Creating and Editing Dashboards

Dashboards provide a canvas that can display reports, data visualizations, images, text, and web pages.

To create a new dashboard, click the New Dashboard icon in the Main Menu. The Dashboard Designer will appear in a new tab.

 

 

Dashboard Designer

The Dashboard Designer can be used to add reports, text, images, and web pages to a dashboard.

The Dashboard Designer has four components: the Design Canvas, Tool Box, Data Fields, and the Toolbar.

 

 

Dashboard Canvas

In the Dashboard Designer, you can:

 

Toolbox

By dragging Dashboard Items from the Toolbox onto the canvas, you can add the following:

 

Data Fields

After dragging a Data Visualization from the Toolbox on to the Canvas, you can add Data Fields by dragging them over the Data Visualization.

 

Toolbar

Using the toolbar, you are able to:

 

Dashboard Items

By dragging Dashboard Items onto the canvas, you can add the following items to the dashboard:

 

Adding Reports

To add an existing report to the dashboard, drag and drop the Report Button () over the Dashboard Canvas. The Report Properties menu will appear. The Report Properties menu has four tabs: Report, Filters, Parameters, and Options.

 

Reports

In the Reports Tab, select the report you want to display on the dashboard.

 

 

Filters

If the selected report has any Prompt for Value Filters, those filters will appear in the Filters tab. In this tab, you can specify how to prompt for these filter values.

For each Filter:

 

 

v2016.2: Dashboard filters now affect reports linked to dashboard-embedded reports.

 

Parameters

If the selected report has any Prompting Parameters, those parameters will appear in the Parameters Tab. In this tab, you can specify how to prompt for these parameter values.

For each Parameter:

 

 

Options

In the Options Tab, specify settings for how the report displays on the dashboard.

 

Report Viewer

 

Design

 

 

Adding Data Visualizations

To create a new Visualization on the dashboard, drag and drop the Data Visualization icon () onto the Dashboard Canvas. A Data Visualization item will appear.

  

 

With the Data Visualization item, you can:

NOTE. Subsequent changes in the Report Designer will not be reflected on the Data Visualization. To have those changes appear on the dashboard, add the new report to the dashboard.

Convert from a chart to tabular report (or vice versa) by selecting 'Change to Tabular Report' in the right-click menu.

NOTE. A Data Visualization must have at least two Data fields, one of which must be numeric, in order to display a chart.

 

Adding Text

To add text to the dashboard, drag and drop the Text icon () over the Dashboard Canvas. A text box will appear. Type the desired text in this box. Use the Toolbar to format the text.

 

 

Adding Images

To add an image to the dashboard, drag and drop the Image icon () over the Dashboard Canvas. An image box will appear. Click the insert image button () and select the image to upload.

 

 

Adding Web Pages

To add a web page to the dashboard, drag the URL Button () over the Dashboard Canvas. A URL menu will appear. Enter the desired URL and press OK ().

NOTE. Some web pages do not permit being embedded within another web page.

 

 

 

Adding Interactive Filters

To add an interactive filter to the dashboard, drag and drop the Filter icon () over the Dashboard Canvas. The Filter Properties menu will appear. The Filter Properties menu has two tabs: Dashboard Items and Filter.

 

Dashboard Items

In the Dashboard Items Tab, select which reports and data visualizations the filter should apply to by checking the box in the Controlled column.

NOTE. All of the reports and visualizations being controlled by the filter must share at least one common Data Category.

 

  

 

Filter

In the Filter Tab, specify what data should be used and how the interactive filter should appear on the dashboard.

NOTE. The filter can be applied to a calculation instead of a data field by using the formula button ().

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toolbar

The toolbar contains the buttons and menus used to modify the dashboard.

 

Saving Dashboards

The dashboard can be saved by clicking the save button ().

 

Undo/Redo

Any action on a dashboard can be undone by clicking () or pressing CTRL + Z. Undone actions can be redone by clicking () or pressing CTRL + Y.

Borders

To create borders around a dashboard item, select it and click the Format icon ().

 

 

Borders can be rounded by clicking the 'Rounded Edges' button () in the toolbar.

 

 

Formatting Dashboard Text

Text items can be formatted using buttons in the toolbar. A text item must be selected for these changes to be applied.

 

Font

 

Color

 

Alignment

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Renaming Dashboards

To change the name of a dashboard, click 'Rename' in the Toolbar drop-down menu. Modify the name and select the folder where the Dashboard will be saved. Click 'OK'.

 

 

  

 

Changing Description

The dashboard description appears at the bottom of the Main Menu. Though dashboard descriptions are optional, they are utilized when searching reports. To modify a dashboard description, click 'Description' in the Toolbar dropdown menu. Fill in the description and click 'OK'.

      

 

Dashboard Options

Click 'Options' in the Toolbar drop-down menu to open the Dashboard Options Window.

General Options

 

    

 

Executing Dashboards

Dashboards can be run from the Main Menu or the Toolbar. To run a dashboard from the Main Menu, first select the dashboard you want to run and click the 'Run Selected Report' button. When editing a dashboard, simply click 'Run Dashboard' to view the dashboard.

NOTE. Dashboards can only be executed as HTML.