Why this matters
Three headline numbers do not answer the questions people ask every week: are we going up or down, where do visitors come from, and what about last month? Each one used to mean another screenshot.
In this module you add a trend chart, a table of sessions and engagement by channel, and a date range control, then use the report in View mode the way a colleague will. One page, built once, answers all three.
What you’ll build
A time series of Active users per day under the scorecards.
A table with one row per channel (Session default channel group), with Sessions and Engagement rate.
A date range control that lets anyone switch every chart to, say, the last 30 days.
What you need
- The report from module 1Or any Data Studio report connected to a GA4 property.
- Nothing to start the practiceThe practice runs on real Data Studio screens with every number blurred and touches no account.
Concepts
2 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Dimensions and metrics
A dimension is what you group by (Date, Session default channel group, Page path). A metric is what you count or average (Sessions, Active users, Engagement rate). In the Data panel, dimensions are green and metrics are blue.
A time series is the Date dimension with one metric. A table is any dimension with one or more metrics. Change the dimension and the same numbers regroup.
Controls let viewers answer their own questions
A date range control changes the period for every chart on the page, for the person using it. It does not change the report for anyone else; the default stays the last 28 days until an editor changes it.
View mode is what colleagues see: no toolbars, just the page and its controls.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. In a table of sessions by channel, what is the channel?
- The dimension
- The metric
- The data source
Show the answer
The dimension. You group by the channel (dimension) and count sessions (metric).
2. A colleague picks Last 30 days in the date range control. What happens for everyone else?
- Nothing: it only changes their view
- The report default changes for everyone
- GA4 deletes older data
Show the answer
Nothing: it only changes their view. Controls change the view for the person using them; editors set the default.
3. Which view should you check before sharing a report?
- View mode, as your colleagues will see it
- Only Edit mode
- GA4 Admin
Show the answer
View mode, as your colleagues will see it. View mode shows exactly what people get when they open the link.