This transformation parses the timestamp of each event that comes in to PostHog and adds the following time-based properties:
| Property | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
day_of_the_week | Plain text value for the day of the week | Monday |
day | Numeric value for the day within a month | 7 |
month | Numeric value corresponding to the current month | 6 (June) |
year | Numeric value of the year | 2022 |
hour | Numeric value for the hour in UTC (24-hour clock) | 21 |
minute | Numeric value for the minute | 37 |
Requirements
Using this requires either PostHog Cloud with the data pipelines add-on, or a self-hosted PostHog instance running a recent version of the Docker image.
Installation
- In PostHog, click the "Data pipeline" tab in the left sidebar.
- Click the 'Transformations tab'.
- Click the '+ New Transformation' button.
- Look for the 'Timestamp Parser' and click the '+ Create' button.
- Click on the toggle to enable the transformation and then click 'Create'.
Any new events that come in to PostHog will now be automatically parsed!
Using the Timestamp Parser
The timestamp parser is a great tool for answering time-based questions that are sometimes very challenging to tackle with PostHog alone.
By filtering and breaking down events, we can now easily answer questions such as:
- Do we get more purchases on weekdays or weekends?
- Why does our traffic spike on Tuesdays?
- How do users use our platform differently during the holiday season?
- How does retention compare for users who join on a weekend versus a weekday?
Note: This transformation only works on new events sent to PostHog, and as a result you won't be able to filter events that were sent before it was enabled.
Examples
Here is an example of what these properties look like after they have been added to an event.
Here's an example of creating a filter in a trends insight to only show events that were send on a Saturday or Sunday.
We can also break down an insight by month to get an idea of how it varies over the course of a year.
Overall, the timestamp parser is a simple yet incredibly powerful transformation that these examples only scratch the surface on.
FAQ
Who created this transformation?
We'd like to thank PostHog team member Yakko Majuri and community member Victor Campuzano for creating the Timestamp Parser. Thank you, both!
Who maintains this?
This is maintained by the community. If you have issues with it not functioning as intended, please let us know!
What if I have feedback on this destination?
We love feature requests and feedback. Please tell us what you think.
What if my question isn't answered above?
We love answering questions. Ask us anything via our community forum.