Get Started with Creating a Dial

Version: Dashboards^Classic

Provides step-by-step instructions on creating dials

Create a New Dial

You can create a new dial from Edit in Place or from the Visual Designer. The following are quick start methods for creating a new dial.

Click Edit in Place and do one of the following:

Drag and drop a metric from the Data Components pane (on left): Expand the Metrics folder and browse for a metric. Drag and drop the metric onto the dashboard.
Select Visual Designer from the Options menu (Gear icon). From the Components library (on right), click the Dials icon .

Note: The following procedures list steps for editing in place first, followed by alternate steps for Visual Designer in parentheses.

To create a new dial by dragging and dropping from a folder:

Click Edit in Place (or open the Visual Designer).
Open the dashboard where you want to put the new dial (or the ribbon where you want to put it).
Click Expand to expand the Component Library. This step is only for editing in place.
Click Dials in the Component Library (or the Components menu).
Expand the folder where you want to store the new dial. This can be your personal folder or the company folder.
Click and drag Create New Dial from the folder to the location you want the new dial to appear. The Create New Dial dialog appears.

Note: This method adds the dial to the dashboard as part of the creation process, so you don’t have to go back later and add it manually.

To create a new dial by dragging and dropping from the Metrics menu:

Click Edit in Place (or open the Visual Designer).
Open the dashboard where you want to put the new dial (or the ribbon where you want to put it).
Click Expand to expand the Component Library. This step is only for editing in place.
Click Dials in the Component Library(or the Components menu).
Expand the folder where you want to store the new dial. This can be your personal folder or the company folder.
Click and drag Create New Dial from the folder to the location you want the new dial to appear. The Create New Dial dialog appears.

Note: This method adds the dial to the dashboard as part of the creation process, so you don’t have to go back later and add it manually.

To create a new dial from inside the folder:

Click Edit in Place (or open the Visual Designer).
Click Expand to expand the Component Library. This step is only for editing in place.
Click Dials in the Component Library (or the Components menu).
Expand the folder where you want to store the new dial. This can be your personal folder or the company folder.
Point to Create New Dial, and click the small button that appears on the right side of the menu.
Click Create New Dial. The Create New Dial dialog appears, as shown.

To create a new dial from inside the folder in a different way:

Click Edit in Place (or open the Visual Designer).
Click Expand to expand the Component Library. This step is only for editing in place.
Click Dials in the Component Library (or the Components menu).
Expand the folder where you want to store the new dial. This can be your personal folder or the company folder.
Click Create New Dial. The Create New Dial dialog appears, as shown above.

To compare two versions of a dial:

Click Dials in the Component Library.
Expand your company dials folder and click Create New Dial.
Select Line Chart from the list of templates, type Budget vs Actuals in the Name field, and click Create.
With this dial open for edit, click Data Settings in the Editors menu.
On the Data Stings tab, make the following changes:
- Select PL Expense from the Account menu.
- Change the Name and Abbreviation to Expense.
- Select Time from the Break down data by menu.
On the Analysis tab, change Accumulate Series to True. This sets each data point as cumulative total.
Under Select series, click Add.
From the Account menu, select PL Expense.
Type Actuals for the Name and Abbreviation.
From the Version menu, select Actuals.
On the Analysis tab, change Accumulate Series to True.
Click Apply.