1Overview #
The dashboard is the first thing you see after signing in. Each card is a report - the same reports that live under Reports - assigned to you and drawn automatically, so the figures you look at every morning are in front of you without running anything.
It is a reading screen. Nothing here changes a record: a card shows, refreshes and can be opened out; it never posts.
2Who it is for #
- Anybody who wants their usual figures without running the reports by hand.
- A manager who wants one screen that answers "how are we doing".
3What it is not for #
- Keying anything - the dashboard reads, it does not write.
- Ad-hoc questions: run the report itself under Reports, where every option is available.
4Step by step #
- Sign in. The cards draw themselves. - Each card runs its own report against your company and your report option.
- Read a card. - The heading names the report; the figures are as of the moment it ran.
- Press Refresh on a card to run it again. - Use it when something has just been posted and you want the card to catch up.
- Change a card's parameters where it offers them. - A card can be pointed at another period or another branch without leaving the page.
- Save layout keeps how you arranged a card's grid (columns, order, widths, sort, grouping, filters) or pivot (rows, columns, values, filters); Clear layout puts it back to the report's own. - The layout is yours and kept in this browser - it does not change what anybody else sees, and another computer shows the report's own until you save there too. A chart card has no layout to save.
5The fields #
A card
Every card carries the same furniture, whatever report is behind it.
- Heading - The report the card draws. It is the report's own name, so you can find it under Reports. Read-only
- Figures - What the report returned, as of the last run. The card does not follow changes by itself. Read-only
- Refresh - Runs the report again, now. Optional Only this card.
- Parameters - The report's own options, where the card exposes them - a period, a branch, an account. Optional What the card shows from the next run.
- Save layout / Clear layout - Keeps or forgets how you arranged the card's grid or pivot. Used each time the card opens. Optional Only your own view of the card, in this browser.
6Rules and integrity #
- The cards are assigned, not chosen here - Which reports appear is set against your user and company. An empty dashboard means nothing has been assigned to you, not that anything failed.
- Every card obeys your report option - A card shows what you may see - your own branch, your group, or everything - exactly as the report would if you ran it yourself.
- A card is a snapshot - The figures are from the moment the card last ran. Refresh is what makes them current.
- Layouts are per user, per card - Saving a layout changes nothing for anybody else.
7Shortcut keys #
- F5 - Redraw the page - every card runs again.
8If something does not work #
"No dashboard reports are assigned to the selected user and company context."
- Why
- Nothing has been assigned to you for this company - the dashboard has nothing to draw.
- What to do
- Ask an administrator to assign the reports you need; the assignment is per user and per company.
"Unable to load dashboard: ..."
- Why
- The page could not read its cards - the API was unreachable, or a query failed.
- What to do
- Try again; the text after the colon is the server's own.
"Unable to refresh ...: ..."
- Why
- That one card's report failed. The other cards are unaffected.
- What to do
- Run the report itself under Reports - it will show the same failure with more detail.
"Unable to apply parameters: ..."
- Why
- The options you set could not be applied - usually a value the report will not take.
- What to do
- Check the value; the report's own screen validates the same options.
"Unable to save layout for ...: ..." / "Unable to clear layout for ...: ..."
- Why
- The layout could not be stored, so the card keeps the arrangement it had.
- What to do
- Try again; nothing about the figures is affected.
"The layout of ... could not be read - wait for the card to finish loading, then save again."
- Why
- The card was still drawing, so there was no layout to take yet.
- What to do
- Wait for the figures to appear, then press Save layout again.
"... is a chart: its shape comes from the report, so there is no layout to save."
- Why
- Charts are drawn from the report's own settings; only grid and pivot cards keep a layout.
- What to do
- Nothing to do - open the card's detail view to analyse it as a grid or pivot.
"Layout saved for ..." / "Layout cleared for ...: it is back to the report's own."
- Why
- Not errors - the layout is kept for you in this browser, or forgotten and the card drawn again.
- What to do
- Press Refresh on that card.
A card shows figures you know are out of date
- Why
- A card is a snapshot from its last run; it does not follow postings.
- What to do
- Press Refresh, or F5 for the whole page.
A card shows less than the report does
- Why
- The card runs under your report option and its own saved parameters.
- What to do
- Open the report under Reports and set the options yourself.
9For an administrator #
- Assigning the cards - Dashboard reports are assigned per user and per company. A user with nothing assigned sees an empty dashboard, which is the message they get.
- Rights still apply - Assigning a report does not grant the right to it. A user without the report's View right sees the card fail.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Dashboard screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
See this screen for yourself
The demo is the real product, with a company of your own.