Salesforce Dashboards

Dashboards in Salesforce are a graphical representation of Reports. It shows data from source reports as visual components. These components provide a snapshot of key metrics and performance indicators of the organization at a glimpse.

There are 5 types of components in Salesforce Dashboard :

1. Charts:

Used for showing comparisons. These are further divided into 6 types:

• Line Chart
• Vertical Bar Chart
• Horizontal Bar Chart
• Donut
• Pie
• Funnel

2. Table:

Tables are used for showing lists. For example top five or bottom five opportunities.

3. Gauge

Gauge is used to show progress towards a goal.

4. Metric

Metrics are used to show a single number like a grand total from a report with a label specified.

5. Visualforce

Visualforce is used to show a visualforce component as a dashboard. It is used to pull data from other data sources.

Dashboards display data as per the last time report was run. Each dashboard can have up to 20 components. Access to dashboards is determined by 2 things:

1. Folders:

The visibility of dashboards is also based on the folders in which they are stored. Only the users who have access to the folder can run the dashboard.

2. Running User:

 The data which will be available on dashboards are based on running user’s security and sharing settings. Running User can be set to:

a. Run as specified user:

It shows the data on the dashboard according to the specified user’s security and sharing settings irrespective of the security and sharing settings of the user running it. All users who have access to the dashboard can see the same data.

b. Run as logged in user:

It shows data on the dashboard based on the running user’s security and sharing settings. It makes the dashboard dynamic.

The dashboard data is based upon the report’s data but when a user views the drill-down report for a dashboard component, running user’s access permissions determine what data is displayed on the drill-down report. Hence it is possible that the data in the drill-down report does not match the associated dashboard data.

Dashboards also support automatic refresh and email. It can be scheduled on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Dynamic Dashboards

It enables each user to see the data they have access to. With dynamic dashboards, we can control data visibility without creating separate dashboards. A single dynamic dashboard can display a standard set of metrics across all levels of an organization.

Note:

• Dynamic dashboards cannot be saved to personal folders.
• Dynamic dashboards cannot be scheduled for refreshes.