FAQ: Changing the Time Zone in Statistics

My server logs times in GMT, but I'm in a different time zone. How can I get the statistics in my own time zone?

Short Answer

Set the date_offset option in the profile.

Long Answer

Sawmill reports times exactly as they appear in the log data -- if the time shows up as 8:00 AM in the log data, that hit will appear as 8:00 AM in the statistics. Since servers sometimes log in GMT, or some other time zone from where Sawmill is running, you may want to offset the times in your statistics to match your own time zone, rather than the server's time zone or GMT. This is easily done using the date_offset option in the profile file (the profile file is in the profiles folder of LogAnalysisInfo). The number of hours specified in that option is added to the date/time, so if it's a negative number, it moves times backwards, and if it's positive, it moves them forwards. For instance, if you're 8 hours behind GMT (GMT-0800), and your server logs in GMT, you can set this value to -8 to get statistics in your own time zone. This option affects log entries are they are processed, so you'll need to rebuild the database after setting this option, to see the changes in the statistics.