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What is Next Analytics?

Next Analytics for Excel is an add-in that pulls data from your Google Analytics or Facebook account, performs analytical operations, in an Excel workbook. Everything can be automated, providing a one click refresh. Some versions support Twitter and LinkedIn and a few other data sources, as well.

What about new dashboards and reports?

We are currently posting new dashboards and reports to our web site roughly on a weekly basis. They are FREE for anyone to download at any time and you can use them any way you want. Customization is available at support@nextanalytics.com

How does the application work?

We provide a User Guide in your installation. See your Windows Start – All Programs – Nextanalytics menu for a link to it.

What can I do with Next Analytics for Excel?

That is like asking what can you do with Excel? Lots. This is why we give away so many dashboards and reports -- have a look at them for ideas.

How does it compare to other Google Analytics plug-ins and web services?

Next Analytics is a lot more than just a query tool that dumps numbers into Excel. Using an embedded analytics engine with a powerful command set, Next Analytics makes it easy to transform that raw data without having to resort to complicated and fragile Excel formulas. The commands are completely scripted and can be modified dynamically using Excel cell references, allowing you to build powerful dashboards and reports that refresh with a single click.

I understand that Google Analytics limits API calls to 10,000 rows.

Next Analytics will automatically make multiple queries to retrieve all of your data. There is nothing for you to do.

I am an advanced user. Can I modify my queries manually?

Absolutely. With Nextanalytics, all the query parameters are available in a simple script command. You can modify the command as you see fit, adding dynamic segments, advanced filtering or sorting. You can even ‘build’ the commands dynamically with Excel formulas, allowing you to build dynamic dashboards with drop-down selections that modify the query.

I want to query the past 30 days, but the selection only provides ‘Past 28 days’

Use 28 days to build your query, then edit the script command after you have save it. Look on the worksheet tab that ends with “_actions”, and you will see the script we use. Find the row that starts with uiGetGoogleAnalyticsData. Simply change the 28 to 30. You can pick any combination of ‘Past # days’, ‘Past # weeks’, ‘Past # months’ or ‘Past # years’. [By the way, we picked 28 since most web traffic has a strong weekly cycle. Using 30 days will result in metrics that go up or down a little depending on what day of the week it is.]

What about support?

Support is offered free for the first year. If you have questions that can be answered generically, you will get back a prompt reply for free and we will also likely post the response on our site and in social media (without your data or name being mentioned).

If your questions are a result of your specific situation or solution, we might offer to answer it in webinar or youtube video.  In these cases, support remains free.  If your questions are outside that scope, and you would like custom assistance, then our experts are available on a consultative basis. We will advise you of that in our correspondance.   Questions are addressed in the order they are received. We also offer priority service at additional cost.

Where is the support forum?

Send your questions to support@nextanalytics.com and we will provide you with direct responses.

What information do I have to provide, and what will you do with it?

We ask for your email address so we can send you a registration code needed to activate the product. We will subscribe you to our newsletter to keep you informed of new releases and dashboards. We will not share your information with anyone else without your permission. The email address you provide does not have to be the one you use for Google Analytics.

Is my Google Analytics account secure?

Once installed, the product communicates directly with the Google Analytics servers. We never see your Google Analytics credentials or usage information. If you choose, you can stored your account and password (encrypted) on your PC or in your Excel workbooks, giving you the convenience of refreshing data without having to log in.

Is my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn account secure?

Our software does not see your password from these services. When you register, their servers send our software a code that we use to access your data. You can un-register that code at any time using your regular account at Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.  Our software is read-only, it only runs reports that you request, it does not modify your account, nor does it send posts or tweets.

When you save my password, is it secure?

We use full RSA encryption if we store a password. Our application does not save it in its original format, so no one can use the password to login as you. Storing the encrypted password means saved workbooks can be refreshed, but they cannot be used to change any of your account settings.

The install doesn’t seem to work.

Our setup program needs to download additional files from our server and needs access to the internet. If you have a personal firewall running, you need to permit this traffic through. If you are using a web proxy server, you will need to configure Internet Explorer to automatically log in to it.

As the installation finishes, a Windows security warning pops up.

This is expected – our Registration application is trying to start, and it MUST write to your system registry (that’s how Excel finds it’s add-ins), so it is asking for elevated privileges. See our Installation Guide for click-by-click instructions and screen captures.

I run your setup, but some Microsoft software wants to be installed.

It’s OK, there are a few prerequisites needed to run add-ins in Excel, and we’re just triggering those updates from Microsoft. All the applications to be installed are digitally signed by Microsoft or Nextanalytics Corporation so you know it is legitimate.

The Nextanalytics menu appears, but nothing works.

The application must be registered first. Close and re-open Excel. A Windows warning prompt will appear. In Windows XP, UNcheck the box for Protect my computer (i.e. turn it OFF so you are NOT protecting your computer). In Vista, click Allow. In Windows 7 click Yes.

I get a registration panel that asks for my email, but nothing happens when I click Submit.

The application is trying to get to our registration server on the internet. Is your personal firewall blocking the request? Contact support@nextanalytics.com

I want to un-install

To uninstall, from the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel. Depending on which version of Windows you are running, select Add or Remove Programs / Programs & Features / Programs - Uninstall a program. Scroll down the list to find Next Analytics For Excel, and click Uninstall. That's all there is to it. Let me know if you have any problems with these instructions, and I cans end you screen images and more specific instructions.

I got a registration code from the web already.

When the popup asks for your email address, simply click the button that says you already have a registration code.

Error: Invalid URI: the hostname could not be parsed (iMac running Parallels).

If you are using Parallels on an iMac, the problem is because of the mapping of the user home directory. Parallels uses a hostname that starts with a dot, which is invalid for some Microsoft applications, and Next Analytics needs to write files into the user's My Documents\Nextanalytics\ directory. To turn off this setting, open the Virtual Machine menu and click Configure. On the Options panel, click the Configure... button and unselect Documents. Ref: Parallels User Guide v6 (v5)

I get an error: The remote server returned an error: (401) Unauthorized.

There are two possible reasons - see our blog post.

The Next Analytics menu item disappeared

There are times when Excel does not close properly such as when you shutdown with a file open. It may disable any installed add-ins that are running at that time, and the effect is that the Next Analytics menu item will disappear. It could be "hard-disabled" or "soft-disabled", so you have to check both possibilities.

[Excel 2003]

• Click menu Help - About Microsoft Office Excel
• Click the Disabled Items... button
• If NextanalyticsForExcel is listed, select it and click the Enable button

• Click menu Tools - Customize
• On the Commands tab, select Tools on the left side
• Find COM Add-ins on the right side, and drag it to the Excel menu bar
• Select menu item COM Add-ins
• NextanalyticsForExcel should be listed and it needs to be checked. Click OK when you are done.

[Excel 2007]

• Click the Excel/Office button (upper left round button), select Excel options
• Click the File menu, select Options - select Add-ins
• in the drop-down at the bottom, Manage: Disabled items, and click the Go... button
• NextanalyticsForExcel should be NOT listed. If it is, select it and click Enable.

• Click the Excel/Office button (upper left round button), select Excel options
• select Add-ins
• in the drop-down at the bottom, Manage: Com Add-ins, and click the Go... button
• NextanalyticsForExcel should be listed and it needs to be checked. Click OK when you are done.

[Excel 2010]

• Click the File menu, select Options- select Add-ins
• in the drop-down at the bottom, Manage: Disabled items, and click the Go... button
• NextanalyticsForExcel should be NOT listed. If it is, select it and click Enable.

• Click the File menu, select Options
• select Add-ins
• in the drop-down at the bottom, Manage: Com Add-ins, and click the Go... button
• NextanalyticsForExcel should be listed and it needs to be checked. Click OK when you are done.

How do I match a custom date/time code?

To figure out what codes you need to enter, you first have to identify the various components of the dates you have been given, and then place the corresponding codes in the correct order. For example:

1/23/10  would be represented as  M/d/yy

5 JAN 10  would be  d MMM yy

2010-01-23  would be  yyyy-MM-dd

1997-07-16T19:20:30.45+01:00  would be  yyyy-MM-dd’T’HH:mm:ss.ffzzz

For more information, reference:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/az4se3k1.aspx