Plotting Activity Over Time in tyGraph

Overview

All tyGraph tools except tyGraph Pulse have a time table as part of the model. At minimum, we include dynamic axis’ which allow you to change the aggregation of visualizations in every product. If you have editing capability you can also pivot a number of our pre-built measures on a rich set of time attributes. In this article we will examine how to find and analyze this data from existing reports.

For those who can edit, you can choose from a variety of formats including the 12-hour clock or 24-hour clock. Additionally, we have varying subdivisions which allow you to choose how the data is aggregated. Example: On the hour, half-hour, down to the minute.

Existing Visual Hierarchies

Most time series visuals in tyGraph Products have hierarchies by default that you can use. If you hover over a date/time visual you should see arrows appear. These let you move the axis up and down a pre-set hierarchy from us.

For details on what each level does, see Microsoft’s article on the Drill Feature here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/consumer/end-user-drill.

"What time of the day users are active on Yammer?"

1. Go to MAE Score page
2. Hover over MAE Score and select “Go to the next level in the hierarchy.”
3. Now you will see MAE Score by hour *(UTC)

Creating A New Visual from Scratch

Prerequisites

You must be able to edit your tyGraph/Power BI report to follow this guide. This generally means you’re running the tyGraph report from the Power BI service and are an Admin, Member, or Contributor in the workspace.

To create this visual from scratch, you will edit the report and create this visual on whichever report page you like.

3. Copy Template Page or Create a fresh blank spread. For this example, I’m going to duplicate our template so that we keep the tyGraph Default menu, title etc.

4. Search for messages in the Fields section
5. Add messages to the canvas by dragging it onto the canvas or by checking the box to the left of the measure.

6. Search for “time” to return the Time table.
7. Select Hour 24 or whatever other time axis you would like. You can either drag and drop it onto the chart or tick the box next to the column. Either way make sure it ends up as your axis. Handy Note: You can drag and drop elements between the Axis, legend, and values section in Power BI. For details check out Microsoft’s article on customizing axis’ here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-visualization-customize-x-axis-and-y-axis

8. Click the visual ellipsis (top right of card)
9. Hover over sort by
10. Select "Hour 24" as your sort order.

Now you will see messages plotted by the hour they were posted (UTC).

Summary

Using by changing the axis for time series visuals you can quickly spot activity peaks in any tyGraph tool. This can be important for finding the best time to post within a group or channel. Furthermore, if you’re wondering why certain posts gain traction over others its a good idea to check that the time they were posted matched the community they were aimed at.

Let us know if you have questions about what you read here! You can email [email protected].