Working with the report builder (Beta)

Note: This article describes the beta version of the Explore report builder. For information on the classic report builder instead, see Creating reports.

The beta report builder lets you create reports, which are requests for information from your Zendesk data. For example, you might want to ask "How many open support tickets do I have?"

In Explore, users with the appropriate permissions can create and store reports in the Reports library. You can add these reports to dashboards, which you can then share with others.

This article contains the following topics:

• Starting a report
• Adding metrics to a report
• Adding attributes to a report
• Removing metrics or attributes from a report
• Filtering a report
• Changing a report’s visualization
• Naming and saving a report
• Editing a report

Related articles:

• Understanding reports
• Adding reports to a dashboard

Starting a report

You can create a report with the beta report builder from the Reports library.

To create a report

1. In Explore, click the Reports icon () to open the Reports library.
2. In the banner titled Report Builder beta is available, select Try beta.
   
3. On the Select a dataset page, choose the dataset that contains the information you want to report on. For help choosing a dataset, see Understanding the available default datasets.
   Tip: If you begin creating your report and realize that you used the wrong dataset, you can quickly return to this screen by selecting the Change dataset option within the report builder.
4. Click Start report.

The beta report builder opens a new report using the dataset you chose.

Adding metrics to a report

Metrics are quantifiable values, such as the number of tickets or customer wait times. You must add at least one metric to your report.

To add a metric to a report

1. Make sure the Metrics tab is selected in the leftmost column.
2. Find the metric you want to add. The beta report builder gives you several options for finding the right metric:
   
   • Search for a specific metric using the search bar.
   • Sort the available metrics by clicking Popular or Recently used.
   • Filter your search results by clicking the filter icon () and selecting the category the metric belongs to. This category is analogous to the metric folders in the classic report builder.
3. Click and drag the metric you want to use into the Metrics panel. Alternatively, you can click the plus sign (+) to the right of the metric name to add it.
   
   Explore automatically uses the most suitable aggregator for the metric.
4. (Optional) If you want to change the metric aggregator, click the options menu () next to the metric and select a different aggregator.
   

Adding attributes to a report

Attributes slice your data by non-quantifiable values, such as ticket ID, ticket tags, and assignee names. You can add one or multiple attributes to a report, or none at all.

Attributes can be added in the Rows or Columns panels. Which panel you add an attribute to changes the way your report works:

• The Rows panel allows you to add primary attributes that break down the metrics to show details.
• The Columns panel allows you to add secondary attributes that divide the results again for more insights.
• The Filters panel restricts which results are shown without the attribute appearing on your report. See Filtering a report.

Note that the labels for the Rows and Columns panels change depending on which visualization you select.

Chart type	Primary attributes		Secondary attributes
	Panel label	What it does	Panel label	What it does
Table	Rows	Breaks down the metrics to show details	Columns	Divides the results again for more insights
KPI	View by	Breaks down the metrics to show details	Segment by	Divides the results again for more insights
Charts showing trends
Line, Column, Area	Trend by	Breaks down the metrics on X axis to show trend	Segment by	Divides the results into additional series for more insights
Charts with axes
Dot, Waterfall	View by	Breaks down the metrics on X axis to show details	Segment by	Divides the results into additional series for more insights
Bar	View by	Breaks down the metrics on Y axis to show details	Segment by	Divides the results into additional series for more insights
Charts without axes
Gauge, Sparkline, Treemap, Bubble, Bubble pack, Picto, Bullet, Radar, Sunburst, Relational, Parallel sets, World cloud	View by	Breaks down the metrics to show details	Segment by	Divides the results again for more insights

To add an attribute to a report

1. Select the Attributes tab in the leftmost column.
2. Find the attribute you want to add. The beta report builder gives you several options for finding the right attribute:
   
   • Search for a specific attribute using the search bar.
   • Sort the available attributes by clicking Popular or Recently used.
   • Filter your search results by clicking the filter icon () and selecting the category the attribute belongs to. This category is analogous to the attribute folders in the classic report builder.
3. Click and drag the attribute you want to use into the Rows or Columns panel. Alternatively, you can click the options menu () to the right of the attribute name to add it.

Removing metrics or attributes from a report

If you add a metric or attribute to your report that you no longer want, you can easily remove it.

To remove a metric or attribute from a report

1. Click the options menu () next to the metric or attribute you want to remove and select Remove.
   
   Alternatively, you can click and drag any metric or attribute to the Drop here to remove panel at the bottom of the screen.
   

Tip: If you add or remove any metrics or filters and your report doesn’t refresh as expected, you can manually refresh the report by clicking the Reload icon () in the upper right.

Filtering a report

You can filter a report by adding an attribute in the Filters panel to control which values are included in the report.

To filter a report

1. Select the Attributes tab in the leftmost column.
2. Find the attribute you want to add. The beta report builder gives you several options for finding the right attribute:
   
   • Search for a specific attribute using the search bar.
   • Sort the available attributes by clicking Popular or Recently used.
   • Filter your search results by clicking the filter icon () and selecting the category the attribute belongs to. This category is analogous to the attribute folders in the classic report builder.
3. Click and drag the attribute you want to use into the Filters panel. Alternatively, you can click the options menu () to the right of the attribute name to add it.
4. In the Filters panel, click the options menu () next to the attribute you just added and select Edit.
   
5. Select the values you want to filter your report by.
6. Click Apply.
   

The report returns only results where the attribute values you selected are present.

Changing a report’s visualization

By default, Explore renders your report results using the Table visualization. However, you can change this visualization at any time.

To change a report’s visualization

1. Click the visualization button above the report results. The name of this button reflects the currently applied visualization.
   
2. Select the visualization you want to apply to your report. The option at the top always shows the default visualization, Table. The other available options are sorted into the following categories:
   • Change over time: Includes Column, Line, Area, Sparkline, and Waterfall.
   • Comparison of parts: Includes Bar, Pie, Funnel, Sunburst, Treemap, Word cloud, Bubble pack, and Bubble plot.
   • Infographics: Includes KPI, Gauge, Bullet, and Picto.
     
     For help choosing a visualization, see Choosing the right chart type for your data.

Tip: If at any time you want more room to see your report’s visualization, you can collapse either or both of the columns on the left.

Naming and saving a report

After you’ve added any metrics, attributes, and filters to a report, you need to name it and save it so that your work isn’t lost when you exit the beta report builder.

To name and save your report

1. Click the pencil icon () in the top left.
2. Give your report a descriptive name and click the checkmark.
3. (Optional) Click the star icon () to add this report to your favorites. Your favorite reports appear in the Favorites section of the Reports library.
4. Click Save in the top right.

Editing a report

The beta report builder is compatible with the reports created in the classic builder and vice versa. This means that you can create a report in one of the builders and continue editing it later in the other one.

To edit a report

1. In the Reports library, open the report you want to edit.
2. Click Switch to builder beta at the bottom of the screen.
   

The beta report builder opens the report for editing.

Tip: Within a report, the Manage dashboards icon () next to the report name shows you whether this report has been added to any dashboards. This is a quick and helpful way to determine whether your updates will affect any published dashboards.