How to Create a Dashboard

To create a dashboard, you must be an admin or writer user and have the “Create Dashboards” privilege enabled.
To edit a dashboard, you must be an admin or writer user and have been assigned a permission on the relevant dashboard. Learn more about dashboard permissions below.

Watch the Ardoq Dashboard builder demo video to learn how to create a dashboard from scratch or follow the steps below.

1. Open the Dashboard Builder

You can open the Dashboard builder from:

The Home page > Create new > Dashboard
The Analytics module > Dashboard builder

2. Give your dashboard a name and a description

Name and describe your dashboard from the sidebar to provide the necessary context for your data. The description box supports text formatting, data table insertion, links, and inline code.

Closing the sidebar won’t cause you to lose any of your edits in your chart. However, your edits won’t be save until you save your dashboard.

3. Add a new heading (optional)

You have the option to create an unlimited number of sections in your dashboard by adding headings and naming them from the sidebar. However, it's not mandatory and you can add charts directly without adding sections.

To add a new heading simply click on the "Add new heading" button on the dashboard

4. Add a new chart

To add a new chart, click on the "Add new chart" button on the dashboard. The sidebar will pop up to the right side of your screen. Here, you can configure your chart and customize how you want to present your data.

Data selection

Clicking on the “Add new chart” button will instantly create a new chart in your dashboard and open up the sidebar on the “Data selection” section. Here, you can select a report or survey and the field you want to display. Please note, it is currently possible to display component fields only. If you edit a chart and select a different report or survey, it will result in the chart being reset to a blank state. Learn more about the types of data sources for charts in the section below.

Chart filtering

When you use a report as data source for your charts, you can add filters to that report's data directly on the chart itself. This lets you show only the specific information you need in each chart. By doing this, you can create general reports that can be reused across multiple charts and dashboards, saving you time and effort

After selecting the report, click “Filter”

2. Configure your filters the same way as when you filter a report

3. Next, you can give a name to your chart by typing a custom name in the "Chart title" box.

Data presentation

Next, you can select the chart type you want to present your data in and the aggregate to display from the “Data presentation” section.

Chart types:

The chart types we support are:

Table chart
Number chart
Line chart
Pie chart
Stacked bar chart
Bar chart

Ardoq dashboard builder - data presentation

The available chart types differ depending on whether you selected a survey or a report in the “Data selection” step. Find out which chart types are available for surveys and reports by referring to the “Available chart types per data source” section below.

Aggregates:

The aggregates we support are:

Minimum
Maximum
Average (including unset values)
Average (only set values)
Sum
Count
Median

The available aggregates vary according to the selected chart type and field type. Learn which are available in the “Available aggregates per Chart Type and Field Type” section below.

Modify the Number of Slices, Bars, and Sections in the Pie, Bar, and Stacked Bar charts

Take control of your charts by configuring the number of slices in your Pie, bars in Bar charts, and bar sections in Stacked Bar charts to match your specific visualization needs.

The maximum amount of slices, bars, and bar sections per chart type are:

Pie chart: 20 slices
Bar chart: 30 bars
Stacked Bar chart: 20 bars

To change the number of values displayed in your charts:

Click on the pencil icon on the top right corner of a Pie, Bar, or Stacked Bar chart
Navigate to the “Data presentation” section on the sidebar
Enter a new number in the “Slices”, “Bars”, or "Bar sections" section
Click on the "Save" button at the top right corner of the screen to save your changes.

How to Display Data For a Specific Date Range:

You can display data for a specific period of time on the Line and Stacked Bar charts. To do so:

Navigate to the Data presentation section on the sidebar.
Select the Line or Stacked Bar chart on the Chart type dropdown.
Choose between “All time, 1 year, 6 months, 3 months, or 1 month” from the Date range dropdown.
Depending on the selected field, you can choose the type of aggregate you want to display on the Line or Stacked Bar chart.

👉 To display data per quarter, follow the instructions on the "How to Automatically Calculate Component End Dates and Create a Quarter-Based Roadmap" KB article.

How to Display Manually Aggregated Data in a Pie Chart

A regular Gremlin Pie needs a Gremlin query that returns a sequence of maps. For instance, components. When selecting a field in the Dashboard builder, we look at the values of the field and count how often each value appears. Next, we display the total count in the Pie chart.

Example data returned by a regular Gremlin query:

[[name:"App 1", phase: "Initiation", _id: "123"], 
[name:"App 2", phase: "Initiation", _id: "456"], 
[name:"App 3", phase: "Active", _id: "789"], 
[name:"App 4", phase: "Active", _id: "012"], 
[name:"App 5", phase: "Active", _id: "345"], 
[name:"App 6", phase: "Sunset", _id: "679"]]

Given that the field phase is selected, we will use it to compute the following data for the Pie chart: {"Initiation": 2, "Active": 3, "Sunset": 1}. If you wish to do the calculation yourself and display numer, you will need to make a Gremlin query that return this:

[["name": "Initiation", "value": 2], 
["name": "Active", "value": 3], 
["name": "Sunset", "value": 1]]

Notice that the results have two properties: one called "name", with the label to be displayed, and one called "value" , holding a number.

How to Customize the Y-axis Starting Point in the Line Chart

Adjust the Y-axis starting point to the lowest value instead of zero on the Line chart to achieve a clearer representation of data fluctuations.

To modify the Y-axis at a custom value:

Click on the pencil icon on the top right corner of a Line chart
Navigate to the “Data presentation” section on the sidebar
Enter a new number in the “Y-axis” section
Click on the "Save" button at the top right corner of the screen to save your changes.

How to Configure the Line Chart to Display Multiple Field Values

Easily compare data and better correlate changes happening over time by displaying multiple field values in one single Line chart. To do so:

Add or edit a Line chart on your dashboard by clicking on the pencil icon at the top right corner of the chart.
Navigate to the "Data selection" section on the right-side chart editor.
Select the fields you wish to display from "Select fields".
Click "Save" at the top right corner of the screen to apply your changes.

Abbreviating Large Numbers in the Number Chart

Enjoy easier readability of large numbers in Number charts with our new abbreviated number formatting.

Add or edit a Number chart on your dashboard by clicking on the pencil icon at the top right corner of the chart.
Navigate to the "Data presentation" section on the right-side chart editor.
Select "Abbreviate large numbers".
Click "Save" at the top right corner of the screen to apply your changes.

You can also choose to display the full number by selecting "Full numbers with decimals".

See Trends in Number Chart

See how data in your Number Charts develops over time by enabling Trend percentage. You can choose the date range for the trend and customize the color scheme you want.

Resizing Dashboard Charts

Expand or shrink charts to highlight critical insights or to better manage space in your dashboard. Take control of the display and layout of your charts and streamline the communication of intricate data, empowering more efficient and insightful analysis.

In the Dashboard Builder, hover over any chart.
Click on the bottom right corner of the chart and drag it to the desirable size.
Click "Save" at the top right corner of the dashboard to save your changes.

Data colors

Automatically assign colors to your Pie, Stacked Bar, and Bar charts from a custom dashboard color theme. Or update individual variable colors using the color picker in the Data color section in the Dashboard builder.

How to Create a Dashboard Color Theme

creating a custom dashboard color theme in Ardoq

Set up a dashboard color theme to effortlessly apply a consistent palette to your charts across your multiple dashboards by default. Follow our best practices outline in this KB article to create effective custom color themes.

To create a dashboard color theme:

Navigate to Analytics > Dashboard Overview.
Click on the "Dashboard color themes" button at the top right corner of your screen.
Select "Add new color theme".
Give your new theme a name.
Choose a minimum of 8 colors from the color picker. Alternatively, copy multiple HEX or RGB codes and paste them into Ardoq by using the "Paste from clipboard" button.
Click "Save".

The new color theme is now applied to all fields (variables) in a chart that were using the default settings. Customized fields will keep their original colors. When deleting a custom color theme, the Default theme will be selected by default.

How to Customize Pie Chart and Stacked Bar Chart Colors

To customize single Pie chart and Stacked Bar chart field colors from the Dashboard builder:

Expand the "Data colors" section on the sidebar
Click on the color box next to the name of the field value you want to edit
Select a new color from the color picker. In the "Qualitative theme" section you'll find the colors available in your custom dashboard color theme. Expand the "Custom" section in the color picker to select a new color.

Ardoq dashboard builder - customize chart colors

✍️ Note:

If a color is already assigned to one data field and is then selected for another data field, the color will be applied to the second field and both fields will have the same color applied.
Changing the color of a field affects all charts that use that field.

How to Customize Bar Chart Colors

Assign one single color to all bars in the chart for a consistent and unified look, or assign one unique color to each bar to create visual contrasts that communicate insights effectively.

Ardoq dashboard builder - customize bar chart colors

To customize your Bar chart colors, navigate to the Dashboard builder and:

Click on the pencil icon on your Bar chart to edit it
Scroll down to the bottom of the right side bar and expand the "Color selection" section
By default "Single color" is selected and all bars show as blue. Alternatively, select "Color theme" to automatically assign a different color to each bar from your default dashboard color theme.
Next, expand the "Data colors" section to customize the color(s) of your Bar chart.
Select a new color:
1. If "Single color" was selected in the previous step, click on the color box next to "All bars" to apply a new color to all bars but "Other". Click on the color box next to "Other" to choose a new color for the "Other" bar which represents all other fields aggregated into one bar.
2. If "Color theme" was selected, click on the color box next to the name of the field value you want to edit and select a new color.
Save your changes by clicking on the "Save" button at the top right corner of the screen.

✍️ Note:

Changing the single color of Bar charts work on a chart level. You can duplicate a Bar chart and assign a different color to the duplicate, while the original chart will maintain its original color.
When you modify the variable (field) colors within a "Color theme" Bar chart, the color changes are automatically reflected across all other charts that display the same variable.

5. Add conditional formatting rules (optional)

You can add conditional formatting to charts of type “Number” only. Conditional formatting helps highlight data points that meet specific criteria, making it easier to quickly identify important trends and patterns in your data.

Currently, we only support the "Greater than" operator. You can use it to define:

Negative limits
Neutral limits
Positive limits

To create a custom conditional formatting rule, scroll down and:

Select “+Add new limit”
Click on the color box and select a new color
Give a name to your custom limit
Define a limit value

customize bar chart colors - conditional formatting rules

Conditional formatting is applied per chart. However, you can duplicate a chart to avoid replicating the same conditional formatting limits. Simply click the three dots menu on the chart and select “Copy”. The duplicate will retain the conditional formatting limits of the original chart.

6. Customize your dashboard

You’ve now created your first chart. Closing the sidebar won’t cause you to lose any of your edits in your chart. However, your edits won’t be save until you save your dashboard.

From here, you can add a new section, create a new chart or duplicate it to continue creating your dashboard. You can also rearrange your charts by clicking on the six dots icon on the top left corner of a chart and dragging it to its new position.

Ardoq dashboard builder - customize your dashboard

7. Save your dashboard

Click on the “Save” button at the top right corner of the screen to save all your edits and create your dashboard.

8. Share your dashboard with your stakeholders

There are three ways in which you can share your dashboard with your users:

By adding your dashboard to a presentation
By sharing the Ardoq dashboard URL
By sharing the Discover dashboard URL

Adding a dashboard to a presentation

To add a dashboard as a slide in a presentation:

Open a dashboard.
Click on the "View" button at the top right corner of the screen on the Dashboard Reader.
Select the "Add to a presentation” button in the top right corner of the screen.
Type in the name of the presentation you which to add your dashboard in the dropdown.
Define the presentation permissions to ensure the right stakeholders can open your presentation. Learn about Presentation permissions in this KB article.

Ardoq dashboard builder - adding a dashboard to a presentation

Sharing Ardoq and Discover dashboard URLs

Before sharing an Ardoq or Discover dashboard URL with your stakeholders, ensure they have proper access to your dashboard by assigning them the appropriate dashboard permission.

To share an Ardoq dashboard URL or a Discover dashboard URL:

Open a dashboard. You'll land on the Dashboard Reader.
Click on the copy icon to the top right side of the screen.
Select "Copy Ardoq dashboard URL" to share your dashboard with users who have access to core Ardoq. Alternatively, choose "Copy Discover dashboard URL" to have your users open the dashboard in Discover.

👉 Learn more about Dashboards in Discover in the How to Give Users Access to Dashboards Outside of Core Ardoq KB article.

Sharing Ardoq and Discover dashboard URLs

How to Allow Users to Create Dashboards

In Ardoq, you can use privileges to define feature access and permissions to define asset access.

For instance, you can enable the "Create Dashboards" privilege to allow users to create dashboards using the Dashboard builder. On the other hand, permissions enable you to grant access to a given dashboard and define the actions your users can perform on that dashboard such editing or reading data. Learn more about Dashboards permissions in the section below.

How to Enable the “Create Dashboards” Privilege

Given that you are an admin user in the Ardoq app, you can allow users to create new dashboards by enabling the “Create Dashboards” privilege on their user role or individually per user.

How to Enable The “Create Dashboards” Privilege on a User Role

To allow all users with a specific user role to create dashboards:

Navigate to Preferences > Organization Settings > Manage User Roles
Select the user role you want to configure
Tick the “Create Dashboards” checkbox
Click “Save”

$Ardoq dashboard builder - manage user roles\$

Enabling the “Create Dashboards” privilege on a user role is the easiest way to manage who can create dashboards in your organization. Once the “Create Dashboards” privilege is enabled on a user role, it is not possible to disable it on specific users who have that user role.

Ardoq dashboard builder - remove priviledges

For example, if you enable the “Create Dashboards” privilege on the Writer user role, all of your existing Writer users, and those you add in the future, will be able to create dashboards. Because the “Create Dashboards” privilege is enabled on the Writer user role, you won’t be able to disable the “Create Dashboards” privilege on single users who have the Writer user role assigned.

How to Enable the “Create Dashboards” Privilege per Single User

Enable the “Create Dashboards” privilege individually per user when you need certain people to create new dashboards and their user role does not allow them to.

To enable the “Create Dashboard” privilege on single users:

Navigate to Preference > Organization Settings > Manage Users
Look for the user you want to enable the “Create Dashboards” privilege on
Click on the three-dot menu next to the name of a user and select "Assign privileges"
Select "Create Dashboards" from the dropdown
Hit "Save"

Ardoq dashboard builder - enable create dashboards priviledge

Dashboards Permissions: Granting Access to the Right Users

Assign users a permission on a particular dashboard to determine the actions they can perform on that specific dashboard. It is not necessary to enable the "Create Dashboards" privilege for admin and writer users to edit a dashboard as long as they have been granted the "Administrator" or "Writing" permission. The "Create Dashboards" privilege only allows users to create new dashboards.

To grant users a permission on a given dashboard:

Head over to the Home page or Dashboard overview page.
Click on the three dot menu next to the name of your dashboard.
Select “Permissions”.
Assign a dashboard permission to all users in your organization from the “All organization members” dropdown and “All contributors” dropdown. Alternatively, grant access to specific users by typing their name or the name of group from the “Add a user or group” dropdown at the top of the modal.

The available permissions for Dashboards are:

Administrator permission: It allows users to read, edit, and delete the dashboard they’ve been added to. They can also update the dashboard permissions for themselves and other users who were granted access.
Writing permission: It allows users to read, edit, and delete the dashboard they’ve been added to. They cannot update the dashboard permissions.
Read-only permission: It allows users to read the dashboard they've been added to. They cannot edit or delete the asset. They cannot update the dashboard permissions.
No default access: It prevents users to access a specific dashboard.

You can grant users the Administrator, Writing or Read-only permissions depending on their role:

User Role	Dashboard Permissions
Org Admins	Administrator Writing Read-only No default access
Org Writers	Administrator Writing Read-only No default access
Org Readers	Read-only No default access
Contributors	Access to dashboard No default access

👉 Learn more about privileges and permissions in the “Assign Users Access to Assets and Functionality” KB article.

Chart Data Sources

Charts can display either Advanced Search reports, Gremlin Graph Search reports or survey data.

Data Source Type: Advanced Search Report

Once you have created an Advanced Search report, the results can be displayed in a chart and used to make calculations on number field values and on list fields. You can also track how the data changes over time. The same search can be used in multiple charts to show different fields.

For an Advanced Search chart, you can select either number fields which you can aggregate using minimum, maximum, average, median, sum, count, or you can select a list field that can be shown in any of the chart types.

Data Source Type: Gremlin Graph Search Report

To find more complex relations in your data, you can create Gremlin Graph Search reports. Next, the results can be displayed in a dashboard chart, where you can track the progress over time.

Gremlin supports aggregation directly in the query or you can calculate aggregated data straight from the Report builder.

Data Source Type: Surveys

Survey charts can be used to track the progress of a survey. You can have charts showing how many of the responses are valid or invalid. The valid/invalid field indicates the survey statistics where the sections are set as mandatory. In the image below, you can see the overall validation of responses to a survey and also statistics on the responses to the survey.

Once you have saved and created a survey chart, you can also open the corresponding survey by clicking on the bottom right side of the chart.

Available Charts per Data Source and Field Type

The available charts to visualize your data depend on the data source and field type you select.

Reports

The following charts are available per field type when an Advanced search or Gremlin search based report is selected as the data source.

Selected field type	Table chart	Number chart	Pie chart	Line chart	Stacked bar chart	Bar chart
Number	✔	✔		✔
Text	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Email	✔	✔		✔
Checkbox	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Datetime	✔	✔		✔
Date range	✔	✔		✔
User	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
TextArea	✔	✔		✔
List	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Url	✔	✔		✔
SelectMultipleList	✔	✔		✔
Valid/ Invalid (only for surveys)
Reference	✔

Surveys

The following charts are available per field type when a survey is selected as the data source.

Selected field type	Table chart	Number chart	Pie chart	Line chart	Stacked bar chart	Bar chart
Number	✔	✔
Text	✔	✔	✔			✔
Email	✔	✔
Checkbox	✔	✔	✔			✔
Datetime	✔	✔
Date range	✔	✔
User	✔	✔	✔			✔
TextArea	✔	✔
List	✔	✔	✔			✔
Url	✔	✔
SelectMultipleList	✔	✔
Valid/ Invalid (only for surveys)	✔	✔	✔		✔	✔
Reference (only for reports)

Exceptions

There are a few exceptions to the rules explained in the "Report" and "Survey" section above:

When selecting more than 1 field, you can only use the Table and Line charts.
You can only use the Pie chart with a field of type number if using a Gremlin report with manually aggregated data.
Ardoq ID and Ardoq OID are not supported by the Pie, Bar, and Stacked bar charts even though they are text fields.
When the selected data source is a report and no field has been selected, you can use the Number and Line charts to visualize the count.

Available Field Type and Aggregates Per Chart Type

Chart type	Available aggregates per field type
Number chart Line chart (available on report-based charts only)	Number field: Min Max Average Sum Count Median Other fields: (Text, Email, Checkbox, Datetime, User, TextArea, List, Url, SelectMultipleList) Count
Table chart	Number field: None Minimum Maximum Average Sum Count Median Other fields: (Text, Email, Checkbox, Datetime, User, TextArea, List, Url, SelectMultipleList) None Count
Pie chart Stacked bar chart (report-based charts) Bar chart	List field: Count Text field: Count User field: Count Checkbox: Count By default the aggregate "Count" is displayed for the Pie, Stacked bar, and Bar charts and cannot be modified.
Stacked bar chart (survey-based charts)	Valid/ Invalid field: No aggregate is available

FAQ

Why can’t I select one of the available chart types?

The chart type depends on the data source chosen. See the “Available charts per data source” section above to see a full list of the charts you can select for Advanced search charts, Gremlin graph search charts, and Survey charts.

How far back does the timeline go?

When you save a report or search or create a survey, we start capturing daily snapshots of the data.

Why don’t I see any changes in the Line chart after changing the underlying data?

The Line chart only shows results from up to yesterday. Any changes you make today will be seen in the chart tomorrow.

Where do the available fields in a chart come from?

The available fields on charts are the ones that were included in the selected report and survey.

Can the Pie chart show more than 5 values?

Yes. Take a look at this section above to find out how to display more than 5 values on Pie charts.

Is it possible to display reference fields in a chart?

It is currently possible to display component fields in a chart only.

How to Give Users Access to Dashboards Outside of Core Ardoq

How to Create a Viewpoint in Ardoq Discover

From Business Questions to Ardoq Model - Dashboard

How to Automatically Create a Survey

Creating Custom Color Themes for Powerful Dashboard Data Visualization

How to Create a Dashboard

What Is a Dashboard