Control How Users Interact With a Dashboard

You can control how users can interact with a dashboard, and access to self-service reports. Control their ability to:

• Resize or move visuals in a dashboard
• Add visuals, text snippets, and filter snippets to a dashboard
• Refresh, save or delete a dashboard
• Filter a dashboard
• Rename a dashboard
• Mark the dashboard as a favorite
• Link a dashboard or set up cross-source links in the dashboard
• Export a dashboard

You can also apply a global set of visual interactivity settings to all of the visuals on the dashboard that overrides the interactivity settings for the individual visuals on the dashboard.

User attributes are not resolved when previewing interactivity settings, and default fallbacks will be used in the Preview mode.

Control user interactions with a dashboard and its visuals

1. Select the visual on the dashboard or in the Visual Gallery.

2. Select the interactivity option button to the left of the dashboard title.

   

   The dashboard interactivity panel appears.

   

   By default, all interactivity settings are activated (enabled) for a dashboard. Each setting is controlled by a toggle switch. Slide the switch to the right to turn an interactivity setting on; slide them to the left to turn a setting off.

   There are two tabs on the dashboard interactivity panel: Dashboard and Visuals. The settings on each tab are described at the end of these instructions.

   In addition, you can use the Preview Interactivity Settings option to test the dashboard and visual interactivity settings. When this switch is turned on, the dashboard and visuals behave as they will when the dashboard is embedded, based on the interactivity settings for the dashboard and its visuals. The Preview Interactivity Settings switch is a temporary switch: by default it is off each time you access the dashboard. It is not saved with the dashboard; so if you turn it on and save the dashboard, it will still be off the next time you edit the dashboard.

3. Slide the switch on or off for the interactivity settings you want to change on the Dashboard tab. See Dashboard Interactivity Settings (Dashboard Tab).

4. Slide the switch on or off for the interactivity settings you want to change on the Visuals tab. See Visual Interactivity Settings (Visuals Tab).

5. Select Save to save the interactivity settings.

6. Optionally, preview the behavior with the interactivity settings applied. Slide the Preview Interactivity Settings switch on (to the right).

   Custom attributes are not evaluated in Preview mode. If custom attributes are used, Self-Service Analytics uses defaults to preview the interactivity settings. Customer attributes will be applied correctly in an embedded workflow.

7. Save the dashboard. When you save a dashboard (Save option), the dashboard interactivity settings are also saved (if there are any). If there are no dashboard interactivity settings or if they have not been changed, they are not saved. When you save a dashboard with a new name (Save As option), the dashboard interactivity settings are saved to the new dashboard, but the interactivity settings for the original dashboard remain unchanged.

​

Dashboard Interactivity Settings (Dashboard Tab)

Each dashboard interactivity setting is described in the following table.

Dashboard Feature Group	Setting	Controls the ability to…
Editing	Change Layout	Resize or move visuals and rich text snippet widgets in the dashboard.
	Add Existing Visuals	Add existing visuals to the dashboard.
	Add New Visuals	Add new visuals to the dashboard.
	Add Text Snippets	Add text snippets to the dashboard.
	Add Filter Snippets	Add filter snippets to the dashboard.
	Delete	Delete the dashboard. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Save	Save the dashboard. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Save As	Save the dashboard and unsaved changes as a dashboard using a different name. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Filter	Apply filters to the dashboard. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available. You can still apply filters to the visuals, however.
	Rename	Rename the dashboard.
	Change Description	Allow users to change the description on the Info sidebar menu if one exists.
	Add to Favorites	Mark the dashboard as a favorite. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Share Filter Sets	Share saved filter sets with other users. When this setting is turned off, other users cannot view or use the filter sets for the dashboard.
	Schedule Reports	Schedule reports for the dashboard.
	Share Dashboard	Share the dashboard with specific users.
	Comments	Allow users with Commenter access or higher to create, view, and manage their own comments. See Widget Comments.
Data	Set Up Dashboard Link	Link dashboards. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Refresh	Refresh the dashboard data. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Change Dashboard Interactions	Link fields between disparate data sources to create cross-source links. When this setting is turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Set Up Dashboard Alerts	Define alerts for the dashboard.
Exporting	Export to PNG/PDF	Export the dashboard as a PNG or PDF file. When this setting is turned off, the Export dialog no longer provides an option to export an image. If all settings for Exporting are turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Export Configuration	Export the JSON configuration for the dashboard. When this setting is turned off, the Export dialog no longer provides an option to export the configuration. If all settings for Exporting are turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.
	Export Data	Export the dashboard in Excel (XLSX) format as raw data or visual data. When this setting is turned off, the Export dialog no longer provides an option to export the dashboard in this format. If all settings for Exporting are turned off, the dashboard icon is not available.

​

Visual Interactivity Settings (Visuals Tab)

The Visuals tab allows you to override the interactivity settings for the individual visuals in the dashboard. When the Override Visual Interactivity switch is turned on, the individual visual interactivity settings for each visual on the dashboard are overridden and ignored and the visual interactivity settings set for the dashboard are used for all of the visuals in the dashboard.

These settings are only applied to the visuals while they are used in this dashboard and not universally. The interactivity settings for the visuals themselves are not affected when used elsewhere. In other words, if a visual is used in one dashboard (Dashboard A) with Override Visual Interactivity turned on and is also used in a second dashboard (Dashboard B) with Override Visual Interactivity turned off, the individual visual interactivity settings are not honored in Dashboard A, but are honored in Dashboard B.

Each visual interactivity setting is described in the following table.

Visual Feature Group	UI Setting	JavaScript Setting	Controls the ability to…
Data Interactivity	Metrics	METRICS	Change metric fields (other than a metric that might be in the Group field) on the axes for the visual. This setting also controls whether a user can control the aggregation method (SUM, AVG, MIN, MAX, etc.) used for metrics in a table.
	Group	GROUPING	Change the Group field on the x-axis of the visual. This setting also controls whether a user can group tables.
	Filter	FILTER	Filter data using the Filter option from the visual drop-down menu and to the left of the visual name on a visual, or a display name if viewed in a dashboard. (To fully remove filtering functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Filter switch in the Context Menu settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Sort	SORT	Sort and limit the data in a visual. The sort and limit () visual sidebar menu option is disabled when this switch is off and you cannot access the Sort & Limit sidebar.
	Format	FORMAT	Format specific data in a visual. These formatting options are disabled when the switch is off.
Context Menu	Drill Down	ZOOM_ACTION	Drill down into a selected data point on a visual using the Drill Down (formerly Zoom) option on the context menu.
	Filter	FILTER_ACTION	Filter data using the Filter option on the context menu. (To fully remove filtering functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Filter switch in the Data Interactivity settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Details	DETAILS_ACTION	Display additional information about a specific visual data element using the Details option on the context menu.
	Trend	TREND_ACTION	View trends for a selected data point using the Trend option on the context menu.
	Keyset	KEYSET_ACTION	Create a keyset from a selected data point using the Keyset option on the context menu. (To fully remove keyset functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Create Keyset switch in the Visualization settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Actions	ACTIONS_ACTION	Invoke an action using the Actions option on the context menu. (To fully remove actions functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Actions switch in the Visualization settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Link	LINK_ACTION	Link to another dashboard using the Link option on the context menu.
Visualization	Settings	SETTINGS	Specify settings for the visual. The visual settings () visual sidebar menu option is disabled when this switch is off and you cannot access the visual settings sidebar.
	Rulers	RULERS	Add visual reference lines and customize the markers used on the metric axis. The ruler settings () sidebar menu option is disabled when this switch is off and you cannot access the ruler sidebar.
	Colors	COLORS	Change the color palette used by the visual. The color settings () visual sidebar menu option is disabled when this switch is off and you cannot access the color sidebar.
	Conditional Formatting	CONDITIONAL_FORMATTING	Apply conditional formatting to data in the visual. The conditional formatting () visual sidebar menu option is disabled when disabled.
	Create Keyset	KEYSET	Create a keyset from the visual data using the Create Keyset option from the visual drop-down menu. (To fully remove keyset functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Keyset switch in the Context Menu settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Save	SAVE	Save the visual.
	Save As	SAVE_AS	Save the visual using a new name.
	Copy	COPY	Copy a visual using the Copy Visual option from the visual drop-down menu.
	Actions	ACTIONS	Invoke an action using the Actions option from the visual drop-down menu. (To fully remove actions functionality for a visual, be sure to turn off the Actions switch in the Context Menu settings on the interactivity sidebar too.)
	Remove	REMOVE	Remove a visual using the Remove Visual option from the visual drop-down menu.
	Re-Visualize (formerly Visual Style)	VISUAL_STYLE	Change a visual’s type. The re-visualize (was visual style) () visual sidebar menu option is disabled when this switch is off and you cannot access this sidebar.
	Select Time Bar Field	TIMEBAR_FIELD	Change the time field on the time bar.
	Maximize	MAXIMIZE	Maximize a visual for optimal viewing.
	Rename	RENAME	Rename a visual.
	Show Time Bar Panel	TIMEBAR_PANEL	Show the time bar for the visual.
	Info	INFO	Allow users to edit information in the Info sidebar menu.
Exporting	Export to PNG/PDF	EXPORT_PNG_PDF	Export a visual to PNG/PDF using the Export option from the visual drop-down menu.
	Export to CSV	EXPORT_CSV	Export a visual to a CSV file using the Export option from the visual drop-down menu.
	Export to XLSX	EXPORT_XLSX	Export a visual to an XLSX file using the Export option from the visual drop-down menu.

​

Link a Dashboard

While working with your dashboard, you may need to analyze data from other dashboards. You can link a visual from your dashboard to another dashboard. This allows you to quickly access other dashboards with related information. To link dashboards, you must have permissions to share and link dashboards. When linking one dashboard to another, you can elect to have the target dashboard inherit the filters from the source dashboard.

Link a dashboard visual to another dashboard

1. Open the dashboard you want to link.

2. Select dashboard links on the dashboard icon bar. The Dashboard Links dialog appears.

   

3. Select Add Link. The Select Link dialog opens.

   

4. Select a visual and dashboard to link, then select Apply. The Dashboard Link dialog opens, showing the visual and dashboard links.

   

5. By default, Inherit Visual Filter is enabled, and the dashboard passes the filters currently used on the dashboard (or the filters applied based on what is selected when the dashboard link occurs) to the linked dashboard. If you do not want the filters from the dashboard carried over, disable Inherit Visual Filter. The filters are only carried over if the dashboards are using the same data source configuration.

6. Close the dialog.

7. Save the dashboard to save the dashboard link settings.

8. On the visual drop-down menu for the linked visual, a new option in the following format appears:

   Go to “<dashboard>”

   Select this option to jump to the linked dashboard.

Navigate to a linked dashboard

• Select the Go to “<dashboard>” link on the visual drop-down menu.
• You can also navigate to the linked dashboard by selecting LINK on the dashboard context menu.

Delete a dashboard link

1. Open the dashboard containing the visual you want to unlink.

2. Select on the dashboard icon bar. The Dashboard Links dialog appears showing the links to other dashboards.

   

3. On the Dashboard Links dialog, select the visual and select the remove () icon. The link is removed.

   You must remove all links to a dashboard before you can delete the dashboard.

4. Save the dashboard to save the dashboard link settings.