The Time Series report pulls information on households and individuals served over increments of time and places the information on a line graph.
This article covers the following topics:
- Additional steps following basic setup
- An explanation of report sections
- Instructions on how to print a Time Series report
- Efficiency and Timeliness of Report Generation
Additional steps following basic setup
Please see Report Setup Foundations (click here) for information on basic setup steps for all reports.
Additional steps:
- You will need to complete the field labeled For the following increment to indicate whether you would like the increments to be Day, Week, Month, or Year.
- Click Create Report at the bottom right-hand side of the page, your report will be found in your Report Inbox on the left-hand side of the screen under Reports. Alternatively, you can hit Save Template if you want to save this as a template for future use. More on templates can be found here.
Report Sections
- Age Group: Individuals (Unique); an individual in a particular age group is counted once, regardless of how many times they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Age Group: Individuals (Duplicated); individuals in a particular age group are counted each time they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Served: Individuals (Unique); an individual is counted once, regardless of how many times they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Served: Individuals (Duplicated); an individual is counted each time they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Served: Households (Unique); a household is counted once, regardless of how many times they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Served: Households (Duplicated); a household is counted each time they visited or received services during the reporting period.
- Visits: Quantity of Food; the quantity of food that was distributed with each visit.
- Individuals: New vs. Existing; individuals who have received services for the first time prior to the reporting period are counted under "Existing", and individuals who received services for the first time in the reporting period are counted under "New".
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For food banks with only ONE location:
- When reporting on any of the “New vs. Existing” options, the system will consider the client to be “new” based only on visits to that one agency being reported on.
- This means it will NOT use the date in the "First Food Bank Visit" section on the Personal tab of the client's profile.
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The completed report will show the name of the report at the top of the page and will also show:
- Reporting for: a list of all the agencies reported on during the reporting period.
- For these program types; lists the programs reported on during the reporting period.
- With dates between; the dates used for the reporting period.
Sections reported on will appear across the top of the report graph, and are color-coded to match the corresponding line color on the graph representing that section.
Hover over any point on the graph and a summary box will appear listing the results found for the increment of time chosen for the reporting period.
Lines can be removed from the chart by clicking on the colored radio button corresponding to the line you wish to remove.
How to print a Time Series report
- Click the blue Print View button on the top right-hand side of the report page.
- A secondary tab will open, click the Print Popup button on the left-hand side.
- A print options box will appear; complete the fields and click the Print button.
Efficiency and Timeliness of Report Generation
In our report generation process, we understand the significance of minimizing wait times for our users. Currently, the wait time is determined by the number of organizations included in the report and the duration covered. Let's delve into the details of our report queues for a clearer understanding.
We manage two queues: one for regular reports and another for large reports. We allow up to 20 reports to run simultaneously. This setup enables concurrent processing of multiple reports but may result in a slightly extended initial wait time to ensure efficiency.
Report size is determined by multiplying the number of sites by the duration in days, with a limit set at 50 sites x 180 days (equivalent to 9000). Anything exceeding this threshold is directed to the large queue.
Recognizing the complexity and scale of large reports, they are processed in a separate queue, occasionally resulting in wait times measured in hours. We understand the inconvenience and are actively working towards optimizing processing times for such reports in the future.
Conversely, our regular queue processes reports efficiently with a minimum wait time of 6 minutes per report. Multiple reports can run simultaneously, minimizing overall slowdowns. However, there are instances where regular reports may take longer, ranging from 20 to 30 minutes each. It's essential to note that even a quick report may experience delays if queued behind longer reports.
As we strive to optimize report processing times, your feedback is crucial. Please feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions, these contribute to our ongoing efforts to enhance and streamline this process for an improved user experience.