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How to create your first dashboard 

Build a Report in Lens, compose it with charts and tables, and publish it to the Dashboard page where your team can view it. 

Before you begin 

You need: 

  • The Lens Designer role 
  • At least one chart or report saved in your Library (if you have none yet, the steps below include an option to start from scratch) 

Terminology worth knowing. In Datanyx, a Report is what you build in the Design tab — a canvas that holds charts, tables, filters, and other widgets. A Dashboard is a separate page where users go to view published Reports. When you save a Report, you choose whether it appears on the Dashboard page by ticking Show in Dashboard. A Report doesn’t have to live on the Dashboard — you can create Reports purely for scheduled email delivery without showing them anywhere. 

So: you’ll build a Report, then decide whether it shows up on the Dashboard page. 

Steps 

Step 1. Open the Design tab 

From the main navigation bar, click Design. 

Step 2. Create a new Report 

Click the Add new button in the top-left corner of the screen. Choose the Report icon. 

If you want to organize Reports into a project first, click the Folder icon to create a new folder, then add the Report inside it. 

Step 3. Choose a starting point 

A pop-up appears with two options: 

  • Create from Scratch — opens a blank canvas you’ll build up yourself 
  • Select a template — starts from a pre-designed layout you can customize 

If this is your first Report, Create from Scratch is usually simpler. 

Step 4. Add charts and tables to the canvas 

From the left navigation bar, browse your saved charts and reports. Drag and drop the ones you want onto the main canvas. 

You can reposition any widget by dragging it, and resize it by dragging its corners. 

Step 5. Save the Report 

Click the Save icon in the toolbar. A save dialog appears. 

Select the Report radio button and enter a name for the Report. 

Decide whether this Report appears on the Dashboard page: 

  • Tick Show in Dashboard if you want end users to see this Report on the Dashboard page 
  • Leave it unticked if this Report is only for scheduled delivery or internal use — it will still be saved to your Library, just not surfaced on the Dashboard 

Click Save. 

Worth knowing. You can change the Show in Dashboard setting at any time. Navigate to Library → Report, publish the Report, and toggle Show in Dashboard from there. 

Step 6. Publish the Report 

A saved Report is not automatically live. To make it visible to users with access, you need to publish it. You have two options: 

  • From the Report Designer — click the Publish icon in the top-right corner of the Report Designer while you have the Report open 
  • From the Library — navigate to Library → Report, find your Report, and click the Publish icon under its settings 

Either option publishes the Report to the Dashboard page.  

Step 7. View the Report on the Dashboard page 

From the main navigation bar, click the Dashboard icon. Your published Report now appears as an entry on the Dashboard page. 

Click it to open the Report and confirm it looks the way you expected. 

Working with multiple Reports 

Once you have more than one Report in a project, you can navigate between them using the tabs at the bottom of the Design screen. 

To add another Report, chart, workflow, dimension, or filter to the current project, click the Add icon at the bottom. To open an existing Report, click Open Existing. 

Troubleshooting 

  • My Report doesn’t appear on the Dashboard page. Make sure you’ve (1) ticked Show in Dashboard when saving, and (2) published the Report — either from the top-right of the Report Designer or from the Library. 
  • My charts don’t show any data. Check that the underlying chart’s datasource is still connected and active. If the datasource has moved to Failed state, the chart will appear empty until the connection is restored. Try the cache refresh option for your datasource from the datasource management tab.
  • A colleague I shared the Report with can’t see it. The most common cause is that the colleague doesn’t have a role that grants access to the underlying datasource. Sharing a Report doesn’t automatically share the datasource it’s built on — your colleague needs a role that includes the relevant datasource permission. Ask your Account Admin to verify your colleague’s role includes access to the datasources used by the Report. 

Related 

  • How to create a chart 
  • How to use custom scripts 
  • How to apply security tags to a Report 
  • Dashboard canvas (Product docs)