How to Build a Dashboard
Objectives
- Get familiar with dashboard feature and terminology
- Create a dashboard with the Dashboard Builder
What is a Dashboard?
Reports make it easy to access and visualise data to make it insightful and actionable. Dashboard take it one step further, by pulling data from multiple reports and displaying it all side-by-side in the same window. Dashboards are built with source reports, filters, and components.
Components are the visual “blocks” of a dashboard. Each component is either a chart, gauge, metric, or table. Because a dashboard is like a collection of mini-reports, you can (potentially) see many different charts, graphs, tables, and gauges all grouped together on the page. Here’s your guide to the variety you might see within a dashboard and when to use it.
Source reports are reports that provide data for dashboard components. Each component has one source report. Different components can have different source reports. The fields available for dashboard filters are the fields available in the objects that source reports are based on. Create source reports in the Report Builder.
Filters let dashboard readers scope the data they see in the dashboard to a particular view.
Create a Dashboard with the Dashboard Builder
When you land on the dashboards page, you’ll see the dashboards landing page. It’s just like the reports page, and you can navigate through it the same way—using the menu options to sort for individual dashboards (1) or dashboard folders (2) with different sharing settings. To open a dashboard, all you need to do is click a title from the list (3).
Before building a Dashboard, make sure you have previously created the source report containing the data you want to display. Be sure to store the report in folders that intended dashboard viewers can access.
1. From the Dashboard tab, click New Dashboard.
2. Enter a name for your Dashboard and optionally provide a short description.
3. Select a folder where intended users can access the dashboard (see note above). Private Dashboards is the default folder.
4. Click 'Create'.
5. To add a component to the dashboard, click on '+ Component'.
6. Choose a source report for the component, then click 'Select'.
7. On the left hand side of the 'Add Component' window, select a chart type in the 'Display As' section and customise how the component displays data. Confirm the title of you component, optionally you can add a subtitle and footer.
8. On the right hand side, you can see a preview of your component. Once the component is customised according to your needs, click on 'Add'.
9. Optionally resize your dashboard component by clicking it, then dragging the corners and sides.
10. Click on 'Save'.
11. Click 'Done'.
Set up a Dynamic Dashboard
With dynamic dashboards, you can specify who users view the dashboard as. Each user sees the data they have access to without needing to create separate dashboards for each user.
This means a single powerful dashboard can be used for multiple users in your company, because the logged-in user viewing the dashboard sees the data they should see, based on their security and sharing settings.
Remember, when you specify who people view the dashboard as you can give dashboard readers a broader view of data than they normally have. Be sure to control access to your dashboard by saving it in an appropriate dashboard folder.
People view dashboards as a specified user — whoever is listed above the dashboard next to “Viewing as.” Specify who people view the dashboard as while creating or editing a dashboard.
If you have “View All Data,” you can choose any user in your organization to be a running user of the dashboard. If you have “View My Team's Dashboards,” you can choose any user below you in the role hierarchy.
1. On your Home Page, click on the 'Dashboards' tab and click on the dashboard you wish to edit. click on the 'Edit' button
2. Open the Properties menu by clicking the gear icon 
3. Under 'View Dashboard As', select who your users should view the dashboard as:
- Me — Dashboard readers see data in the dashboard according to your access to data. For example, if you can only see Opportunities in France, then dashboard readers only see data about Opportunities in France.
- Another person — Dashboard readers see data in the dashboard according to the data access level of whomever you specify. For example, if you choose someone who can see Opportunities from any country, then dashboard readers see data about Opportunities from all countries.
- The dashboard viewer — Dashboard readers see data as themselves, according to their own access to data. These types of dashboards are often called Dynamic Dashboards.
Take note of these dynamic dashboard limitations:
- You can't follow components on dynamic dashboards
- You can't save dynamic dashboards in private folders
- You can't schedule refreshes for dynamic dashboards - they must be refreshed manually
4. Optionally, select 'Let dashboard viewers choose whom they view the dashboard as' to enable a reader with appropriate user permissions to choose who they view the dashboard as. With the “View My Team’s Dashboards” user permission, the reader can view the dashboard as themselves or as anyone beneath them in the role hierarchy. With the “View All Data” user permission, the reader can view the dashboard as anyone.
5. From the Properties window, click 'Save'. Then, from the Dashboard Builder, click 'Save' again.
When other users open your dashboard, they will see data as the person that you specified.
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