Dashboard Builder is a powerful tool in Salesforce that allows administrators to create visual representations of data through interactive dashboards. These dashboards provide real-time insights into business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling users to make informed decisions b…Dashboard Builder is a powerful tool in Salesforce that allows administrators to create visual representations of data through interactive dashboards. These dashboards provide real-time insights into business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling users to make informed decisions based on current data.
In Salesforce, dashboards are composed of components that display data from underlying reports. The Dashboard Builder interface offers a drag-and-drop functionality that makes it easy to design and customize dashboard layouts. Administrators can add various component types including charts, gauges, tables, and metrics to create comprehensive visual displays.
Key features of Dashboard Builder include:
1. Component Types: Users can choose from bar charts, pie charts, donut charts, line charts, funnel charts, scatter charts, gauge components, and metric components to best represent their data.
2. Dynamic Dashboards: These allow different users to view data according to their own access levels, ensuring data security while maintaining a single dashboard design.
3. Filters: Dashboard filters enable viewers to refine the displayed data based on specific criteria, making dashboards more interactive and useful.
4. Running User Settings: Administrators can configure who the dashboard runs as, determining whose data visibility and sharing settings apply to the displayed information.
5. Refresh Options: Dashboards can be scheduled to refresh at specific intervals, ensuring data remains current.
6. Mobile Optimization: Dashboard Builder creates responsive designs that work well on Salesforce mobile applications.
7. Folders and Sharing: Dashboards can be organized into folders with specific sharing permissions, controlling who can view or edit them.
Best practices include keeping dashboards focused on specific business objectives, limiting the number of components for better performance, and using appropriate chart types for the data being presented. Effective dashboards help organizations track sales performance, monitor service metrics, analyze marketing campaigns, and measure overall business health through centralized visual analytics.
Dashboard Builder: Complete Guide for Salesforce Administrators
Why Dashboard Builder is Important
Dashboard Builder is a critical component of Salesforce's reporting and analytics capabilities. It enables administrators and users to create visual representations of data that provide at-a-glance insights into business performance. Dashboards help organizations make data-driven decisions, track KPIs, monitor team performance, and identify trends quickly. For Salesforce Administrators, mastering Dashboard Builder is essential because it allows them to deliver meaningful analytics to stakeholders across the organization.
What is Dashboard Builder?
Dashboard Builder is the tool within Salesforce that allows users to create, customize, and manage dashboards. A dashboard is a visual display of key metrics and trends from multiple reports. Each dashboard can contain up to 20 components, and each component displays data from a single underlying report. Dashboard components can be displayed as various chart types including:
• Bar Charts - horizontal and vertical • Line Charts - for showing trends over time • Donut Charts - for showing proportions • Gauge Charts - for showing progress toward goals • Metric Components - displaying single values • Tables - showing report data in tabular format • Funnel Charts - for showing stages in a process • Scatter Charts - for showing relationships between variables
How Dashboard Builder Works
Creating a dashboard involves several key steps:
1. Navigate to the Dashboards tab and click New Dashboard 2. Name your dashboard and select a folder for storage 3. Add components by clicking the + Component button 4. Select a source report for each component 5. Choose the visualization type that best represents your data 6. Configure component settings including title, sort order, and display options 7. Arrange components on the dashboard canvas using drag-and-drop 8. Set the running user to determine whose data perspective the dashboard displays
Key Dashboard Concepts
Running User: This determines whose security settings are applied when viewing dashboard data. Options include: • Run as specified user - all viewers see same data • Run as logged-in user - each viewer sees data based on their own access
Dynamic Dashboards: These allow each user to see data according to their own security settings. The number of dynamic dashboards available depends on your Salesforce edition.
Dashboard Filters: Allow users to change the view of dashboard data by applying up to three filters per dashboard.
Refresh: Dashboards display data from the last refresh. Users can manually refresh or schedule automatic refreshes.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Dashboard Builder
1. Know the limitations: Remember that dashboards can have a maximum of 20 components, and each component is tied to one report only.
2. Understand running user options: Questions often test your knowledge of when to use dynamic dashboards versus dashboards with a specified running user. Dynamic dashboards are appropriate when users need to see data based on their own access levels.
3. Component types matter: Be familiar with which chart type is most appropriate for different data scenarios. Gauges are for goal tracking, line charts for trends, and funnels for process stages.
4. Dashboard folders and sharing: Understand how folder permissions control dashboard access. Users need access to both the dashboard folder and the underlying report folders.
5. Refresh behavior: Remember that dashboard data is not real-time by default. Users must refresh to see current data, and scheduled refreshes can be configured.
6. Filter limitations: Know that dashboard filters are limited to three per dashboard and must be based on fields available in the source reports.
7. Edition differences: Be aware that certain features like dynamic dashboards have limits based on Salesforce edition.
8. Read scenarios carefully: Exam questions often present business scenarios. Focus on identifying the requirement first, then match it to the appropriate dashboard feature or configuration option.