Metrics Explorer - Reading a Metrics Card
Each metric card shows everything you need at a glance to understand the current state of a single metric and how it has moved over the selected date range.
|
Element |
What it shows |
|---|---|
|
Category label |
The functional category the metric belongs to (e.g., Traffic, Content). |
|
Metric name |
The name of the metric (e.g., Page Views, Solutions Accepted). |
|
Info icon |
Hover over the icon next to the name to see a short tooltip describing what the metric measures. |
|
Comparison badge |
A coloured pill showing the percentage change versus the previous period of the same length. Red = decrease, blue = increase, grey = unchanged. |
|
Current value |
The total or aggregate value of the metric for the selected date range. |
|
Sparkline |
A small inline chart showing how the metric trended day-by-day across the date range. |
|
Tip: Use the comparison badge as a quick triage signal. Scan the grid for cards with large red badges to spot drops worth investigating, or large blue badges to identify what's been accelerating. |
5. The metric detail dialog
Clicking any metric card opens a detail dialog with a full-size chart, additional comparison context, breakdown dimensions, and a Filters panel. This is where most investigative work happens.
The exact contents of the dialog, particularly the Breakdown By dimensions and the Filters panel, vary by metric and category. For example, a Content metric will offer breakdowns and filters relevant to content, while Knowledge Bases will have breakdowns relevant to them only. The structure of the dialog is the same throughout, but the options inside it adapt to what makes sense for the metric you're viewing.
The walkthrough below uses the Page Views metric (from the Traffic category) as an example.
Figure 9. Page Views detail dialog showing summary tiles, breakdown dimensions, and chartHeader summary
The top of the dialog shows the metric name, a short description, and three summary tiles:
- TOTAL — the aggregate value for the selected date range.
- VS PREV PERIOD — percentage change compared to the immediately preceding period of the same length.
- VS LAST YEAR — percentage change compared to the same date range one year ago.
On the right of the header, a granularity selector (e.g., "1 day") controls how data points are grouped on the chart.
Breakdown By
The left sidebar offers breakdown dimensions that slice the metric. For Page Views, the available dimensions are Conversation Style, User Type, Role, Rank, Node Type, and Device Type. Selecting a dimension regroups the chart and drill-down to show the metric split along that dimension.
Different metrics expose different breakdown dimensions. When you open a metric in another category, expect the sidebar to offer options relevant to that metric — they won't necessarily match what's shown here.
Filters
Below the breakdown options, the Filters panel offers scope toggles that refine what's included in the metric's calculation. For Page Views, the available toggles are:
- Exclude Node Level Metric — removes node-level contributions from the calculation, leaving only community-wide data. This excludes navigation/landing page views, such as category, board, group home, community home, and profile pages. It includes only views where someone was actually reading content: discussions, articles, ideas, posts, KB articles, etc.
- New Topics Only — restricts the metric to topics newly created within the selected date range, rather than including activity on pre-existing topics.
- Completed Occasions Only — limits the metric to completed instances, excluding in-progress or upcoming ones. This restricts page views on community events that have already ended. Views on non-event content and on upcoming or in-progress events are excluded.
As with breakdowns, the filter toggles available depend on the metric. Different metrics surface different toggles tailored to what's meaningful for that data.
The chart
The main chart plots the metric over time. Hover over any point to see its exact value for that date. The chart redraws when you change the granularity, apply a breakdown, or apply a filter.