Best practices for using dashboard filters

This article outlines some of the best practices you can use to help you get the most from dashboard filters.

This article contains the following sections:

• Use reports from fewer datasets
• Select time filters you need
• Link data filters 
• Exclude filters from reports
• Using time filters on dashboards
• Save default filter values via bookmarks
• Using filters across multiple tabs

Note: To learn more about filters and how to add them to your dashboard, see Adding interactive dashboard widgets. 

Use reports from fewer datasets

To simplify the dashboard filtering process, don't use reports from too many datasets. Normally one or two datasets will provide enough data. For example, reports in the most common prebuilt dashboard tabs are based on one dataset.

Sometimes, you'll need to add reports to a dashboard from multiple datasets. In such situations, review the reports placed in the tab to ensure that they can't be created from the same datasets. 

Note: For more information about the metrics and attributes contained in each dataset, see Understanding Explore datasets.

Select the time filter attributes you need

Each dataset has multiple time attributes. All these attributes are listed in the time filter menu and can be used to filter the dashboard tab. If reports that were added to the dashboard are from multiple datasets, then time attributes from multiple datasets will be available in the filter menu.

The goal is to select only those time attributes that you actually want to use for filtering the reports in the tab. Normally, you will need one to three time attributes per tab. For example, the Tickets tab of the default Support dashboard uses two attributes for time filtering, Ticket created and Ticket solved.

Link data filters 

If you are using more than one dataset in the same dashboard, you need to link data filter attributes to the equivalent attributes from other datasets. 

For example, the Satisfaction tab of the default Support dashboard uses reports from two datasets, Tickets and Updates history. The data filters are based on the attributes from the Tickets dataset. To ensure that these filters are applied on all reports, they are linked with attributes from the Updates history dataset.

Exclude filters from reports

There are three main reasons for excluding dashboard filters from individual reports:

• You are using more than one attribute in the time filter
• You don't want some of the reports to be affected by a specific filter
• A dashboard filter might override results returned from a filter on the report itself

Dashboard filters can be disabled for each report via the Exclude filters setting.

To disable dashboard filters for a report

1. Select a report widget in the dashboard.
2. In the right top corner of the widget, click the arrow button.
3. In the menu, click Exclude filters.
4. Choose the filter type, then select the attributes that will not be applied to the report.

Using time filters on dashboards

When using time filters on dashboards, it’s better to select a specific time limit rather than the All history value. Selecting All history really means that no time frame is selected. In other words, it doesn’t filter any report on the dashboard

As a result, if some reports on your dashboard have report-level filters, those filters will still apply even when the reports are viewed from the dashboard because All history doesn’t override them.

Save default filter values via bookmarks 

Values that are selected from a dashboard filter are not automatically saved. Therefore, each time the dashboard is accessed or reloaded the filter selections are reset. Because of this, it's important to set the default bookmark for each dashboard tab. It is especially important if a time filter is used in the tab or if the dashboard will be scheduled for email delivery.

To set a default bookmark

1.  Configure the dashboard with the default filter values you want.
2. In the Dashboard menu, click Add and select Add bookmark.
3. On the Bookmark page, click Create bookmark from current state.
4. Enter a display name.
5. Pin the bookmark (). Pinning a bookmark ensures that it is selected by default.
6. If you are not setting additional bookmarks you can hide it by clicking the arrow button in the right top corner of the widget and then clicking Hide. 

Tip: If the dashboard is a copy of the default dashboard or was created by someone else, first check if the bookmark widget wasn't added to the tab already. To locate a hidden bookmark widget click Show hidden widgets button.

Using filters across multiple tabs

With the right configuration, you can make data filters, time filters, and live data filters work across multiple dashboard tabs. To do so, you 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 filter, then click Edit filters.

   

2. In the widget settings panel, enable 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.