Using the Dashboard Manager

Overview

Actions

Frequently Asked Questions

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Create a template

1. Click Admin in the Profile menu.
   The Administration view displays.
2. Click Dashboard Manager.
   If this is the first time you (as a user) have created a template, you will be prompted to back up your existing dashboard. This is because the tool will be using your dashboard to display template previews as you build your templates. Agree to create a backup of your dashboard and continue. The Dashboard Manager displays. If any templates have already been created in your instance, you will see them listed here in ListView and can use the Basic and Advanced Search as you would in any other module.
3. Click Create New.
   The Dashboard Manager Create View displays.
4. Enter a unique name for the template in the Dashboard Name field.
5. In the Description field enter a description that will remind you what type of users should use this Dashboard.
6. Scroll below the Save button (do not save) and manipulate the dashboard template as you would when configuring a standard home screen. Take the following items into consideration when creating your template:
   • IMPORTANT: While actively creating a template, do not navigate to your home page in another browser window or tab. Because your dashboard powers the Dashboard Manager, you may compromise the design of the template you are actively editing.
   • Dashlet filters that you choose will be pushed to users but will be editable for all Association Types (association types explained further in document).
   • Custom labels on Dashlets will be pushed to users but will be editable for all Association Types.
   • Custom labels on Pages will be pushed to users but will be editable for all Association Types except the ‘Locked Dashboards’ type.
7. Once you are satisfied with the design of the template, click Save.
   *Please note that your personal dashboard will be overridden by creating or editing a template in Dashboard Manager. Refer to the ‘Restoring Default Admin Backups’ section of this article to learn how to create and restore backups easily for your affected admin account.

Push templates to users

After you have created a template, you can push it to users from the subpanels in the Detail View of the template using these steps.

1. Click Select on the action menu of the subpanel appropriate for the association, or behavior, for the template. Associations include:
   • One Time Default: The dashboard template is defaulted once for the selected users. This will remove any existing non-template pages and dashlets. Once defaulted, the user is then removed from this association and is free to manipulate the dashboard.

     Restricted User Actions:	Allowed User Actions:
     None	All

   • Forced Tabs: The dashboard template is forced to be the first tabs in user's existing dashboard. Existing pages and dashlets are retained. Users cannot manipulate a forced page or dashlet. Otherwise the user is free to manipulate other pages and dashlets in the dashboard. Configurations to the template such as dashlet arrangement, adding/removing pages and page naming will be forced out to users on a permanent basis. Dashlet options such as naming, filters and columns will only be forced out to users initially.

     Restricted User Actions:	Allowed User Actions:
     Adding/Removing Forced Pages Renaming Forced Pages Adding/Removing Forced Dashlets Rearranging Dashlets on Forced Pages	Configuring Options/Filters/Naming of Forced Dashlets All Actions on Non-Forced Pages and Dashlets

   • Locked Dashboards:Dashboard is locked for selected users and most dashboard actions will be prevented. This will remove any existing non-template pages and dashlets. Configurations to the template such as dashlet arrangement, adding/removing pages and page naming will be forced out to users on a permanent basis. Dashlet options such as naming, filters and columns will only be forced out to users initially.

     Restricted User Actions:	Allowed User Actions:
     Adding/Removing Pages Renaming Pages Adding/Removing Dashlets Rearranging Dashlets	Configuring Options/Filters/Naming of Dashlets

Edit a template

You can edit a template and push the update to a template’s associated users at any time. Keep in mind this only applies to Forced Tabs and Locked Dashboards association types.

1. Prior to editing a template, use the instructions to create a backup to back up your current dashboard and set the new backup as the default. Editing a template will override your personal dashboard.
2. Navigate to the Detail View of the Dashboard template record.
3. Click Edit.
4. Manipulate the dashboard template as you would a standard home screen.
5. Click Save.

After saving, the associated users will see the changes the next time they reload their home pages. Any filters/options/naming they had configured for dashlets on pushed pages will remain intact as long as those dashlets weren’t changed or removed by the administrator.

*Please note that your personal dashboard will be overridden by creating or editing a template in Dashboard Manager. Refer to the instructions to restore the Admin defaults to learn how to create and restore backups easily for your affected admin account.

Create a backup of the template

When you first associate a user to a template, the user’s existing homepage will automatically be backed up in case of an issue. These backups will be related to the user and shown in the subpanel Associated User Backups on a template’s Detail View.

To manually create a backup:

1. Navigate to Administration.
2. Navigate to Dashboard Backups.
3. Click Create Backup.
4. Select the user you would like to backup the homepage for.
   *If you are creating a backup for yourself and would like for it to be your default backup, check the Default checkbox.
5. Click Save.

Edit a Backup

It is currently not possible to edit an existing backup. The best approach would be to restore the backup to the user, edit it as desired and create a new backup.

Restore a user's backup

If you need to restore a user's homepage, you can navigate to the Dashboard Backups module and do the following:

1. Navigate to the Detail View of the backup record you would like to restore.
2. Click Restore Users Dashboard.
3. Confirm that you would like to restore the dashboard in the popup window. This will restore the dashboard to the user.

Please note that this does not allow you to restore a user’s backup to another user. To push dashboards to users, you’ll need to create a template then associate the template to the desired users.

Restore an Admin backup

Since the administrator’s personal dashboard is replaced by whatever template you are editing in the Dashboard Manager, it is important to always create a backup of your dashboards prior to editing any templates. On your home page’s upper left-hand side, there is a link that makes restoring your personal dashboard easy. Clicking the link will restore your “default” backup. So, whenever creating a backup for yourself for this purpose, be sure to mark it as default so that the correct backup can be recognized and restored.