This article goes in-depth into creating and customizing Analytics tool visuals within a dashboard. You can choose the data source for each individual visual, then customize the style of charts and graphs to serve your goals most effectively.

To create a new dashboard and place a visual, click the Create button on the left sidebar, then on the Add Visual button on the upper right side of the screen.

The Add Visual button will ask you to create a new visual or place an existing visual. The sections below will cover both of these options:

Once you have clicked Add Visual, a pop-up will appear with the available data sources.

For Step 1, select the data source that you want to use to create your visuals. After the data source is selected, the pop-up will move to Step 2.

Select the visual type most suited for your data and dashboard. There are a wide variety of choices, and this list can be searched if needed to find the right option. Once created, the visual type of a visual can be changed through the Visual Style button in the Menu Bar.

Allow the visual to generate. Once the visual has generated, you can drag and drop it to your desired location. The visuals will resize and shift as multiple visuals are added.

Once you've clicked Place Existing Visual, a pop-up will display a list of visuals created in the past. This menu shows the name of the visual on the left and the creator's email on the right.

Select the existing visual you wish to use. If needed, visuals can be filtered by data source or searched.

Allow the visual to generate. Once the visual has generated, you can drag and drop it to your desired location. The visuals will resize and shift as multiple visuals are added.

The visuals you generate are not static and can be interacted with to learn more about a given section. You can also modify the information being displayed in a number of ways, such as filtering for or removing certain data. This section is grouped into three sections:

The Menu Bar button will appear in the top right corner of a visual when hovering over it.

Most options in this menu bar are only available here, even if a tool with a similar name appears elsewhere.

Click to jump to an explanation of the following buttons:

Buttons that relate to appearance only are explained in the Customizing Visual Styles section.

The Filters button applies a filter to an entire visual. Multiple filters can be added to one visual, but they are added one at a time.

To create a filter, click the Filters button and select the blue Add Filter button. This will open a menu with three options to select an attribute: Row, Group, and Saved.

Additional attributes can also be added via the plus sign, which offers the option to Add Derived Field or Add Custom Metric.

If you choose an Attribute from Row, you will see another three options: Value, Wildcard, and Keyset.

Make your selection and select apply. The filter will apply to your data until removed.

If you choose a Number or Time filter from either Row or Group, you will see two options: Range or Keyset.

Make your selection and select apply. The filter will apply to your data until removed.

To save the created filters as a set, select Save Filters. You will be asked to name your filter set.

There are a number of time attributes that can be filtered for in visuals, depending on the data source. Attributes might include order date, created date, or actual ship date, for example.

The time attributes are chosen through the Time Bar button. Once active, the time bar appears at the bottom of a maximized visual. This bar can be manually dragged to display a different time period, as well as zoomed in on using the tools (marked in red below).

Note: If you have applied a filter and do not see the time bar, check that the visual is maximized and fully scrolled to the bottom, as some maximized visuals may not fit to screen.

This tool can be used to both sort and limit data in a visual. For example, if the limit is set as 50 in descending order, the first 50 rows of the data will be shown in descending order. The options for sorting and ordering will vary based on the data source used.

Click the Sort by and Order menus to see the options available for an individual visual.

Rulers can be set on the X or Y axis of visuals that use them to give more information about the values shown, such as what levels are within reasonable expectations or which exceed them.

Rulers can be set with step, min, and max values. The titles, positions, colors, width, and line types of each ruler can be customized to give context and depth to your data.

A keyset refers to a unique identifier or combination of identifiers that are used to organize and categorize data. It is a set of one or more fields that are commonly used as primary keys to establish relationships between different data sets or tables.

You can create a keyset from the result set of a visual. Filtering the visual data before creating the keyset will limit the unique data values included in the keyset.

The Info button can be used to change the visual name and add a description.

You can also view the data source and visual type here but cannot change these selections from this menu. The data source of an existing visual cannot be changed without creating a new visual. The chart or graph being used can be changed through the Visual Style button on the menu bar.

You can copy any given visual by using the Copy Visual button. This creates an exact but separate duplicate that is not linked to the original (outside of sharing the data source).

Visuals can be exported in PNG, PDF, or CSV format (Visual Data or Raw Data).

You can save a previously saved visual with a different name by using the Save As button. This option only appears on visuals that have been saved. Once saved, a visual will remain on the Place Existing Visual list, even if Remove Visual is selected.

You can remove the visual by using the Remove Visual button. If the visual is unsaved, this option will be replaced by the Delete Visual button. A visual that is removed from a dashboard will remain as an asset for the future, but deleted visuals will not.

This sections focuses on Menu Bar options that are used to change the presentation or looks of an existing visual. These functions will help you present your data in the most appealing, effective manner.

Click to learn about the following buttons:

Once a visual is created, the data source used cannot be modified. However, if you think a better chart or graph would represent your data source, you can change an existing visual using the Visual Style button. For example, a bar graph can be changed into a pie chart, or packed bubbles can become a word cloud.

Not all data sources work well with all visual styles. This tool allows you to test several styles with the same data source, rather than creating a new visual each time.

Each visual has aspects of the appearance that can be further customized. Below are some general options you might be able to customize for visuals:

Some visuals, such as maps and packed bubbles, cannot be customized in this way.

Using the Color button is an effective way to draw the eye, show contrast, create emphasis, and/or stay consistent with company branding.

The Color menu varies based on your visual and data source, but will usually included an option to create a Legend with a keyword matched to each color. To turn on the legend, select the toggle next to it.

You can set each color for the keywords individually by clicking on the keyword. This will open a color menu that includes recently used colors, a color select tool, and a field to input Hex numbers directly.

For visuals that do not include keywords, there will still be areas to select a color or input a Hex number according to the style used.

Color Settings lets you choose two settings:

For visuals and attributes/metrics where a gradient can be used, a Conditional Formatting menu will display.

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