Learn English – What word could be used to describe a period of time that stays recent

datestime

I have a button in an app that allows a user to enter a fixed period, i.e. they specify the start and end date and it always stays the same. I have another button that allows them to enter an offset/delay and a length/duration of time that "stays current" but I can't think of a single word that would fit on my button that would describe this.

For example, let's say I select this "stays recent" button and specify a delay of 3 months and a duration of 12 months, that means if I were to look at the data in June 2014, it would show data from March 2013 to March 2014 (12 months, from 3 months back). Then if I were to go and look at the data in October 2014, it would show data from July 2013 to July 2014.

Best Answer

I see quite a few options similar to this while doing analytics on software usage. There are a couple common phrases related to the concept but most of them bank on words from two categories.

The first is the "relative" descriptor:

  • rolling
  • moving
  • sliding
  • most recent
  • relative

The second is the "timeframe" descriptor:

  • timeframe
  • snapshot
  • glimpse
  • window
  • range

Common phrases, then:

  • rolling window
  • moving window
  • relative timeframe
  • most recent snapshot

The other pattern I see frequently is to use "last" or "past" and the specific range set. This is best when the "right side" of the range is anchored to "now":

  • last 30 days
  • past 30 days
  • most recent 30 days

If the right side is also configurable, you can use "ago" or its synonyms:

  • 30-60 days ago
  • previous 1-2 weeks

For example, let's say I select this "stays recent" button and specify a delay of 3 months and a duration of 12 months, that means if I were to look at the data in June 2014, it would show data from March 2013 to March 2014 (12 months, from 3 months back). Then if I were to go and look at the data in October 2014, it would show data from July 2013 to July 2014.

To specifically answer your question, I would use something like "moving snapshot" with "starting date" and "delay" and "duration" as your three fields. When displaying the full graph, I would label it with the specific dates in the snapshot.