Page Comparison

There are a number of If you have the Manage Dashboards user permission, there are several ways you can change the look and feel of a dashboard. Most of this customization can be done either while you are building creating a dashboard or with an existing dashboard. 

Expand
title Set a dashboard to automatically refresh
You can set your dashboard to update with any new data, either immediately or at selected intervals, if you have permission. Use Refresh Image Removed to select the frequency or to stop the dashboard refreshing. Setting the refresh interval is not saved with the dashboard and will be reset if you navigate away from the page. Image Removed With refresh set to 'automatic', the dashboard widgets flash briefly each time the underlying data is updated (i.e., when the database builds and if the value has changed). This is particularly useful for dashboards that progressively build throughout the day, and if you have your dashboard displayed on a big screen, e.g., in a warehouse or office. Summary chart query widgets with a change in data will flash the updated color,  e.g., if the data update moves their status from green to red, red to green, etc. In the screenshot below, the 'Sales' widget on the top line has flashed green to signify that a) the database has built and b) the updated data has moved into the 'green' range. Image Removed

later, within a dashboard. You can make changes at the dashboard, line and widget level. If you are viewing a shared dashboard, some of these customization options might be unavailable. 

Rename a dashboard

In the dashboard toolbar, click the Share button, edit the name and click Save.

Change the way widgets display in a line

Hover over the line and click the Edit button, then on the Line screen, select one of these Display options:

• Stack - Stack widgets vertically when they will not fit on a line horizontally.

  Image Added

• Equal width - Set all widgets to the same width, filling the line and adjusting to the browser window's size. This is useful when a dashboard is going to be viewed using different screens and devices. The minimum widget width is 200 pixels, after which the line will scroll horizontally. The height of all widgets can be adjusted by clicking and dragging from the bottom of any of the widgets in the line. In the image below, three different-sized widgets have been automatically resized to be of equal width.

  Image Added

• Horizontal scroll - The widgets take up as much space as they need, next to each other on the line. The user must scroll to see them.

• Flex - Enables the widgets to be resized (see below). This option is also responsive, for different window sizes or devices.

Show when the widget was last updated

If you have a dashboard that updates frequently, you can add details of exactly when a widget was updated. This is particularly useful on dashboards that contain widgets from multiple sources.

To set this add the [updateDelta] placeholder in the description field in each widget, as shown below.

Image Removed

Expand
title Set a dashboard-wide period
You can temporarily adjust the period for all the widgets on a dashboard so they show data for the same period. To this by selecting the period Image Removed icon and setting custom dates as required. Like all custom periods in Phocas, this is temporary and can't be saved with the dashboard. Image Removed Once you apply the period, a message at the top of the screen will notify you about how many widgets have been updated. Some widgets may not update, e.g, if they are not filterable or their date range is outside of the dates you want to show. The period will be shown in the status bar and can be removed with the 'x' or by resetting. Image Removed

Hover over a widget and click the Edit button, then on the Widget screen, add the [updateDelta] placeholder in the Description box and click Save.

Image Added

Rearrange widgets

Click the widget and drag the toolbar to a new position on the dashboard

.

Image Modified

Resize widgets

To

Button

Action

How it works

Image Removed

Edit

Opens the widget screen, allowing you to make changes to the widget. This is the same screen that appears when creating a new widget.

Image Removed

Delete

Deletes the widget permanently. However, if the widget was originally created from a favorite, the favorite will not be deleted.

Image Removed

Download

Download widget as an image. This applies to some widgets only.

Image Removed

Information

Displays the selections and settings that were present when the widget was created. Not available for URL widgets.

Image Removed

Open

Opens the underlying data in the Phocas grid for further analysis or a more detailed view, provided you have permission to see the data. Usually opens in a new browser window.

Image Removed

Minimize

Temporarily minimizes a widget to create more space on your dashboard.

Image Removed

Re-size

temporarily minimize the widget, hover over the widget and click the Minimize button.

If the Flex option is enabled in the line settings (above), you can permanently change the widget's size: Click and drag the Re-size button in the bottom right corner of the widget. The size appears in pixels as you drag.

Switch widget filters on or off

Widget types that

can be selected and filtered have

the filter option switched on by default. You

might want to turn this off, for example, to compare the whole company to just one sales rep, or

just one branch. So you might have two identical widgets, one which filters and the other that

does not.   

Hover over a widget and click the Edit button, then on the Widget screen, select Is Filterable > No and click Save. You turn the filter back on in the same way.

Set the filtering order

You can determine whether to apply a dashboard filter before or after an existing widget filter, such as an advanced search filter. The order in which the filter is applied affects the results. 

Hover over a widget and click the Edit button, then on the Widget screen, if the widget has a filter applied, you will see an option to select either

Filter applied first

or

Filter applied last

Image Removed

. Select the required option and click Save.

Image Added

Expand
title Example
The image below shows the different results returned depending on the filter order. Image RemovedImage Added

Expand
title Add and move dashboard lines
Add a new line Choose Line to add a new line at the bottom of your dashboard.  Image Removed Move, edit, clone or delete a line  Hover over a line to access the required icons, shown below. Image Removed Clone. This will replicate the line and place directly below the original line. You can drag it to a different position on the dashboard, or edit as required. Move. Drag and drop a line to a different position. As you drag, a blue box will appear to indicate the proposed destination. Release and the line will snap to the blue box.  Edit. Allows you to change the name or description of a line.  Delete. Choose to permanently delete a line and all the widgets within it. An 'Are you sure' warning message will appear, as there is no way of recovering a deleted line.

Link dashboards  

You can link dashboards to each other. You select a link within a widget in one dashboard to open up in another dashboard. You can also choose to filter the data shown in the second dashboard. Only grid widgets (not charts) can be linked.

You can select the dashboard you want to link to when you create a widget or go back and edit a widget’s configuration. From the Link To Dashboard dropdown list, select the dashboard you want to link to and click Save.

Image Added

Each data item in the Code column of that widget turns blue, indicating there is an active link.