period as well as the previous metrics. The “List” visual is Optix’s graphical visual for the comparison storyboard editor. |
Remember, if you do not know which visual would fit your data, there is a fourth visual tool titled “Automatic.” Just plug in the dataset and metrics you wish to display and Optix will automatically set a visual for your storyboard!
