Dashboard Details
Overview
Dashboards are sets of Widgets that provide quick access to information about the Universal Controller activity and system information.
The Controller Home Dashboard, which displays when you log in to the Controller, is a system-defined dashboard.
The Controller provides a set of Widgets, each of which you can add to any dashboard. You also can create your own Widgets and add them to any dashboard.
Note
You cannot add Widgets to or remove Widgets from the Home dashboard, and you cannot delete the Home dashboard, but you can copy it.
Accessing the Dashboards
To access the Dashboards, you can either:
- Click the Dashboards tab to display the currently selected dashboard.
- Click the Home icon at the top of any page to display your Home dashboard.
- Click Dashboards in the Reporting navigation pane to display your default dashboard.
Unless you manually close the dashboards, the dashboards remain open throughout your Controller session, and the Dashboards tab displays at the top of every page.
Dashboard Security
By default, all users can create, edit, and delete their own dashboards. To enforce stricter dashboard creation constraints at the user level, refer to the Strict Dashboard Create Constraints Universal Controller system property.
For authorization to create, edit, or delete a dashboard with Everyone or group visibility, refer to the ops_report_admin, ops_dashboard_group, and ops_dashboard_global roles.
Dashboard Tabs
Within the Dashboards tab, each dashboard that is visible to you, including your Home dashboard, will appear as a selectable tab along the bottom of the Dashboards page.
In order to distinguish dashboards that you have created from dashboards that you have inherited, you can select to display a visibility icon in the Dashboard tabs (see the Use Dashboard Visibility Icons user preference).
Visibility | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
User |
| Dashboards visible to a specific user will be designated with an icon depicting one user. |
Group |
| Dashboards visible to a specific group will be designated with an icon depicting two users. |
Everyone |
| Dashboards visible to all users will be designated with an icon depicting four users. |
Setting Order of Dashboard Tabs
A tab displays at the bottom of the Dashboards page for every dashboard that you create (or copy.) By default, the Home dashboard tab displays first, followed by tabs in the order (by time) that their dashboards were created/copied.
You can change the order of the Dashboards tabs by clicking any tab and dragging it left or right.
The Dashboard tabs for any new dashboards created/copied since the last time that the tabs were re-ordered will display at the end of those re-ordered tabs, sorted by create time.
Creating a Dashboard
For dashboard create authorization, see Dashboard Security.
To create a dashboard:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | From the Customize drop-down list at the bottom of the page, click New. The New Dashboard pop-up dialog displays. |
Step 3 | Enter a Name for the new dashboard and a Visible To designation (default is Me).
The Name must be unique within the selected Visible To designation. |
Step 4 | Click OK. An empty Dashboard page displays. |
Step 5 | By default, a new dashboard provides two columns, into which you can add any number of Widgets. |
Step 6 | To display a call-out of current data for any section of a Widget, hover your cursor over that section. The call-out identifies:
For Composite Widgets, the call-out identifies the statuses included in each of its Activity Widgets. |
Step 7 | If you want to arrange your Widgets into more columns, click the Column Properties drop-down list above any column and then click Add Column. |
Step 8 | If you decide that you do not want a selected Widget in the dashboard, click the x icon in the top right corner of the Widget to remove it. |
Step 9 | If you want to add some space between Widgets in a column, drag and drop the Spacer Widget from the list. |
Step 10 | Click the Save button to save the dashboard and display it on the Dashboards page. A tab for that dashboard also displays at the bottom of the Dashboards page. |
Editing a Dashboard
Note
You cannot edit the Home Dashboard.
To edit a dashboard:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | At the bottom of the page, click the tab for the dashboard that you want to edit. That dashboard then displays. |
Step 3 | From the Customize drop-down list in the bottom right corner of the page, click Edit. The Column Properties header displays above each column of Widgets. |
Step 4 | Add, relocate, or remove any columns and/or Widgets from the dashboard (see Creating a Dashboard for details.) |
Step 5 | Click the Save button. |
Copying a Dashboard
To copy a dashboard and automatically create a tab for that Dashboard in Dashboards:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | Display the dashboard that you want to copy. |
Step 3 | From the Customize drop-down list at the bottom right corner of the dashboard, click Copy. The Copy Dashboard pop-up dialog displays. |
Step 4 | Enter a Name for the copy of the dashboard and a Visible To designation (default is Me).
The Name must be unique within the selected Visible To designation. |
Step 5 | Click OK. The copy of the dashboard displays, and a tab for that copied dashboard displays at the bottom of the page. |
Renaming a Dashboard
To rename a dashboard:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | Display the dashboard that you want to rename. |
Step 3 | From the Customize drop-down list in the bottom right corner of the page, click Edit. |
Step 4 | Double-click the name of the dashboard in the tab along the bottom of the Dashboards page to highlight the name. |
Step 5 | Enter a new name for the dashboard and click Save. |
Deleting a Dashboard
Note
You cannot delete the Home Dashboard.
To delete a dashboard:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | Display the dashboard that you want to delete. |
Step 3 | From the Customize drop-down list at the bottom right corner of the dashboard, click Delete. |
Step 4 | On the confirmation pop-up that displays, click Yes. The dashboard is deleted. |
Setting a Default Dashboard
By default, the Home dashboard displays when you log in, click the Home icon, or open Dashboards via the Reporting navigation pane.
You can set a different dashboard to display by default when Dashboards is opened via the Reporting navigation pane.
Additionally, you can select this default dashboard to display when you log in or click the Home icon (see the Use Default Dashboard For Home user preference).
You can select any dashboard that is visible to you as your default Dashboard.
To set a Dashboard other than the Home dashboard as the default Dashboard:
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | Display the dashboard that you want to set as the default. |
Step 3 | From the Customize drop-down list at the bottom right corner of the dashboard, click Set As Default. |
Changing Dashboard Visibility
You can change the visibility of a dashboard so that it is visible to yourself, any group in which you are a member, or everyone.
You also can select whether or not to make a dashboard visible by default, as well as to override your default visibility selection by selecting to show or hide it.
Note
You cannot change the visibility of the Home Dashboard.
Step 1 | Access the Dashboards page. |
|---|---|
Step 2 | From the Customize drop-down list at the bottom right corner of the dashboard, click Visibility.... The Dashboard Visibility pop-up dialog displays a list of all dashboards that are available to you, in tab order, followed by hidden dashboards. |
Step 3 | To change the visibility of a dashboard, double-click the Visible To column for that dashboard and select Me, Everyone, or any Group of which you are a member. |
Step 4 | To select whether or not a dashboard is visible by default, double-click the Visible By Default column for that dashboard and select Yes or No. |
Step 5 | To specify show/hide settings for a dashboard, double-click the Show/Hide column for that dashboard and select Show or Hide. |
Step 6 | Check Reset Visibility if you want to reset your show/hide customizations, default dashboard, and tab order. You will be prompted with the following confirmation when you submit your changes:  |
Step 7 | Click Submit to submit your visibility changes. |
Visible To
The Visible To column specifies the current visibility of the dashboard.
- To edit the Visible To of a dashboard currently assigned to Everyone, you must have the ops_dashboard_global role.
- To edit the Visible To of a dashboard currently assigned to a group you are a member of, you must have the ops_dashboard_group role.
- If you are permitted to edit the Visible To of a dashboard, when you click the Visible To cell, a drop-down list displays with the following options.
- Me
- Everyone (if you have the ops_dashboard_global role).
- Each group you are a member of (if you have the ops_dashboard_group role).
You cannot modify the Visible To designation for your home dashboard.
Visible By Default
The Visible By Default column specifies if the dashboard should display automatically for a user who inherits it.
- To edit the Visible By Default of a dashboard currently assigned to Everyone, you must have the ops_dashboard_global role.
- To edit the Visible By Default of a dashboard currently assigned to a group you are a member of, you require the ops_dashboard_group role.
- If you are permitted to edit the Visible By Default of a dashboard, when you click the Visible By Default cell, a drop-down list displays with Yes and No options (Yes is the default).
Show/Hide
The Show/Hide column specifies the user's show/hide customizations.
You can edit the show/hide customization for any available dashboard except the your home dashboard, which will always display as Show.
Note
While modifying the Visible To and Visible By Default options requires dashboard update permission, modifying the show/hide customization does not, as the show/hide customization data is owned by the user.
- For any dashboard with Me visibility, clicking the Show/Hide column displays a drop-down list with Show and Hide options (Show is the default).
- For any dashboard with group visibility or Everyone visibility, clicking the Show/Hide column displays a drop-down list with Show, Hide and blank options (blank is the default).
- Show indicates the dashboard should be shown regardless of the Visible By Default configuration.
- Hide indicates the dashboard should be hidden regardless of the Visible By Default configuration.
- Blank indicates the dashboard should be displayed based on the Visible By Default configuration. If the dashboard is the your default dashboard, the blank option is not available, and the Show/Hide value will default to Show.
- If the dashboard is the your default dashboard, changing the Show/Hide value from Show to Hide will clear the default dashboard designation.
Refreshing Dashboard Data
Automatic Refresh
All Widget records specify a refresh rate for when the dynamic data in the Widget is automatically refreshed.
Note
You also can set up an automatic refresh of all Widgets in a dashboard when the Dashboard is re-focused (that is, the user tabs back to the dashboard) via the Dashboard Force Refresh On Focus and Dashboard Force Refresh On Focus Threshold user preferences.
Manual Refresh
You can manually refresh Widget data either of two ways:
- To manually refresh the data on all Widgets in a dashboard, click the Refresh button in the bottom right corner of the dashboard.
- To manually refresh the data for a single Widget, click the Refresh icon in the top right corner of the Widget.
Promoting a Dashboard
You can perform a Bundleless Promotion of a Dashboard by accessing the Customize drop-down list at the bottom right corner of the dashboard and clicking Promote...
If Follow References = false for a promotion, any widget required by a promoted dashboard must already be available on the target system.
For details on how the Controller resolves dashboards that references widgets, see Preparing Bundles for Promotion / Widgets.
Closing the Dashboards
You can close the Dashboards at any time by clicking the x icon on the Dashboards tab.
To re-open the Dashboards, you can either:
- Click the Home icon at the top of any page to display your Home dashboard.
- Click Dashboards in the Reporting navigation pane to display your default Dashboard.