Designing Report Pages

Reporting administrators and report creators may need to manage reports access, delete old reports, organize reports, and change report ownership. These roles will create and manage reports with Report Center.

Report contents for canvas reports are created using Page Designer, which builds pages based upon components.

To create a new canvas report in Report Center:

1. Navigate to the Report Center.
2. Choose New.
3. Select the report template, Canvas, and choose Select.
4. Provide a name for the report and choose Create.
5. The Page Designer will load to create a new page.

You can return to Report Center by selecting Report Center from the breadcrumb menu (Home → Report Center → Report name) in the top-left corner.

Pages are designed using components. There are several components, each with their own use, that can be used in Canvas Report pages.

When you create your page, add a report component by dragging and dropping the appropriate icon onto the canvas. The Page Designer will insert a generic placeholder.

You can modify some settings for preferences when using the page designer. To modify the settings, choose the Page Properties tile and then choose edit designer properties. You can set grid settings to help align components and handle layered components.

Consider the following best practices when building reports.

.Note that these are guidelines only and there are many factors on an individual instance which may affect report performance (including Role Based Permissions, Data Volume, Query Complexity, and so on.

Conditional statements should be nested no more than 10 statements deep

No more than 10-15 measures should be used on any one pivot table

• List Queries more than 200,000 records may impact performance (time outs and so on)
• Similar implications apply to pivot tables
• Any tables more than 64,000 records should be exported to CSV format

When you create a new canvas report with Report Center, a report with a single blank page is generated. The content of canvas report pages is built using Page Designer. Page Designer builds pages based upon components. Details on adding components are in the next section.

Page Designer also allows you to manage the pages within a report, which includes the following:

• Adding Pages (New or Existing in another report)
• Renaming Pages
• Reordering Pages
• Deleting Pages (Current report or orphaned pages)

To add a new page in Page Designer, complete the following steps.

1. In Report Center, edit the report to create a new page.
2. Using the Page menu, select New Page or Add Existing Page.

   a) If you choose New Page, a new blank page with an auto-generated name is added to the report.

   b) If you add an existing page, you must select the page from another report or an orphaned page (not assigned to any report).

   Note

   You can delete existing orphaned pages when selecting Add Existing Page.
3. The new page will load in Page Designer.

You can modify the setting pages of your report. To modify the settings, choose Page Properties tile → edit page properties. You can set the following:

• Name of the page: The name is visible in the navigation list when viewing the report online
• Output Defaults: Configure settings for exports, including paper size, orientation, and margin settings
• Canvas Size: Determine the canvas size by either matching the paper size or configuring manually

Since pages may be shared or reused in multiple reports, they might become "orphaned" when the Canvas Reports that use them are deleted.

From the Add Existing Page option from the Page menu, select the Orphan Page from the list and select the Delete button.

You can add an image the same way that you add other components. Under Add Component, choose Images to view available options. Then drag and drop the Image icon onto the canvas.

To load an image, navigate to the Edit Component tab and choose Edit. You can upload an image file (i.e. .jpg, .png) from your local computer.

You can also load a default company logo to your instance and utilize the Logo component to add this standard image component to any report. To upload your company logo to your instance, raise a Support request.

You can add text in the same manner that you add an image. Under Add Component, choose Text to view available options. Then drag and drop the Simple one-line text item icon onto the canvas.

To edit the text, navigate to the Edit Component tab and choose Edit. You can then enter and format text in the component.

The Edit Component tab contains short cuts for commonly edited text elements, such as the text content.

You can format text using the full format editor. Formatting options include the following: Font Options, Icon Images, and Link Options.

You may change the font using the dropdown menu on the Font Options menu. Note that only predefined system fonts available in the drop down can be used.

You can also change the font size and style using the relevant sections under Font Options.

To enter text into the component, use the Text section within Font Options. After entering text, use the Refresh button to preview the text.

If multiple languages are enabled on the company instance, then a flag will appear next to the text box. This flag can be adjusted to enter static text in multiple languages. The text will then dynamically adjust based on the report consumer's logged in language settings.

You can add an image to display before or after the entered text. Load the image with the Load button and then choose the layout with the Format dropdown menu.

This is commonly used to display an icon in a table of contents that links to other report pages.

The Text Component can act as a hyperlink to different areas of analytics. The options are as follows:

• Dynamic: This allows the selection of a token representing various analytics pages to hyperlink to.
• Report (and Page): This allows the selection of a Report and Page to navigate to.
• Measure / Resource / Question: These are Workforce Analytics functions covered in the WFA training courses.

These are Workforce Analytics specific functions which are covered in the WFA training courses.

You can format text using the full format editor. Formatting options include; Rich Text Content, User Editable and Available Tokens.

You may enter richly formatted text within the Rich Text editor. This allows rich text formatting such as font highlighting and other styling options.

General Options include the following:

• Make user editable: Allows report consumers to edit text contained within the Rich Text component when running the report
• Available Tokens: Provides tokens for use within the Rich Text content. If multiple languages are enabled on the company instance, then a flag will appear next to the text box. This flag can be adjusted to enter static text in multiple languages. The text will then dynamically adjust based on the report consumers logged in language settings.

These are Workforce Analytics specific functions which are covered in the WFA training courses.

After you have created a report page, you are ready to add a component such as a list report. Under Add Component, choose Tables to view available options. Then drag and drop the List Report icon onto the canvas.

To load a list query and begin formatting, navigate to the Edit Component tab, and select edit query. Firstly, you can add a new query or select an existing query, then you can format the list report.

Edit Query and Edit Formatting quick links allow for a streamlined user experience.

You can also right-click on the placeholder component and select Edit this component to add a query or format a list report.

To adjust the width of columns or rows, choose the row or column, drag the column edge to the desired size, and select OK.

To change the order of the columns, drag and drop the column name in the top row to the desired location.

You can format the header row to stand out. Right-click on the header row icon in the left column and select Style Settings. You may change the background color, increase the font size, apply a border, and use bold or italics to format the text.

In the same way, you can modify the styles of any cell, column, row, or the entire table depending on where you right-click to select Style Settings. To see which parts of the table will be affected, look for a highlight when you hover your mouse over a cell or icon before right-clicking.

You can change the column heading by right-clicking on the cell, selecting Text, and replacing the current text with the new heading label.

If you prefer to display results in a form view rather than a datasheet view, right-click on the table icon in the top left corner and select Form Based View.

Calculated rows can be appended to the bottom of the List Reports by right-clicking on footer row icon in the left column, selecting Text, and inserting various functions. You can perform these calculations: Row Count, Sum, Average, Min, Max, and Value Field Name. By default, the footer row is not displayed. To turn it on, right-click the footer row icon and select show row.

The List Report component contains an optional total row that is "off" by default, with the option to turn it on if required.

The default setting for new List Report components is for the Hide Row option to be on which hides the total row for the component. If the total row is required, right-click the footer to access the footer menu and choose Show Row.

To remove the gridlines, right-click on the table icon in the top left corner and select Style Settings. Then choose the Borders button and select None.

You may want to group data to make the report easier to read. For example, your report might include five competencies for each user. Rather than repeating the username five times, you can group the data so that it shows each username only once with the five competencies nested underneath.

To group data, right-click on the column name in the top row and select Group Column(s) (Individually) or Group Columns (Composite), depending on your need. The grouped column will move to the first available position on the left and the tool will automatically insert a new row with subtotals. If this row is not useful, you can right-click on the cell and delete the count function, or you can right-click on the row icon in the left column and hide the row.

You can modify the query at any time. Choose the data source icon in the top left corner to get to the edit query screen in appropriate query designer. When you have completed the edits, you can return directly to the edit component screen in Page Designer.

You have the option to use Conditional Formatting in the Detailed List Report component. To do so, select Conditional Formatting in the right-click menu of the List Report column and set the conditions. This allows selected results to be highlighted in the report.

Adding a pivot table is like adding a list report. Under Add Component, choose Tables to view available options. Then drag and drop the Table view based on published data icon onto the canvas.

To load a pivot query and begin formatting, navigate to the Edit Component tab, and choose Edit query. First, you will be able to add a new pivot or select an existing pivot previously built using Detailed Reporting. Then you will be able to format the table.

A pivot table can be further formatted by editing the table in the full formatting editor, where you can turn on edit the title, adjust columns and rows, select colors, choose a table layout, and apply or save a table template. To access the full editor, choose Edit Formatting under the Edit Component tab.

The full editor has a variety of tabs that allow configuring different options for the pivot table. Some options include the following:

• Style Options: Configure a title and basic formatting options for the table cells
• Percent of Total Option: Set the pivot to show results as percent of total. Percent of total can be calculated across rows or across columns and set the number of decimal places in the full Edit menu
• Column/Row Labels: Set formatting the column and row headers
• Even / Odd Rows: Set the formatting for even and odd rows
• Table Layout: Configure width management and export options
• Templates: Save your formatting configuration to re-use on other pivot tables or apply previously saved templates

You can add a pivot chart query in the same manner that you add a pivot table or list report. Under Add Component, choose Charts to view available options. Then drag and drop the Chart view based upon published data icon onto the canvas.

To load a pivot query and begin formatting, navigate to the Edit Component tab, and choose Edit Query. You can add a new query or select an existing query. First, you will be able to add a new pivot or select an existing pivot previously built using Detailed Reporting. You will then be able to format the chart.

You can format a pivot chart using the full format editor. Formatting options include adding a legend, turning on value labels, selecting chart colors, turning on / off gridlines, and saving a chart template.

You may change the chart type using the drop-down menu on the Chart tab. Available chart types include: vertical bar, horizontal bar, line, line bar, area, radar, pie, stacked vertical bar, stacked horizontal bar, and candlestick.

Assign a title to the chart, including its font, color, size, and placement.

You can add a legend to a chart by navigating to the Legend tab and selecting the Show Legend checkbox. You can then select the size, layout, font, font color, auto size options, placement, and color.

If you would like to enable data labels, navigate to the Labels tab and select the Use Smart Labels checkbox. You can choose to show labels always or only on rollover. You can also choose the format.

Page Designer offers a wide range of color palettes to choose from, or you can customize the colors and transparency for the chart and background.

To turn off the gridlines, navigate to the X·Axis and Y·Axis tabs and uncheck the Enable Major Grid Line and Enable Minor Grid Line checkboxes.