Use this article to help you find your way around the Zendesk Explore interface.
This article contains the following sections:
Explore interface basics
The main menus in Explore are the top toolbar and the sidebar which are visible from most Explore pages. The interface items you'll see depend on the version of Explore you're using.
Top toolbar
The top toolbar helps you navigate Explore, and switch to other Zendesk products. Here you can find your current location in the product, use the search function, and access other Zendesk products and your user profile.
| Link/Icon | Task |
|---|---|
 |
Location: Displays your current location in Explore and the path taken to your current location. This location updates when you move through different pages in Explore. |
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Search: Opens the search box. This enables you to search the reports, dashboards, and datasets library for the term you entered. |
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Product tray: Contains links to all of your other Zendesk products. |
 |
User profile: Opens a drop-down menu where you can access your user profile, view keyboard shortcuts, give product feedback, open the Explore Help Center, and sign out. |
Sidebar
The sidebar lets editors and admins access Explore libraries, and settings.
| Icon | Task |
|---|---|
 |
Dashboards library (all Explore plans): Displays all of the pre-built dashboards and any of your shared or created dashboards. Editors and admins can create new dashboards by clicking the New dashboard button. From this location, editors and admins can open the Dashboard Builder and create, share, delete, and duplicate dashboards. See Understanding dashboards. |
 |
Reports library (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Displays all of your reports. Only editors and admins have access to this icon. From this location, editors and admins can open the report builder and create, share, duplicate, and delete reports. See Understanding reports. |
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Datasets library (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Displays all of your datasets. Only editors and admins have access to this icon. From this location, editors and admins can open the Dataset Builder and create, edit, duplicate, and delete datasets. See Understanding datasets. |
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Settings menu (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Contains account settings such as dataset access, dashboard sharing, default chart colors, export settings, and default start of week. Only admins can access these settings. See Explore admin settings. |
Explore libraries
When you open Explore, you always start in the Dashboards library. If you're using Explore Professional or Enterprise, you can switch to the Reports, and Datasets libraries which have the same look and feel. The main components in each library are:
-
Header: Displays the name of the library you're in and the number of items in the
library. This is the total number of items, whether or not they have been created by you
or shared.
-
New dashboard/report/dataset: Adds new dashboard, report, or
dataset.
-
Main window: Contains a list of all your dashboards, reports, or datasets. There
are two tabs you can use to change the list of items in the library's main window.
- All: Displays every item, regardless of who created it .
- My dashboards/reports/datasets: Displays all items that were created by you.
-
Settings: Shows a dropdown menu where you can edit, duplicate, and delete items.
For reports and dashboards, you can also choose to share them. The Settings icon
(
) will appear when you hover a dashboard, report, or dataset
name.
Dashboard, Report, and Dataset libraries
In Explore, editors and admins can create new dashboards, reports, and datasets using the Explore builders. Builders contain all available customization options and settings. For more information on creating and customizing dashboards, reports, and datasets, see Getting Started with Zendesk Explore for reporting and analytics.
Report Builder (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)
Editors and admins can create and edit report in the report builder. The report builder automatically opens whenever a user creates a new report or selects an existing one. For more information, see Reports.
The report builder contains the following components:
- Metrics: Add quantitative data, or metrics to your report (see Adding metrics).
- Attributes: Add any qualitative data, or attributes to your report in Columns, Rows, Filters, and Explosions. Each of these locations cause your report to render differently (see Adding attributes).
-
Pivot table: Switch your column and row attributes using the pivot table
button (
) to the right of Columns. The pivot table feature
saves you time by automatically moving your attributes, so you don't have to drag and
drop. -
Top toolbar: Contains options for your report that do not include
customization. You can click the Report name box to enter a new name or the
Datasets box to navigate back to the dataset the report was created from.
Table 3. Top toolbar icons Icon Task 
Displays the Explore dashboards that your report has been added to. 
New report: Removes everything from your report. This action cannot be undone. 
Undo: Reverses the last action you performed. 
Redo: Restores the last action you undid. 
Reload report: Resubmits all of the report's calculations behind the scenes. This can be useful when you’re manipulating especially complex or custom metrics. Reloading the report is faster than reloading the entire webpage and prevents you from losing any work that you haven’t yet saved. 
Save: Saves the report, or click the down arrow to open a drop-down menu with four different saving options. Reports do not save automatically. See Saving your report. -
Customization menus: Each menu detailed below performs a different type of
customization (see Customizing reports).
Table 4. Customization menus Icon Task 
Visualization type: Change your chart type. The Visualization type menu icon will display the chart type you selected. If you have not yet selected a chart type, the Visualization type menu icon will show the auto-chart icon. See Visualization types reference. 
Chart configuration: The primary location for all of your chart formatting options. Customization options differ, depending on your chart type. See Customizing reports. 
Result manipulation: Perform calculations on already processed results, including totals, percentage difference, and more. See Result manipulation reference. 
Calculations: Create custom metrics and attributes to use in your reports or in other custom elements. See Calculated metrics and attributes reference.
Dashboard Builder (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)
Editors and admins can create, customize, and share dashboards in the Dashboard Builder. The Dashboard Builder opens automatically whenever a user create a new dashboard or selects an existing one. For more information on dashboards, see Dashboards.
The Dashboard Builder contains the following elements:
-
Toolbar: The customization toolbar displays at the top of the dashboard. The
toolbar options differ depending on the options you select. If you select a widget the
Tab title, Widget options, and Widget header customization
menus will appear (see Customizing dashboards). This toolbar also
includes sharing and publishing options (see Sharing dashboards).
-
Headers: Your dashboard and tab titles. You can rename a dashboard title by
clicking the dashboard header. To rename, delete, duplicate, or move a tab, click the
down arrow next to the tab name.
- Dashboard: The dashboard is where you add widgets and other information to create your report. Content in the dashboard is what will be visible to viewers when you share your report.
Datasets library (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)
Editors and admins can create and edit datasets in the datasets library. Typically, you will choose a dataset that has already been created to use as the basis for your reports. However, for testing, you might want to create a new dataset that you can modify.
Explore admin settings (Professional and Enterprise only)
Edit your Explore account options and other settings in the Settings menu .
The admin menu has three tabs:
-
Dataset access: Manage dataset access (see Setting Explore dataset access).
-
Sharing: Manage options related to sharing dashboards outside Zendesk (see Sharing Explore dashboards outside Zendesk) and scheduling with
end users (see Scheduling with end users).
-
Formatting: Manage options related to default chart colors (see Setting default chart colors), export formatting
(see Setting export separators and decimal precision),
and default start of week (see Setting the start of the week for reports and filters).
