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Transitioning to the new Explore dashboard builder: Your questions answered
Posted Oct 19, 2023
Hello, Zendesk community! Now that we’ve released the new Explore dashboard builder, we've revised our plan and put together this post to give you a comprehensive overview and to address any concerns you might have.
Before you start, watch this five-minute demo to get a quick overview of the new intuitive and dynamic dashboard builder.
Why have we introduced a new dashboard builder?
The move is driven by our commitment to simplifying how dashboards are built. Many of you shared how the classic experience has a steep learning curve. With the new dashboard builder, we want to provide a flexible, user-tailored experience that gives control and visibility to editors. This new experience represents our commitment to empowering you to create dashboards you're proud to share.
What’s the process for transitioning to the new dashboard?
The transition is taking place using a phased approach over a 12-month period from November 4, 2024 to help you prepare and adapt to the new interface gradually.
We’ll keep you updated during the transition about what you can expect in each phase to guide you through this change. In the meantime, here is a high-level overview of the transition plan:
- Phase 1 - Beta dashboard builder GA release (4 months): The GA release of our new dashboard builder includes a host of exciting features like tabs, exports, schedules, and the ability to link filters across different datasets.
During this phase, while users have the option to continue using the classic builder, it's important to note that our primary focus will be on the development and improvement of the new dashboard builder. As a result, there will be certain limitations for those continuing with the classic experience:- Only highly impactful bugs will be fixed in the classic builder
- No enhancements will be made to the classic builder
- Product documentation will refer to the new dashboard builder with minimal documentation for the legacy dashboard builder.
- Phase 2 - Transitionary period (4 months): Following the GA release of the new dashboard builder, there will be a transitionary period of approximately four months.
During this time, you’ll still be able to edit your dashboards using the classic builder, but you won’t be able to create brand-new dashboards with it. This transitionary period will enable you to gradually adapt to the new interface and take advantage of its enhanced capabilities at your own pace.
At this stage, you’ll also know how your shared dashboards are being used and will be able to identify the relevant dashboards you want to rebuild using the new dashboard builder.
- Phase 3 - View-only access to classic dashboards (4 months): After the transitionary period concludes, dashboards built with the classic builder will remain accessible to all users who have access, but the capabilities will be limited to view-only mode, as edit access to the classic builder will be removed. View-only mode for dashboards built in the classic builder will remain in place for another four months.
- Retirement of the classic view-only experience: In order to be transparent about our future plans, four (4) months after the start of the "View-only access to classic dashboards" phase, we will fully retire the classic dashboard. This means that the classic dashboard will no longer be available for use after this period.
This phased approach is represented in the visual below.
Your questions answered
Following the original announcement, you also raised a number of questions. We've addressed the most common questions below:
Has phase 1 already started?
Yes! As of 4 November 2024, the new dashboard builder is released to GA.
Is there be a tool to help in migrating dashboards built with the classic builder?
Yes, we have developed a tool that will allow you to quickly import reports from an existing dashboard built with the legacy dashboard builder. A beta version of the tool allowing to migrate a single dashboard will be available at the GA of the new dashboard builder. Other improvements will follow post-GA.
What is the timeframe for accessing existing dashboards created with the classic builder?
You will be able to access the existing dashboards created with the classic builder until the end of phase 3, which marks the retirement of the classic view-only experience. This phase is expected to occur approximately one year after the GA of the new dashboard builder.
What features are available at GA?
Many of the features you’ve requested will be available, including:
- Exports in CSV and Excel formats
- Scheduled dashboards
- Tabs
- Linked filters across different datasets
- Excluding reports from being filtered
- Importer tool (Beta)
- Filtered views (Bookmarks)
Will bookmarks be available?
A similar implementation of Bookmarks, named “Filtered views”, is now available. Filtered views make it easy to switch between different sets of filters on a single dashboard tab. A filtered view can be set as a default filtered view for a specific tab as it was possible previously with bookmarks.
Watch this three-minute demo to learn more about filtered views.
Are existing reports compatible with the new builder?
Yes, all existing reports are compatible with the new builder.
Will you delete existing reports after the retirement of the classic view-only experience?
No, we won’t. Your existing reports will be accessible via the report builder and new dashboard builder and won’t be impacted by this plan.
Can you provide some guidance on how to migrate dashboards?
Yes, see this article for help.
At a very high level, you will be able to:
- Identify your most-used dashboards
- Determine whether any of them are similar enough that they would be good candidates to be combined into a single dashboard with dashboard restrictions
- Use the importer tool to quickly import reports from an existing dashboard
Can Professional Services help to rebuild dashboards?
Yes, they will be available as a paid service. We will share more details about their availability and pricing after the GA.
How is this different from migrating from Insights?
It is very different as you won’t have to rebuild any reports. Instead, you can quickly import the existing ones to a new dashboard.
Your feedback matters
Please share your thoughts in the comments below. We'll incorporate your feedback into continuous improvements to the new dashboard builder.
We're excited about the improvements the new dashboard builder brings and look forward to supporting you through this transition. Thank you for being a valued member of our Zendesk community.
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91 comments
Laura
Thank you Walter Bellante . I checked out dashboard restrictions. My current dashboard shows an individual Agent's comments count compared to the average of all Agents comments count. I can't figure out how to do this with dashboard restrictions, since I need to include the average agent comment count so the individual agent can see how they stack up against their peers. Any suggestions on how I can accomplish this?
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Laura
And regarding the ability to show included and excluded filter values, could I get an extension on my dashboards being deleted until this feature parity is available?
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David Froemke
I'm struggling with sharing dashboards with restricted views. We are sending weekly reports to each agent with their open tickets. In the new dashboard builder there isn't the ability to restrict the data on a Schedule report. How can we be forced into using the new tool when there isn't any feature parity?
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Vladimir P
Hi Walter Bellante
We've posted a couple of times on the ‘indefinite’ schedule option as well as there are posts from others on this.
We would like to know if this improvement is on your roadmap. We have invested time and moved almost all our dashbords to the new builder. However, we aren't making a permanent move to using them yet due to lack of the scheduling option without a time limit that is suitable for us, and which is available in the legacy builder. I've outlined the reasons in one of my previous posts.
Can you share your plans/view on this? Thanks
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Terry Branoff
The root of the PDF issue is about screen size in the Explore report. To fix you need to blow it up much larger than you think in order for it to translate properly in PDF format. Also, we found that if we are building reports on a wide screen monitor this impacts the display on laptop monitors and PDF output so recommended that you test on a laptop width monitor and blow up your KPI or other single value reports and you'll find they are viewable in PDF format. ZD TS see 13194349 for how Jon Daniels and I figured this out.
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Walter Bellante
Hi Laura,
thanks for your feedback.
Regarding dashboard restrictions, the only way to give agents the view of the entire group and themselves is to create two restrictions, one showing the overall group performance and the other related to their tickets.
As for excluding filter values, they will be rebuilt in the new experience before we retire the legacy experience.
Regards,
Walter
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Walter Bellante
Hi David,
Thank you for your feedback.
We plan to implement the ability to schedule restrictions this year. Additionally, if you're eager to schedule a filtered version of the dashboard now, you can utilize filtered views.
Regards,
Walter
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Walter Bellante
Hi Vladimir P ,
Thank you for your feedback about schedules.
At this stage, we are not considering adding an indefinite option when scheduling dashboards.
Regards,
Walter
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Walter Bellante
Hi Terry Branoff ,
Thank you for providing a workaround for the PDF quality issue.
The team has just released an improvement that has improved the quality of PDF exports.
Regards,
Walter
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Eleanor Madison
Hi Walter- we are still having issued with the pdf. The chart does not take up the size of the area allocated for it and is too tiny.
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William Carr
Are we able to change what is displayed in the time filter to include the dates of the range? New vs. Legacy
1
David Froemke
Hi Walter,
I appreciate the notion of a Filtered View, but we want to proactively manage the support agents. Additionally, this is but one report that we'd like them to see on a regularly scheduled basis. Having to build a customized report for each agent with all of the metrics we'd like them to see is a massive undertaking. We'd rather automate that process by using a restricted and scheduled report that is delivered to their inbox regardless of whether or not they are in the office/connected.
This isn't a minor issue for us. It's core to the way we are managing our people and not having it is concerning as I don't know the first thing about your backlog of features and if they will ever be deployed. Is there some way of understanding the timing for the feature to be released? If so, it could prevent me from looking at other solutions.
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Viachaslau
Walter Bellante I'm trying to understand if there is a possibility to export not the whole dashboard, but only one specific report, as it was possible in the legacy dashboards?
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Walter Bellante
Hi Viachaslau,
thanks for your interest in the dashboard builder.
An editor can export a single report by selecting the report and then using the “Edit in report builder” action. From there you will be able to export the report individually.
Regards,
Walter
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Walter Bellante
Hi David Froemke,
Thank you for sharing your need to manage support agents proactively.
We plan to introduce the ability to schedule dashboard restrictions before fully retiring the classic builder (currently planned for November 2025).
You can learn more about dashboard restrictions here.
Regards,
Walter
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Viachaslau
Walter Bellante Thanks for the reply, but I don't see that option in dashboards... Or do you mean to click "edit" first, then open an individual report and then export? I hope that's not what you mean, as it's inconvenient and many employees simply don't have editing permissions
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David Froemke
OMG - November is an eternity. Do you have any thoughts on workarounds? At this point, I'm planning on creating a separate report for each of the individual agents in question. That's just a mess and time consuming.
Thanks
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Elaine Foster-Jones
Walter Bellante We understand that those with dashboard/report editing capabilities can open a report directly to download from the report builder. However, those without dashboard/report editing capabilities were able to download individual reports from legacy dashboards - is that no longer going to be possible with the new dashboard experience?
1
Sandra redk Light
We definetly need an option to make export data easier or a better Drill in option.
The current config only gives report export option to admins (and not the same, as usually reports aren't as filtered as Dashboards).
The Drill in tool is not an option neather, unfortunately, as it requires to filter the report as well to show the specific data to analyze. I.e. if I drill in my “Unsolved tickets” report, which uses Unsolved tickets metric only, the result will be much higher because all the solved tickets will appear as rows but marked as 0. What's really the sense of doing this “analysis”? Do we need to include filters in all our reports?
The only workaround is Descompose tool, but it hasn't been included. This is definitively an important tool missing with this migration. Hope you will find an alternative or improve the Drill in option soon.
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yukiho.suzuki
Hi, please address these issues with the new dashboard
The new dashboard offers fewer time selection options compared to the old one.
I would like to specify more detailed date ranges, such as "8 days ago to 2 days ago" or "6 weeks ago to 2 weeks ago."
I tried using the "Continuous Range" option, but I could only select the start and end dates from the predefined days or weeks available in the options.
In the old dashboard, selecting "Past 12 months" would reflect data starting from the 1st day of 12 months ago.
However, in the new version, it starts from "12 months ago from that specific day."
This results in the first month on the graph showing only partial data. Please consider reverting back to the old feature.
The new dashboard is limited to a maximum of 12 months. I would like the old dashboard features where it allowed setting schedules with no end date.
6
Viachaslau
I add my voice to yukiho.suzuki 's comment, especially the first paragraph. You can't make the filter “today”, or the date ranges “Today — …hours/days/weeks...” etc.
1
Walter Bellante
Hi @yukiho.suzuki,
Thank you for sharing your feedback about the new dashboard builder.
1. Customization of Time Filter: We understand the current limitations in customizing the time filter. We want to assure you that we will be adding more options to the rolling range before the dashboards are transitioned to “view-only.”
2. Clarification of Dates for "Past XX" in the Time Filter: We recognize that it is unclear which dates are selected, as they are not currently displayed in the time filter. We plan to rectify this by showing the selected dates, making it evident how the options correspond to actual dates.
3. Delivery Schedule Settings: Although you can no longer schedule for an unlimited period, creators of the schedule will receive notifications about any upcoming expirations. This will allow them to extend the schedule as needed.
I hope this information is helpful.
Regards,
Walter
1
yukiho.suzuki
Hi Walter,
Thanks for the comment.
Adding options or showing what dates are selected isn't addressing the issue, please consider keeping the same feature that the current dashboard has.
0
Arto Vuori
Hi
Regarding Promote URL as parameter:
We use this feature to drill in from external CRM to report to set corresponding/context-related tab and select and filer relevant customer organizations. Removing this feature would lead to manual work for setting customer-specific filters every time when someone lands on Explore report.
When “Promote URL as parameter” feature is coming to new Dashboard builder? Thanks
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Brandon (729)
Hi There Walter Bellante -
We noticed that Time Filters are not sharing across tabs at this point in our testing (ie, we have a Time Filter on each tab, on tab 1 we select “last 7 days” - previously this would update time filters on every tab unless “do not share across tabs” was checked. Can we expect this functionality to roll into the new dashboard experience at some point? I realize that filtered views anchored to different time periods is possible today, but for our use case we'd like to have the user select a range and have that cascade through the report). Thanks!
Brandon
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Walter Bellante
Hi Arto Vuori ,
thank you for your feedback about promoting the URL as a parameter.
At this stage, we do not plan to rebuild it in the new dashboard builder. If you are looking to share pre-filtered views with your audience, I'd recommend looking into filtered views or dashboard restrictions.
Regards,
Walter
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Walter Bellante
Hi @Brandon (729),
thank you for your feedback about time filters.
We plan to provide the ability to set up filters across different tabs with Global filters.
We plan to ship them before the classic experience is retired.
You can learn more about the planned features here.
Regards,
Walter
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David Froemke
I am most interested to know that when we do have to give up the legacy tool, will the new tools be in feature parity? Currently the beta report builder lacks so many features, it's not worth using. The Dashboard builder is also just not ready as you can see from this thread that it's missing a significant number of features. If you guys could ensure that we will have feature parity by the time we are forced to use it, I'd be more receptive.
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Jorge - Leafworks
Hi Walter Bellante , Jorge from Leafworks here. Leafworks is a Zendesk partner focused mainly on the DACH region. The Zendesk support team asked me to publish the information shared with them in the ticket #13323564 in this post.
I've got this feedback from 3 customers now, whose Explore Dashboards have to be migrated to the new dashboard builder. Every time I have tried to migrate a dashboard I have eventually given up due to the following points:
The general feedback of the customers to the ones I presented a dashboard after migration was, that they do not seem to be “professional” anymore.
If you check the support ticket, you will get a list of the affected customers and also a screenshot showing the difference before and after the migration. It would be really appreciated if we could schedule a short call regarding this feedback.
Best regards,
Jorge
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Centro de Soporte Softland
En el panel anterior , podria seleccionar un favorito para su envio mensual seleccionaba el ultimo mes y este el 1 de cada mes me enviaba el pdf , ahora como puedo hacer esto en el nuevo explore?
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