Project: Reports and Dashboards for Sales

Create Report and Dashboard Folders

  • Benefits of Reports and Dashboards:
    • Visibility into data due to easy access
    • Time savings, since manually combing through and compiling the data is not necessary
    • Flexibility, since the data is pulled from existing objects
  • Organize reports with Report and Dashboard Folders
    • Create new reports folders via: App Launcher » Select an App » Reports tab » New Folder
    • Create new dashboards folders via: App Launcher » Select an App » Dashboards tab » New Folder
  • Share folders by navigating to the correct folder, clicking the down arrow at the right side of the screen next to the folder, and selecting “Share With.” You can select specific users, roles, roles and subordinates, etc.

Create a Simple Custom Report

  • Change the role of a user via: Setup » Quick Find » “Users” » Users » “Edit” link next to user
    • Change the role, and save.
  • To create new report, use the Lightning Report Builder:
    • Access via: Reports tab » New Report » Select an Object » Continue
    • Four “panes” of note on this page:
      • Fields: displays fields from the selected report type
      • Outline: facilitates adding, removing, rearranging columns. Also lets you add Bucket columns and Summary Formula columns.
      • Filters: Lets you set the view, time frame, and custom filters
      • Preview: Offers a dynamic preview. Add, reorder, remove columns, summary fields, formulas, groupings, and blocks.
    • In the Preview pane, select the arrow next to a field to group the records by that field.

Filter Your Reports

  • Up to 20 filters can be added to a report in the filters pane.
  • The filters can include various logical queries of columns in the data (such as “Contains,” “Equals”)
    • Those filters can then have logic applied, such as “1 AND 2 AND (3 OR 4)”
  • Reports can also be used to check whether users have logged in within a certain time period
    • Create a new Report using the User object via: Reports tab » New Report » User » Add Column with “Login Access Exp. Date”
    • Then, add a filter on “Last Login” field and select “Use relative date” and enter “Last 7 days”

Group and Categorize Your Data

  • Grouping data in reports is possible using the down arrow next to each particular field. Can also change the grouping to be the “Month” of a particular date, for example.
  • Bucket Fields let you segment report data on the fly by defining a set of categories to sort, group, or filter the records. They are a means of assigning discrete categories based on continuous data.
    • Add Bucket fields by clicking in the outline pane » selecting the down arrow » Bucket this Column

Use Summary Formulas in Your Reports

  • Summary formulas are a great way to calculate additional totals based on numerical values in the report. Up to five summary formulas can be added to summary and matrix reports.
    • Add Summary Formulae via editing a report, then, in the outline pane, click the down arrow next to columns, click Add Summary Formula
    • Mathematical formulae based on the numeric fields can be added

Manage Reported Data

  • Export a Report as CSV via: click the reports tab » select a report » down arrow next to edit » export » Details Only » Format: Comma Delimited .csv, Encoding: ISO-8859-1 (General US & Western European, ISO-LATIN-1)

Visualize Your Data

  • Report Charts and Dashboards are an easy way to get a visual summary of charts.
  • Add Report Charts via: Access a report » Add Chart
    • Edit the added chart via: gear icon
  • Dashboards: a visual representation of data from multiple reports. It:
    • Displays data from source report(s)
    • Shows or hides data based on the user viewing it
    • Displays data as of the last refresh
    • Can be scheduled to be refreshed and emailed automatically
  • Create a new Dashboard via: Dashboard tab » New Dashboard » Select a Folder » Create
    • Add components as necessary