What is a Dashboard, and how to use it?

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A Dashboard presents an overview of selected statistics from different data sources in one place. The user selects which data to present and how it should be presented and designed. With Meridix, the user has access to information from one or several data platforms and can, therefore, easily create views that fit their business and needs. A Dashboard helps the user quickly check their statistics without opening the reports. It is updated automatically and is available to the user via computer, TV monitor, mobile, and tablet.

Since the Dashboard can be designed according to your own look and feel, with different statistics data, appearance settings, media files, and more, it has many different use cases.
You can read about some of the use cases here: Use cases for Dashboard

What data can the customer present

What data the customer can present on their Dashboard is based on which platforms the customer receives statistics data from today. If several platform modules are available, you can choose which of these the customer should have access to. You can also activate all platforms so that the customer can choose for themselves which platform(s) to present the data from.

Meridix has, as of today, integrations with a number of different platform modules and also the opportunity to integrate new platforms. If you wish to integrate additional platforms or want to know more about the opportunities that come with having Meridix as a partner, contact support@meridix.se and we will help you.

How to create a Dashboard

1. Create a Dashboard

1. To start the Dashboard feature, select Dashboard from the start menu of your statistics system

2. To create a new one, select Go to Dashboard List

3. Select Create New

4. You can also create a copy of one of the Shared Dashboards if any exists (requires version 4.0)

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2. Build your Dashboard with content

When you create a new dashboard, there are standard layouts to get started quickly. For example, by clicking 2 x 3, a layout will be created with two rows containing three widgets each. The layout can be configured by removing or adding widgets and rows later on as well.

2.1 Add content

Depending on the application area, there are many ways to build a Dashboard.

1. Select Add content to create a new content widget. If there is an empty widget in your Dashboard, you can also select "add content here" to fill the selected widget with content.

2. You can create a widget with content from any of the platforms that the customer receives statistics from, but also from external sources

3. Images, videos and icons can be added, as well as any Iframe content (see Advanced Type Selections). Here you can take the opportunity to raise your company profile further with branded material.

2.2 Configurate a widget

Once you select the widget type, you can configure the content and settings of your selected widget. Depending on the widget type, the configuration mode looks different. You can also access the configuration mode after you created a widget.

1. Click the gear in the upper right corner of an existing widget to open the configuration mode for the selected widget

2. Under Widget options, you specify the value for your widget

3. Under Appearance options, you can change the background and text color of the widget

4. For some widgets, you can set Warning options to set thresholds that generate alerts when a value is above or below a certain limit

2.3 Delete a widget

To remove a widget, click on the trash can in the upper right corner of the widget. If you are in edit mode, you can select a widget and select Remove in the toolbar

3. Edit mode

In Edit mode, you can change the size and position of your widgets. By selecting the pen in the right upper corner of the widget or Edit content at the top of the Dashboard menu you get to edit mode.

1. Select the widget you want to resize or position.

2. To move a widget: Click and hold in the center of the widget and drag to the desired location

3. The buttons in the lower right corner of the widget are used to resize the widget

4. The three circles between the widget rows are used to add a new row. After creating a new row, a widget can be placed in the empty row. If the row is left empty, a vertical distance of 10px is created between the two widget rows.

5. The toolbar at the bottom is used to move a widget forward or backward, copy the size from another widget, remove or replace the widget, among other things.

6. To place your widgets freely, select Free placement. Note that the Dashboard will not be responsive for a smaller or larger screen if you select the Free placement mode.
   
   

4. Design the Dashboard according to your company profile

With its flexible structure, you can design your Dashboard as you like and match it to its use case. Add your company logo, your colors, a commercial-video, or other elements to create a layout that suits your company profile.

To change the background of your Dashboard:

1. From the Dashboard top menu, select Options

2. Go to Appearance settings. Here you can choose a background color or upload an image to use as a background. After uploading the image, you can adjust both size and placement of the image.

To design your widgets, see Chapter 2.2 Configurate a Widget. You can also create simple widgets with content such as pictures, watch, iframe content and Youtube movie to further raise your company profile.

5. Share Dashboards and configure a default Dashboard

Once you have created a Dashboard, you can share it with the whole system or specific customers.

In the Dashboard list, all your shared and private Dashboards are visible as well as other users shared Dashboards. Click Share on a Dashboard in the list to open sharing options. If a Dashboard is set as default for the system or a customer, it is the starting Dashboard for users who have no Dashboard configured on their own.

Shared Dashboards will only show data that the user who opens it has permission to see. This could result in empty widgets depending on the widget settings. To let users see all available data they are permitted to see, select Use all available objects when creating a report widget for a shared Dashboard.

6. Activate the Dashboard for your customers

The Dashboard feature is activated by adding it to a feature set. When it is added to a feature set it will be available to all customers of that feature set. It is included in both basic and advanced subscriptions but is not enabled by default to make it possible for service providers to control when and how to include new features.

If some customers are to try out the Dashboard, another feature set needs to be created. One suggestion would be to suffix such a feature set with “ - Preview” to make it clear that it is a set where new features are tried and tested.