How to create custom columns/variables
AddMaple allows you to create new columns with custom categories or segments. These can be as simple or as complex as you need. You can create fine-grained personas from multiple filters or just create a simple single filter category.
Click the "More" menu and select "Custom Column/Variable"
This is the "Create a new Custom Variable or Column" screen. First give your new column a name.
Now choose if categories overlap - exclusive or overlapping.
To overlap or not?
AddMaple supports two modes for custom columns.
Exclusive (no overlaps between categories) - in this mode each category is distinct from the other. This means that we calculate each category one by one and ensure that a record is only added to the first category that it matches. This is the most common way of working and the end result is equivalent to a "multiple choice" column.
Overlapping (categories can overlap) - in this mode, categories can overlap. This is useful if you are comparing multiple personas that are not completely distinct. The end result of this is equivalent to a "multi-select" column where each record can be assigned to multiple categories.
In exclusive mode you will notice that there is a special category at the end with the default name "Default". This category contains all records that weren't matched by any of the categories. If you want to ignore these records in your analysis you can simply filter them out when pivoting and exploring.
Now build your categories. As you add data rules, AddMaple will recalculate the number of matched records for each category in real time. Any records not matched will be added to the final "Default" category.
Add as many categories as you need by clicking the "Add Category" button. When you have finished, click "Create Column".
Your new custom column will appear at the top of your Chart Dashboard. You can now explore, run statistical calculations against it and filter by it.
