Your Dashboard is a living representation of your Beacon database, and you can customise it to keep you up to date with the metrics that matter the most to you.
After reading about dashboards, check out our examples page for some inspiration about what you could add!
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Customising your dashboard
Your dashboard is made up of a variety of cards that show you information and metrics from your database, and can be separated by sections to divide and organise your different cards.
To edit your dashboard click on the cog in the top right corner. This will put the dashboard into customisation mode. From here you can add new cards as well as editing or moving existing cards.
Adding a new card to your dashboard
Adding a new card to your dashboard is super easy! Once in customisation mode, click the Add card button located at the top right of your screen, and you can start designing your new card.
You will be able to give your new card a title, description, a card type, followed by choosing which record type it will be pulling data from.
You will also to be able to apply filters to the data being pulled into this card, so you can get really specific with what you want your cards to tell you.
Moving cards
All cards can be moved to new positions on your dashboard. To move them, click the cog wheel to enter customisation mode, then click and drag the card to where you'd like it to be displayed. Other cards will adjust to make room as you move your cards around your dashboard.
Tip: When organising a busy dashboard it can be easier to make cards smaller before moving them to where you want, and then adjust their size to fit their new position.
Resizing cards
Whilst in customisation mode, drag the bottom right corner of a card to resize it. You can make your cards as big or small as you like!
Card types
There are several types of card which can be added to your dashboard, which all pull data directly from your Beacon database.
Each card's setup consists of a list of fields and some filters. Just like when you're filtering any other record type, the filters allow you to refine the data presented in your card. For example, you might want to only show donations from the last 7 days, or only tasks that are not marked as completed. These conditions are added as filters.
Metric card
The metric card is the simplest kind of card. It displays a single numeric value.
Progress card
The progress card displays a numeric value and shows your progress towards a goal both as a percentage and as a proportion of the surrounding circular border. How fancy.
List of records card
The list card shows a list of records. This is useful for showing things like recent donations, new mailing list signups, or your current tasks.
Chart card
Any chart that you have built using Beacon's charts tool can be added as a card. Generally these work better for cards within sections with fewer columns. This gives the card the width it needs to display its chart.
Section card
Section cards are full-width cards that allow you to partition your other cards into groups, helping to organise your dashboard.
Sharing your dashboard
Dashboards are like biscuits - they're better when you share them! Ok, ok, maybe sometimes you just want to hoard them for yourself (hello chocolate Hobnobs), but let's run with it.
To share any of your dashboards, click the 'Share' button at the top of your dashboard.
Note: Only editors of a dashboard can share it with others
You can then select which users you'd like to share it with - either as 'Editors' or simply as 'Viewers'.
Editors can customise the dashboard (such as adding, deleting, or editing cards) and share it with others, whereas viewers will only be able to see the dashboard.
Clicking 'Share' will then notify them, and it will now show in their dashboard list.
Admin access
In addition to actively sharing a dashboard, admin users will also be able to access any 'public' dashboard in their account.
Tip: A public dashboard is any dashboard shared between 2 or more people, so admins won't see personal dashboards in their list.
