Plan requirement
| Subscription | Suite Professional or higher, Explore Professional or higher |
| Access | Agent |
Cloning is how most reports should start. Choose the dataset it lands in, rename it before you edit, and remember that Explore does not save by itself.
Clone one
- In the reports library, open the pull-down list next to the report closest to what you want and select Clone.
- Choose the dataset the copy goes into, and give it a name. Rename it now, while you still know what you intended.
- Change what needs changing.
- Click Save. From inside a report, that same menu also offers Add to dashboard, Clone and Export.
Two things bite here. Editing in Explore does not save automatically, so a report you close without saving is a report you did not change. And if the dataset you copy into does not support the metrics and attributes in the report, the clone will not work, so keep it in the same dataset unless you have a reason.
Why clone rather than build
A standard report already has the right dataset, sensible filters and a working visualisation. Changing one thing about something that works is faster and less error-prone than assembling it, and it is how you learn the builder: by reading how a good report is put together.
Never edit a standard report
They are the reference point and they feed the prebuilt dashboards. Clone, change the copy, and the original stays intact for comparison and for whoever comes next.
What a clone does not do
It does not follow the original. Fixing the original later does not fix your copy. Where several clones exist of the same thing, a correction has to be made in each, and one will be missed. That is the argument for keeping the number of clones small.
It does not clean up after itself. Cloning is cheap, so the list grows. Half an hour once a quarter removing what nobody uses keeps it navigable, and remember that deleting is permanent.
Check the filters you inherited
A clone carries the original's filters, including a date range or a brand exclusion that made sense there and not here. Read them before trusting the number.
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