Build your own dashboard

Now that you understand what dashboards are and what kind of information they can give you, it’s time to build your own dashboard. Here, we focus on creating a dashboard with pre-built reports and widgets, plus other easy-to-use panels.

PREREQUISITE   Before you begin, you should know which reports, widgets, or other items you want on your dashboard and how you want it to look. You could even make a rough sketch on a piece of paper.

Step 1: Add panels to the dashboard

1. On the Data Explorer page, click New Dashboard (upper left corner of the page).
2. Click Add Panels.
3. Select the panel you want from the drop-down list. Your cursor turns into a + when you hover over the blank dashboard.

4. Click and drag your cursor to set the size and location for the panel.

   NOTE    Give each item enough space. Items on your dashboard won’t be useful if they’re too small. The exact size you need varies by item.

5. For everything except widget panels, configure the panel. (Widget panels don’t need to be configured.) Jump to these sections for more information on each kind of panel:
   • Report panel
   • Webpage panel
   • Image panel
   • Text panel
6. Repeat Steps 1—5 until your dashboard contains all the panels you want.

Report panel

You can incorporate pre-built reports into your own dashboards. However, we designed each pre-built report specifically to be part of the pre-built dashboard it lives in. To use a pre-built report outside of its pre-built dashboard, you might need to copy it and adjust its settings.

1. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the report panel.
2. Select Properties from the drop-down list. The Report Properties window opens.
3. Click Selection.
4. Select a report.
5. Click Apply. The Report Properties window closes, and the report appears in the panel.

Webpage panel

Webpage panels hold a mini version of a website. They’re especially helpful if you’re not allowed to use your personal smartphone at your desk. Common uses for webpage panels include help sites, weather, or work-related blogs.

NOTE   Not all websites will appear in these panels, due to restrictions from the sites themselves, your organization’s firewall, your browser, or other security settings. Websites that begin with “https” work best.

1. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the panel.
2. Select Properties from the drop-down list. The Webpage Properties window opens.
3. Click Location.
4. Enter the full URL for the website (including https://) in the Url field.
5. Click Apply. The Webpage Properties window closes, and the site appears in the panel.

Image panel

Image panels hold pictures. To appear in a dashboard panel, an image must be posted online and have a URL. You can’t upload pictures from your computer into a dashboard.

1. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the panel.
2. Select Properties from the drop-down list. The Image Properties window opens.
3. Click Image.
4. Enter the picture’s full URL (including https://) in the Image Url field.
5. Select Preserve Aspect Ratio. (This prevents the image from being distorted if it doesn’t fit perfectly into the panel.)
6. Click Apply. The Image Properties window closes.

Text panel

Text panels hold whatever text you want to put in them. You can use them to explain the visuals on a dashboard (helpful if you Share a dashboard with other people) or add attractive titles or labels. And of course, you can add a funny or inspirational saying to your dashboard.

1. Click Edit in the upper right corner of the panel.
2. Select Properties from the drop-down list. The Text Properties window opens.
3. Click HTML.
4. Enter the text and format it however you like.
5. Click Apply. The Text Properties window closes.

Step 2: Save the dashboard

You have a dashboard all filled up with reports, widgets, your favorite cat picture, and a quote that makes you smile. Now it’s time to save your work.

1. Click Save (upper left corner of the page). The Unsaved Dashboard window opens.
2. Enter a name for your new dashboard and click Save. The Unsaved Dashboard window closes, and your dashboard appears!