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  5. – Date Comparisons

– Date Comparisons

AnswerDock supports hundreds of date keywords and it can be impractical to list them all. The aim is to basically understand the user search in English, no matter the way it is typed.

We list below some of the mostly used comparisons with subtle differences in the way dates are handled. In summary, it comes in handy to know the difference between keywords such as “Ago”, “Before”, “Previous Period”, “Same Period Previous (Month)”, “(Month) To date”, “This (Month)”, “(Month) to date excluding today”

Summary of keywords:

  • VS previous period: This always compares the first period with its equivalent period
  • VS x [weeks/months/etc..] Before: This will go back the specified period starting with the start date of the first period
  • VS x [weeks/months/etc..] Ago:This will go back the specified period starting with today
  • VS same period previous [month,year,etc..]: This will compare the first period with its equivalent in the last month or year.
Syntax Explanation
mar 1-19 vs previous period Will compare mar 1-19 to the previous 20 days (Mar 1-19, 2019 vs Feb 10-28, 2019). Previous period automatically computes the 2nd period based on the first one. If the first Period is a month, it will compare month to month, if its a year, it will compare the previous year, etc..
May 20 – 26 vs 52 weeks before Will compare may 20-26 this year to the equivalent week 52 weeks before it  (May 20-26, 2019 vs May 21-27, 2018 )
May 20 – 26 vs 52 weeks ago Will compare may 20-26 this year to the week that is 52 weeks before today (May 20-26, 2019 vs June 11-17, 2018)
last week vs 52 weeks ago Will compare last week  to the week that is 52 weeks before today (e. g. TheDate June 3-9, 2019 vs June 11-17, 2018)
last week vs 52 weeks before Will compare last week  to the week that is 52 weeks before last week
weekly YoY Will compare every week (defaulted to this year) vs equivalent week 52 weeks before
last week YoY Will compare last week to exact period previous year (e.g. June 3-9, 2019 vs June 3-9, 2018)
last week vs same period previous year Will compare last week to exact period previous year (e.g. June 3-9, 2019 vs June 3-9, 2018)
last week vs last year Will compare last week to exact period previous year (e.g. June 3-9, 2019 vs June 3-9, 2018)
week to date vs same period previous year Will compare this week till today to exact period previous year (June 10-11, 2019 vs June 10-11, 2018)
week to date excluding today vs same period previous year Will compare this week till yesterday to exact period previous year ( (June 10, 2019 vs June 10, 2018))
last 13 weeks vs 52 weeks ago Will compare in the period of last 13 weeks to the same period going back 52 weeks from today (e.g. Mar 11 – June 9, 2019 vs June 11 – Sep 9, 2018)
last 13 weeks vs 52 weeks before Will compare in the period of last 13 weeks to the same period going back 52 weeks from the start of the first period (e.g. Mar 11 – June 9, 2019 vs Mar 12 – June)
april 1 2019 vs the month before Will compare April 1 2019 to Mar 1 2019
april 1 2019 vs previous month Will compare April 1 2019 to the whole previous month ( Apr 1, 2019 vs Mar 1-31, 2019)
april 1 2019 vs same period previous month Will compare April 1 2019 to Mar 1 2019
april 1 2019 vs the month before Will compare April 1 2019 to Mar 1 2019
this year vs last year Will compare this year to the whole last year (Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2019 vs Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2018)
year to date vs last year Will compare this year till today to the same period last year (Jan 1 – June 11, 2019 vs Jan 1 – June 11, 2018)
month to date exclude today vs last year Will compare this month till yesterday to the same period last year ( June 1 – June 10, 2019 vs June 1 – June 10, 2018 ). This is useful to show a more fair comparison, as today has not ended yet and you might not want to include it in the comparison.