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Copy and Paste Google Analytics Profiles

Ever wish you could create identical Google Analytics profiles, apply a new filter against the new profile and thereby track portions of your web site as if those sections were totally independent? You can now accomplish that very same task natively within Google Analytics!

This raises the obvious question, why would I desire to create duplicate profiles and apply unique filters against that content? The most obvious example which comes to mind is to track different products, or product lines found within different sections of your web site. Your internal customer often does not consider their section of your web site "part of a whole". In fact, quite often your internal customer only cares about their section of your organization's web site, specifically the analytics for their department's folders. For them, their products or services are stand alone businesses which should be managed independently!

As a support person, hopefully you understand your internal customer's need to track analytics independently of the rest of your site, but you also are not interested in recoding your Google Analytics scripts with additional ID codes whenever an internal customer needs independent analytics (remember, with unique profiles you can grant independent user access to reports for each profile. 

Before I give an actual example, let me note that it was a pleasure to work with Google's Product Support Team and provide feedback on the need for this feature. I actually demonstrated and pointed Google to an old Firefox add-in which accomplished much the same task (see blog post from October 2010). I'm thrilled to see Google incorporate this feature into the new version of Google Analytics.

Here are some screenshots which will work you through an example. Click upon any image to view at full size / resolution!

1. Invoke the GA Admin Menu

2. Click upon <New Profile>

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3. Create new profile

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4. Create a new filter to distinguish the new profile from the old

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5. Configure your new filter

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6. Continue your flter configuration process

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7. Check your GA account for your new profile

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8. Assign users reports access to your new profile

9. Access your GA metrics

Remember: it may take 24 hours for your new profile to start collecting data! 

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Still with me? You may also be interested in another post of mine on the topic of Google Analytics virtual page views. The linked post reviews how to track non html pages (like MS Office, or Adobe pdf files) via Google Analytics. Remember, it's impossible to insert Google Analytics tracking script in non html pages, but there is a fairly simple work around.

Lake Superior Moonrise Sunrise Bike Ride

What a perfect way to start the July 4th holiday than with a bike ride up the Northshore of Lake Superior timed perfectly for me to arrive at Stoney Point just as the full moon would make it's appearance on July 3rd. The fact that Duluth had experienced a 90F plus day with high humidity gave me all the additional incentive to hold off with my bike ride till dusk. (Wikipedia: North Shore of Lake Superior)

The real goal for my ride was to photograph the full moon as it rose over Lake Superior. Take my word for it; it's darned difficult! One's major problem is dealing with a brilliant white globe surrounded by darkness while still getting some context and color into the photograpic composition. I'm still learning!

Thus, at 8:15 pm I started my 30 mile bike ride up the shore via Scenic Highway 61. I planned to rendezvous with the moon at Stoney Point. Thankful that I had waited till the day's heat and humudity had "cooled" down to 80F, I biked off into the gathering dusk .. appreciative that this particular highway had a huge shoulder. I was able to bike far away from the traffic, and my red flasher was easily viewable by drivers. There was only one scarey cycling incident all night when I almost biked right into a bridge abutment. The headlights of an oncoming car had blinded me, and I missed seeing the narrowing of the shoulder.

Arriving at Stoney Point, I unstrapped my tripod from bike and got to the process of taking photos. Although I tried many options ranging from full programming of my camera including the manual setting of the aperture, exposure and ISO speed, in the end my best photos resulted from using HDR photography. In short, I picked my desired aperture setting and then took three bracketed photos ... Normal, under, and over exposed photos. Learn more about HDR photography via an earlier post on my blog.

Overall I spent about a half hour at Stoney Point, both taking photographs and just enjoying the blood red full moon as it came up over Lake Superior. By this point it was time to head home. Early the next morning I decided it would be fun to follow my full moon ride up with a sunrise bike ride. Thus, even though I had only returned home from the prior night's ride at 10:30 pm, at 5:30 am. I was once again off on my bicycle. This time I biked into town and to the Duluth harbor. The view of the freighter reflecting the sunrise while anchored off the Duluth Ship Canal intrigued me.

Here is a photo from each ride plus a sunrise photo taken the weekend before on Northstar Lake near the Minnesota - Canadian border! Click upon any photograph to view at full resolution.

Moonrise at Stoney Point, Lake Superior

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Sunrise Ships off the Duluth Ship Canal, Lake Superior

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Northstar Lake Sunrise, Chippewa National Forest

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