Customize overlay reports

We can customize our own overlay reports by setting specific parameters as required. Learn about the parameters and the levels at which we can specify them.

The scheme described here applies to all parameters available for overlay reports.

Report parameters for customizing overlay reports

To customize the display of overlay reports, we can provide the additional query parameters listed in the following. We can provide all these parameters at six different levels. The levels are listed and described in a table later in this topic. Depending on the level, you have to prefix the parameters with asa.report . Also depending on the level, we specify the parameters and their values in different locations and ways, for example as part of code with an equal sign, or by typing them into fields in a user interface.

metrics [page|portlet]

We can specify metrics for the page only, for the portlets only, or for a page and all portlets on it:

metrics

This affects both page and portlet metrics.

metrics.page

This affects only page metrics.

metrics.portlet

This affects only portlet metrics.

For these parameters, specify a comma separated list of metricto show in the overlay report. Do not include spaces between the items in the comma separated list. Specify the metrics by their column ID. We can use all metricavailable in an IBM Coremetrics Web Analytics trend reportDefault is SESSIONS,PAGE_VIEWS. Note that the type of the overlay reports is optimized for displaying two metrics. Specifying fewer than one or more than two metrics may yield unexpected display results. The list of applicable metrics depends on the type of the Coremetrics account.

granularity

Specify the interval granularity of the displayed metrics. Specify an uppercase letterDefault is W for weekly reports. Possible values are as follows:

D

Daily

W

Weekly. Default.

M

Monthly

Q

Quarterly

Y

Yearly

numPeriods

Number of periodto have reported. This starts backwards from the value that we specify for the parameter period_a. Specify a numerical value larger than 1 Default is 4 .

period_a

Specify the ending date for reports in the format YYYYMMDD . Specify a valid date in the past. Reports will show data from this date backwards, with the number of periods as specified by the parameter numPeriods and the granularity as specified by the parameter granularity Default is yesterday ; it is computed at the time of the HTTP request in the format YYYYMMDD .

Provide parameters at multiple levels

We can set the parameters for the customized display of overlay reports at six different levels as shown by the following table. Depending on the level, you have to prefix the parameters with asa.report , for example, asa.report.granularity .

specifying parameters . Setting parameters for the customized

Level hierarchy	Specify the parameter at this level:	Prefix the parameter with the following string:	Configure the parameter at this layer:	Set this parameter using the following method:
1	HTTP request parameter	—	HTTP request	Custom code in the theme or skin
2	Portlet parameter - metadata	asa.report.	portlet window	xmlaccess.sh
3	Portlet preference	asa.report.	portlet	Portlet Edit mode, xmlaccess.sh
4	Page parameter - metadata	asa.report.	page	Page Properties dialog, xmlaccess.sh
5	Portal Configuration Service parameter	asa.report.	WP Config Service	WAS admin console
6	Default value	—	WebSphere Portal product code	N/A - product code. We cannot change this default value, but we can override it in the layers listed previously.

If you provide parameters at multiple levels, the settings are applied in the hierarchical order of levels as given in the first table column Level hierarchy. Parameters specified at levels shown in earlier rows in table 1 override parameters shown in last table rows.

Customization examples

The following examples for customizing overlay reports show how the override precedence works between different levels in the hierarchy of levels. The examples use the granularity parameter. The precedence hierarchy works the same way for all other report parameters.

Example 1:

Scenario: No configuration provided.

Parameter settings:

Level hierarchy	Level	Interval granularity key	Interval granularity value
1	Request parameter	—	—
2	Portlet parameter - metadata	—	—
3	Portlet preference	—	—
4	Page parameter - metadata	—	—
5	Configuration parameter	—	—
6	Default value	granularity	W (weekly)

Result: All defaults apply. All overlay reports will show sessions and page views in weekly interval granularity for four weeks, starting backwards from yesterday.

Example 2:

Scenario: Interval granularity is overridden on the page level.

Parameter settings:

settings . Interval granularity is overridden on the

Level hierarchy	Level	Interval granularity key	Interval granularity value
1	Request parameter	—	—
2	Portlet parameter - metadata	—	—
3	Portlet preference	—	—
4	Page parameter - metadata	asa.report.granularity	M (monthly)
5	Configuration parameter	—	—
6	Default value	granularity	W (weekly)

Result: As the granularity setting at the higher level overrules the one at the lower level, overlay reports at the page where asa.report.granularity is set show sessions and page views with monthly granularity for four weeks, starting backwards from yesterday. Reports on all other pages will show as specified by the default configuration.

Example 3:

Scenario: Interval granularity is overridden at request level.

Parameter settings:

settings . Interval granularity is overridden at request

Level hierarchy	Level	Interval granularity key	Interval granularity value
1	Request parameter	granularity	W (weekly)
2	Portlet parameter - metadata	—	—
3	Portlet preference	—	—
4	Page parameter - metadata	asa.report.granularity	M (monthly)
5	Configuration parameter	—	—
6	Default value	granularity	W (weekly)

Result: As the request parameter has the highest precedence, overlay reports will show sessions and page views with weekly interval granularity for four weeks, starting backwards from yesterday. Reports on all other pages will show as specified by the default configuration.

Parent: Display overlay analytics reports
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