Cannot play custom range in Time Slider after preset

#1

Hey guys. I’ve been using the Time Slider heavily since I saw this LinkedIn article, and let me say that is a killer feature!

I’ve started playing with the presets recently and I run into this issue: I’ve selected the preset “Today” then I stopped the player because I’ve noticed something in the data, so I moved the handler of the selected areas a little bit and then I started playing from there.

My expectation was that it will play according to the new selected range, but instead It went back to the preset I’ve selected. I’m ok with this but what if I want to play my selection instead? Do I have to do this before selecting the preset? How is the workflow here?

#2

Presets are mean to be persistent so for example if you are working in Studio and leave the dashboard, when you come back in the preset will still be played.

When you manually move the selection window (the yellow area) or any of its handlers, or select new dates from the pickers, the Time Slider knows that you still have a preset applied so it when you hit play, the preset will be still played instead of the new range.

If you really want to preserve your changes you need to clear the current preset. After you’ve modified the range, click on the preset indicator (the middle area of the header) so the modal will be open. Click “Clear”. You must see the name of the field instead of the name of the preset after.

You will have to manually add the preset again in case you need it.

#3

Btw, we’re planning to include an improvement for this exact situation on the next release (1.17) so it is more intuitive for users.

#4

Thanks @eduardo, yeah, that did the trick. I have an extra question since I’m getting my feet wet with the presets feature:

The preset I’m using the most is “Today” to check some logs that are happening throughout the day. Right now I’m playing today March, 23. If I leave the Time Slider playing for the rest of the day and I review the dashboard tomorrow morning, is “Today” updated to March, 24 automatically or it just stops at the end of the day ? (23:59:49 of March 23)

I hope my question is clear enough lol.

#5

The answer to your question is that, for the next day (24), “Today” will mean that new day. Presets will automatically update the selected range so they mean the same as long as the option Pin left is set to true.

When that option is true, the left handler will be pinned to the start of the preset and only the right handler will advance. The left handler will move only when the end of the preset is reached (the end of today in your case), to match the “new” today.

As “Today” is the same as “This day”, you can easily check this using a smaller unit like “This hour” or “This minute” so you don’t need to wait for the whole day. Try it with and without pinning so you can grasp exactly how it works.