Use dashboards (new experience)
Dynamic, interactive, shared dashboards allow your team to monitor performance and collaboratively analyze the latest data changes.
The new dashboards experience works with Flex Modes and Financial Statements.
When a dashboard is shared with you, your available actions depend on the permission level you receive:
Can view: You can view the dashboard and see who it has been shared with.
Can edit: You can view and edit the dashboard. You can also share it with other users.
Find your way around a dashboard
At the top, you can see the dashboard name.
Below that is the toolbar containing the following options:
Focus: Becomes active after you select a data item in an interactive widget. Click to filter out the other data.
Reset: Becomes active after you change the period or apply a filter. Click to return the dashboard to its original state.
Section: Jump to a specific section of the dashboard.
Period: Change the time period of the data displayed on the dashboard.
+ Add filter: Add dropdown filters to refine the data displayed on the dashboard.
Shared filters: Turn on to keep this tab's filters in sync with other tabs that also have shared filters turned on, or turn off to apply filters to this tab only.
Share: Share the dashboard with other users.
Subscribe: Subscribe to the dashboard to receive notifications on the configured schedule.
Open notes: View notes added by the creator or editors of the dashboard.
Download: Download the dashboard as a PDF file.
Full screen: View the dashboard in full screen mode.
Mode (Viewing): Switch between view and edit modes.
Dashboards are organized into sections, with each section able to contain a number of widgets. Each section has a name, and might have a description.
You can use the Go to section option on the dashboard toolbar to quickly navigate between sections, or click the chevron next to the section name to collapse or expand the section.
Each section has one or more widgets containing a chart or grid.
When the same item, such as a Customer or Product, displays in multiple chart widgets, it displays as the same color in each chart, maintaining consistency across the dashboard.
When you hover over a widget, its toolbar displays. See Interact with widgets below.
Dashboards can contain a number of tabs, with each tab containing its own sections and widgets.
Click on a tab to open it, or select a tab from the menu.
The tab bar also shows the last build time of the databases used in the dashboard, in the bottom-right corner. See Check when the data was last updated below.
Go to section
Use the Section menu to move around large dashboards.
Click Section, then select a section to jump directly to it.
Check when the dashboard data was last updated
The tab bar at the bottom of the screen shows the last build time of the databases used in the dashboard, in the bottom-right corner. Use this to see at a glance how current the dashboard data is.
This information is also available in full screen mode, in the top-right corner.
Change the period
The period selected for the dashboard determines the time and date range for the data displayed.
Use the Period menu to choose one of the following options:
Per widget (default): Displays the period defined when each widget was created. This means widgets might show data from different time ranges.
If you want to apply a single consistent period across all widgets on your dashboard, select one of the following options from the Period menu:
Select dates: Specify a custom start and end date for the dashboard data, then click Apply. For instructions, see Flex Modes > Change the period > Apply a custom period.
Predefined: Select one of the predefined periods available in the underlying database.
Clicking Reset will return the period to the default Per widget option.
Filter a dashboard
There are several ways to filter the data on your dashboard to quickly hone in on the details you want to see.
Add a filter
Use + Add filter to add dropdown filters to the dashboard. Filters allow you to narrow the displayed data by dimensions used in the dashboard, such as country, customer, sales representative, or product class.
Select + Add filter.
Search for a filter or select one from the Used in this dashboard list. The filter is added to the dashboard toolbar.
Open the filter and select one or more entities. Select Select all to include every entity. Widgets that are set as Filterable update accordingly.
Repeat these steps to add more filters as required.
A pin icon next to the filter name indicates that the filter is pinned for continued use. Open the filter and select:
Unpin filter to keep the filter available only temporarily.
Remove filter to remove it from the dashboard toolbar.
Click Reset to clear all selected entities and remove unpinned filters from the dashboard.
Share filters across tabs
If your dashboard has multiple tabs, use shared filters to keep filters synchronized across every tab that also has shared filters turned on. This saves you from having to reapply the same filters each time you switch tabs while analyzing your data.
Click the Shared filters button (globe icon) in the dashboard toolbar, then choose:
Off (filter this tab only): Filters you apply on this tab apply only to this tab. Changes to filters on other tabs don't affect this tab, and changes on this tab don't affect other tabs.
On (replace this tab's filters with shared filters): This tab uses the same filters as every other tab that also has shared filters turned on. Adding, changing, or removing a filter on this tab updates the filters on those other tabs as well, and vice versa.
Shared filters is turned on by default when you add a new tab.
Focus on a widget entity
Select one or more entities in a widget and click Focus to show data for only those entities. This creates a filter that appears on the toolbar.
Click Reset to clear all filters on the dashboard.
Share a dashboard
The Share button behaves differently depending on your permission level.
If the dashboard is shared with you with the Can edit permission, you can share it with other users. See Sharing and folders for more information and detailed steps.
If you have Can view permission, you can't share the dashboard, but you can see who has access to it.
Subscribe to a dashboard
Subscribe to a dashboard to receive an email containing a link to it on a regular schedule.
Open the dashboard and select Subscribe in the dashboard toolbar.
Under Schedule, select how often you want to receive the dashboard:
Monthly: Receive it once a month. Select the required monthly delivery option.
Weekly: Receive it once a week. Select the day of the week.
Daily: Receive it every day.
Under Delivery time, select the time window in which you want the email to be delivered.
Optional: Select Test to test the subscription using the current settings.
Select Save.
The delivery method is Email and the delivery format is Link. Select Cancel to close the window without saving the subscription.
View notes
The dashboard creator or editor might add notes to provide additional information or context.
Click Open notes. The Notes panel opens.
Read the notes.
Click X to close the panel.
Download a dashboard
Download a dashboard as a PDF that captures the dashboard as it currently appears, including its layout and widgets. You can customize the footer and include other dashboard tabs, which are added as separate pages in the PDF.
Click the Download button.
Under Footer, select what you want to display on the left and right of the page. Choose from the default options, including the created date, Phocas branding, page number, and confidentiality or legal notices, or add your own custom text.
Under Tabs, select any additional tabs you want to include. The current tab is selected by default and can't be cleared. Each additional tab is added as a separate page in the PDF.
Click Download.
The PDF is saved to your default downloads folder.
Want to choose the file name?
You can't customize the file name in Phocas, but your browser settings might allow you to choose it when you download the file. Learn how
Enter full screen mode
Click the Full screen button to enter full screen mode. This will hide the browser toolbar and all Phocas navigation.
This view is great for presenting, or for displaying dashboards on a dedicated screen, for example, as a hand-off dashboard on a large screen or device.
When in full screen mode, a simplified filtering toolbar is available, and can be expanded by clicking the Show filters button in the top right of the screen.
Configure full screen display options
Click the Full screen settings button, in the top right of the screen, to open the full screen display options.
Fit mode: Choose how widget content displays on the page.
Actual size - tab: Widgets display at their normal size. If content is taller than the screen, you will need to scroll.
Actual size - section: Widgets display at their normal size, one section at a time. This is useful for sections with tall widgets, such as grids and graphs, that you want to display in full. Turn on cycling to automatically move through each section.
Fit tab: Widget content automatically increases or decreases in height so everything fits on the page without scrolling. This helps prevent content from being cut off when you display the dashboard on different screen sizes.
These display options are particularly useful for dashboards displayed unattended on shared screens. You can fit more content on the screen and automatically cycle through sections or tabs without anyone needing to click through them.
Cycling: Automatically cycle through sections or tabs at a set interval. Select 10s, 30s, 1 min, 2 min, or 5 min to turn on cycling. It is off by default.
Compact header: Turn on to reduce the height of the dashboard header and give more screen space to widget content.
Click the Exit full screen mode button to return to the standard dashboard view.
Switch to edit mode
If the dashboard is shared with you with Can edit permission, you can edit it.
See Edit a dashboard (new experience) to learn how to switch between view and edit modes and make changes to a dashboard.
Interact with widgets
Hover over a widget to show its toolbar. Available options vary by widget type. Items available in the widget toolbar will change depending on the widget type.
View the underlying data
Available for chart widgets. Click 
Show grid to switch the widget to the underlying grid data.
The grid updates automatically when you apply focus or filters to the widget.
When viewing the grid, use full screen mode to view more rows and see all the data.
Analyze the data
Click 
Analyze to open the widget's underlying data in Flex Modes.
From there, you can view the data used to create the widget and perform further analysis.
This usually opens in a new browser window. You must have permission to access the data
Download a widget
Available for chart widgets. Click 
Download to download the chart as an SVG file for use elsewhere.
View a widget in full screen
Click 
Enter full screen to view it in full screen mode.
This hides the browser toolbar and Phocas navigation, so you can focus on a single widget. This is useful for presenting or displaying a widget on a dedicated screen.
When in full screen mode, a toolbar is available at the bottom:
Click Start auto play to begin a slideshow of the widgets on the dashboard.
Click the button again to pause the slideshow.
Use Previous and Next to move between widgets.
Select a widget segment
Widgets on a dashboard are connected. When you select an entity in one widget (for example, a segment in a pie chart), it's highlighted across all related widgets. This helps you follow the same data point and see patterns and relationships across the dashboard. Each entity uses a consistent color across widgets, and colors remain stable when filtering.
Select a segment or data point in a widget to highlight that entity across all related widgets. Select it again to clear the selection.
Last updated