PostHog Bug: Dashboard Annotations Not Showing On All Trends

by Marco 61 views

Are you experiencing issues with dashboard-level annotations in PostHog, where they fail to appear on all trends within a dashboard? This is a known bug that's causing some headaches for users. Let's dive into the details, explore how to reproduce it, and discuss potential workarounds.

Bug Description

The core issue lies in the inconsistent display of dashboard-level annotations. You create an annotation at the dashboard level, expecting it to be visible across all relevant trends within that dashboard. However, that's not always the case. Some trends might show the annotation perfectly, while others might completely miss it. This lack of consistency makes it difficult to rely on annotations for communicating important context about events, changes, or significant findings related to your metrics.

For instance, imagine you've added an annotation marking a specific marketing campaign launch date. You'd want to see that annotation overlaid on all the relevant charts (like website traffic, conversion rates, and sign-ups) to quickly understand the impact of the campaign. If the annotation is only visible on a couple of charts, the analysis becomes incomplete, and you might miss crucial correlations. This bug directly impacts the usability of annotations, which are vital for providing context and facilitating collaboration among team members. It hampers the ability to quickly identify patterns, understand anomalies, and make informed decisions based on the data presented within the dashboard. Essentially, the inability to rely on consistent annotation visibility undermines the very purpose of using annotations to enrich data analysis and improve the effectiveness of dashboards.

This inconsistency can be frustrating because the user assumes that annotations applied to the dashboard level should apply to all visuals included in said dashboard. This can lead to missed insights, confusion, and wasted time as users try to piece together the full picture of what's happening with their metrics. The user experience is significantly degraded, and the overall utility of the PostHog platform is diminished.

How to Reproduce

While the bug isn't always consistent, the primary way to trigger this issue is to include multiple insights within a single dashboard. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the steps to reproduce the bug and to give you a clear understanding of how to create a scenario that highlights this bug:

  1. Create a new dashboard: Begin by creating a new dashboard in your PostHog project. This is the starting point for the reproduction process. Give it a descriptive name so you can find it easily.
  2. Add multiple insights: This is the crucial step. Add several different insights to your newly created dashboard. These insights can be of various types: trends, funnels, retention, etc. The more insights you include, the higher the chance of encountering the bug. Ensure that at least some of these insights are displaying metrics that you want to annotate, for example, conversion rates, sales numbers, or user engagement.
  3. Create a dashboard-level annotation: Go to your dashboard and create a dashboard-level annotation. This is done through the annotation feature within PostHog, usually by selecting an option from the dashboard's settings or context menu. Add a meaningful title and description that is relevant to your insights. If you are tracking a specific event, such as a new feature launch, a marketing campaign, or the resolution of a bug, make sure that the annotation's timestamp aligns with the relevant time range in your dashboard.
  4. Observe the annotation's display: Now, the crucial part: Examine each insight on your dashboard. Look for the annotation you just created. Check if it's displayed correctly on all the charts and graphs. If you find that the annotation is missing from some of the insights while being present on others, you've successfully reproduced the bug. The annotation may appear on some trends, showing the mark on the chart where the annotation was added, but not on others, indicating the inconsistency. If the annotation appears to be consistently displayed across all insights, try adding even more insights to the dashboard to see if the problem persists. This can help you determine if the issue is tied to the number of insights or some other factor.
  5. Check different time ranges: One useful test is to modify the time ranges displayed in your dashboard. Sometimes, the annotation might appear in one time range but not in another. Switch between different time periods (e.g., last 7 days, last 30 days, custom ranges) to see if the bug's manifestation is time-dependent. This test can reveal underlying patterns or specific conditions that trigger the inconsistent behavior of the annotations.
  6. Test with different insight types: Experiment with different insight types (trends, funnels, etc.). The bug might appear more frequently with specific insight types, which can help narrow down the cause and assist in identifying a solution. For example, the issue might be more prevalent in trend reports compared to funnel reports.
  7. Review data: Take a close look at the data that the insights are using. If any of the insights use different filters or data sources, that might affect the display of the annotations. Ensure that all the insights are using similar data sources and filters to see if that makes a difference.

By following these steps, you will effectively reproduce the bug and you can observe the issue firsthand. This detailed method gives you a clear understanding of the issue and helps highlight the problem. Having a clear understanding of the reproduction steps facilitates collaboration among developers and helps in debugging and resolving the issue effectively.

Additional Context

This bug was reported through the PostHog helpdesk and referenced in Zendesk ticket #36667, indicating that other users have also encountered this problem. The fact that it has been reported indicates that it is a widespread problem that has a real impact on the daily use of PostHog by users. This further emphasizes the importance of promptly resolving this issue. The more users who report this issue, the more attention it gets from the PostHog development team.

Debug Info

The provided debug information (shell null) doesn't offer any specific details about the cause of the bug in the immediate context. However, this does not mean that it's completely useless. This information, although simple, can still be important in a broader process, such as helping the development team understand if there is an issue with the user's setup or configuration.