Homepage

Learn about the key elements of your homepage and how to find your content items.

When you first sign in to Phocas, you arrive at your homepage. To return to the homepage from anywhere in Phocas, click the Home button at the top of the Phocas menu on the left side of your screen.

Watch this Phocas Academy video: Homepage at a glance

The homepage grid contains a list of your Phocas content items and their details organized into the following columns:

• Name: The name of the item.

• Type: The type of item, such as dashboard, favorite, alert, and database.

• Database: The database from which the item was created. For example, you might have a Declining products alert based on the data in your Sales database.

• Folder: The folder in which the item was shared. For example, your organization might store all its sales-related dashboards in a Sales folder.

• Owner: The user who created the item initially or was set as the owner at some point afterward.

• Last opened: The last time you (signed-in user) opened the item.

• Last updated: The last time the item was opened since the underlying database was built or the favorite was saved.

There are several ways to find the items you're looking for:

1. Tabs

Your Phocas content items are organized into four tabs. Click a tab to filter the grid and see those specific items.

• All: This tab opens by default and contains a list of all the items that have been shared with you. When you create your own items, they’ll also be displayed here.

• Alerts: This tab contains a list of alerts that have been shared with you or any you create. Alerts allow you to monitor performance against set targets. The color coding identifies items that require your immediate attention.

• Bookmarks: This tab contains a list of items that you have bookmarked. Bookmarks allow you to quickly access the items you use frequently or are currently working on. You can bookmark items from any tab on this homepage and the All tab on the Budgets & Forecasts homepage.

• Subscriptions: This tab contains a list of favorites and dashboards to which you have subscribed.

2. Filters

Search: Use the search box in the top-right corner to quickly find a particular item. As you type a keyword, the grid contents are filtered to display only the matching items. Often, you don’t need to enter a whole keyword, as the search results are so fast.

Sort: Click the applicable column header to sort the items by that condition. For example, you might want to sort the items by Database in alphabetical order. Sorting by Last Opened or Last Updated is particularly useful to see the most recently opened or updated items.

Filter: Use the following column filters to refine the list of items that display in the grid:

• Type: Filter the grid to see only a specific type of item, such as all the favorites that have been shared with you or all the databases you have access to.

• Database: Filter the grid to see only the items associated with a specific database. For example, you might want to see all the favorites, dashboards, and alerts in your Finance database.

• Folder: Filter the grid to see only the items stored in a specific folder. For example, you might want to see only items in the Marketing folder.

• Owner: Filter the grid to see the items owned by a specific user. For example, you might want to get a quick list of all the items that you own.

3. Menus

There are several other actions you can take from your homepage. The available actions depend on the item and your user permissions. Click the menu button (three dots) at the end of the item row and select the required option:

• Set default period: This option is available for database items. It allows you to change the default period (timeframe) you see when you open the database.

• Share: This option is available for favorites, alerts, and dashboards. It allows you to share the item with an individual user or put it in a folder so it’s available to a group of users.

• Bookmark: This option adds the item to the Bookmarks tab.

• Subscribe: This option allows you to subscribe to favorites, alerts, and dashboards. When you are subscribed to an item, the option changes, allowing you to manage the subscriptions.

• Edit: This option is available for favorites, alerts, and dashboards. It allows you to change the name, description, or owner of the item.

• Delete: This option is available for favorites, alerts, and dashboards. It allows you to delete the items you own. You can’t delete items shared with you, but you can use the grid filters to remove such items from your view.

Open an item

When you find the item you want, click its name to open it. Afterward, it'll appear at the top of your homepage and in the Recents list in your Phocas menu.

Change your homepage

When you apply one or more tabs, filters and sort orders to your homepage, your selections are retained. This means the next time you view your homepage, it'll look exactly as you left it. This effectively lets you set up your homepage to always display only the items you're interested in.

If your homepage does not meet your needs, you can replace it with a custom home dashboard that contains the information you want to view as soon as you sign in to Phocas.