Adding interactive dashboard widgets

What's my plan?

You can add interactive widgets to a dashboard, so your viewers can interact with, and customize their results. Only editors can add interactive widgets, but any viewer permitted to view a dashboard can use them.

For help using interactive widgets, see Interacting with dashboards.

This article contains the following sections:

• Filtering results
• Selecting new metrics and attributes
• Using bookmarks to save filtered dashboard states

Related articles:

• Best practices for using dashboard filters
• Explore recipe: Taking dashboard filters and bookmarks to the next level

Filtering results

Viewers can use filter interactive widgets to restrict results to specific attribute values, date and number ranges, or the highest and lowest results. You can configure filters to work across multiple tabs, and you can prevent filters from applying to individual reports.

This section contains the following topics:

• Filtering dashboards by time, attributes, metrics, or top/bottom
• Filtering results across multiple tabs
• Excluding reports from dashboard filters

Filtering dashboards by time, attributes, metrics, or top/bottom

The following are the available types of filters:

• Time filter
• Data filter
• Metric filter
• Top/bottom

Note: Any filters set inside of an individual report are overwritten by dashboard-level filters. If necessary, you can exclude a report from dashboard filters so its filters aren't overwritten.

Adding a time filter

A time filter enables users to edit the displayed time period.

To add a time filter

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add time filter.
2. In the Time filter widget panel, select a date attribute to use in the filter.
3. Edit how the time filter is rendered (calender by default) and the level of detail. These options are available underneath your metrics.

   

4. When you are finished, click Apply.

Your time filter widget will resemble the image below.

Adding a data (attribute) filter

A data filter enables viewers to filter results by an attribute's values. Viewers can divide data by an additional attribute without the results appearing on each report.

To add a data filter

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add data filter.
2. On the Choose data filter dataset panel, choose the dataset you want to filter. You'll see this panel only if you've added multiple reports that use different datasets to your dashboard.
3. In the Choose data filter columns panel, select the attribute you want to use.

   

   You can either browse the available attributes in the list, or refer to Understanding Explore datasets for a full list of available values for the dataset you're using.

   Tip: If you choose a date attribute, think about how you want your viewers to be able to filter the dashboard. For example, a common filter might be the date the ticket was created, so you'd choose the Ticket created - Date attribute. The attribute you select must be part of the dataset that was used to create the report you’ve added to the dashboard.
4. Enter a Display name and Width to set a custom name and width for the attribute.
5. Select a position from the Display drop-down list to set how options appear.
6. Select from the following additional options:
   • Multiselection: Allows viewers to select more than one value.
   • Cascade prompts: Applies the data filter to other filters. For example, if you're using two separate data filters for Ticket Tags and Ticket ID, selecting this option means that when a viewer selects a tag, only the ticket IDs for that tag will be available.
   • Select values: Allows viewers to select values to be included in the filtered report.
   • Exclude values: Allows viewers to select values to be excluded from the filtered report.
   • Promote URL as parameter: Embeds your filter in the dashboard URL. You can type a new value directly in the URL to update your filter. For more information about this option, see Customizing dashboards with URL parameters.
   • Show selected/excluded values: Shows the values that are currently included or excluded from the filtered report in the data filter widget.
7. In the Sort drop-down list, select the order of values. Values can be sorted alphabetically from A-Z or Z-A.
8. If your dashboard uses multiple datasets, you can enter a common attribute in the Link with box to apply the filter across all of your dashboard's datasets.
9. Select Do not share across tab to apply the filter only to the selected tab.
10. When you're finished, click Apply.

Your data filter interaction will resemble the image below.

Adding a metric filter

The metric filter interactive widget is similar to the metric filter manipulation in the report builder (see Selecting the metric result range). Viewers can use the metric filter to set a floor or ceiling to results.

To add a metric filter

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add metric filter.
2. On the Choose metric filter dataset panel, choose the dataset you want to filter. You'll only see this panel if you've added multiple reports that use different datasets to your dashboard.
3. In the Choose metric filter dataset panel, choose a dataset.
4. Select the metric you want to use as a filter.
5. You can then edit the display name, width, and if blank values are filtered.
6. When you are finished, click Apply.

Your metric filter will resemble the image below.

Adding a top/bottom filter

Similar to the top/bottom filter manipulation option in the report builder, with the top/bottom interactive widget your viewers can limit results to the highest or lowest values. For more information on the top/bottom filter in the report builder, see Creating a top/bottom filter.

To add a top/bottom filter

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add top/bottom.
2. In the Top/Bottom panel, enter your top and bottom values and set their visibility.

   

3. Select a strategy. The strategy will determine what attribute is used to calculate results.
4. Add metrics in the Metrics textbox.
5. Select a Display type. You can display measures in either a drop-down or button list.
6. When you are finished, click Apply.

Your top/bottom filter will resemble the image below.

Filtering results across multiple tabs

You can make dashboard filters work across multiple tabs. To do so, add the same filter to each tab you want it to affect.

To use the same filter across multiple tabs

1. Add the filter you want to the first dashboard tab.
2. Select the filter you just added and press Ctrl+C on your keyboard to copy the filter.
3. Go to the next tab you want the filter to work on and press Ctrl+V to paste the filter.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for additional tabs as necessary.

When a user views the dashboard and applies a filter, the reports on the tab they’re viewing are filtered by the value they chose. When the user moves to another tab where you’ve added the same filter, that tab is already filtered by the same value they chose on the first tab.

If you don’t want that behavior, you can prevent filters from affecting multiple dashboard tabs, even if the same filter appears on multiple tabs.

To prevent filters from working across tabs

1. In each filter you want to change, click the down arrow in the top right, then click Edit filters.

   

2. In the settings panel, select Do not share across tab.
3. Click Close.

Now, changing the filter, or clicking a bookmark that changes the filter, affects only the current dashboard tab.

Excluding reports from dashboard filters

If necessary, you can prevent dashboard filters from applying to individual reports within the dashboard. This is helpful if you don't want dashboard-level filters to overwrite the filters configured in the report itself.

To turn off dashboard filters for a report

1. Select a report in the dashboard.
2. In the right-top corner of the report, click the down arrow and select Exclude filters.
3. Select the filter type, then select the attributes that should not be applied to the report.

Selecting new metrics and attributes

When you select these interactive widgets, your viewers can edit the initial metrics or attributes to view other possible outcomes.

The following interactive widgets that enable your viewers to edit existing metrics or attributes:

• Change metric
• Change attribute

Selecting a different metric

The change metric widget enables viewers to change the initial metrics, so they can view different outcomes of the same report.

To add a change metric interactive widget

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add change metric.
2. In Choose change measure dataset panel, select a dataset used on the dashboard.
3. Select the metric that you want to give users the option to change.
4. After you select a metric, you can edit the option display name, width, and display format. You can also permit users to change measure aggregators and restrict the list of available measures.

   

5. When you are finished, click Apply.

Your change metric widget will resemble the image below.

Selecting a different attribute

Similar to a change metric, the change attribute interactive widget enables viewers to select a new attribute.

To add a change attribute interactive widget

1. In the Dashboard menu, click Add > Add change attribute.
2. In the Choose change attribute dataset panel, select the dataset containing the attribute you want to become a change attribute.
3. Select the attribute to become a change attribute.
4. After you select an attribute, you can edit the display name, width, and display format. You can also restrict the list of available attributes.

   

5. When you are finished, click Apply.

   Your change attribute widget will resemble the image below.

   

Using bookmarks to save filtered dashboard states

When you add a bookmark widget, it freezes the current state of filters. Viewers can switch to different bookmarks to see different filter states. To learn about how to use bookmarks, see Working with dashboard bookmarks.