Scriptable Dashboards — An Overview
As of February 2023, all new dashboards in Crunch are what we’re calling “Scriptable Dashboards”. If you have the “Viewer” permission status on a dataset, you won’t particularly see a difference, though they do have a somewhat cleaner look and feel. If you are an Editor on a dataset and are looking to create or edit a dashboard, there are some big differences you should know about and some great features you can benefit from.
The main uses of dashboard scripting and an introduction to the workflow are covered in the following video, which is the best way to become orientated:
At the end of this page is a table that lists all of the differences, in case you want a reference guide, but here are the highlights:
- Scriptable dashboards, as the name suggests, have a user-editable script behind them. Editors can view the script for every element of a dashboard – individual tiles, full tabs, and entire dashboards. When in Edit mode, every tile has a new “Edit script” button upon hover. The active tab has a dropdown menu with an “Edit script” option (as well as a “Delete tab” option, which now lives here). And the dashboard’s main menu has an “Edit script” option. Each of these will open a slide-in panel that has the script for that element (a tile, a tab, or the whole dashboard). Scripting a dashboard can be a huge timesaver when you need to duplicate a tile, a tab, or even a whole dashboard into a new dataset. This is too big a topic for this summary, but full details can be found in the following article:
- Datasets can now have any number of scriptable dashboards. If there is more than one dashboard, the “Dashboard” button in the header changes to a dropdown where the user can choose which one to view. Each dashboard has its own unique URL. When in a dashboard, a new “Switch dashboard” dropdown is shown when there is a choice of dashboards.
- Note that while a dataset can have multiple dashboards, only one can be set as the dataset’s homepage (previously called the Landing page).
- Scriptable dashboards support two additional types of tiles – Videos and “External resources”.
- Video tiles can contain a video hosted anywhere (e.g., Vimeo, YouTube, or privately hosted). The video plays directly in the tile and resizes appropriately.
- External Resource tiles contain iframes that allow you to embed any other web content in a tile. This allows Crunch dashboards to contain non-Crunch content, such as a Tableau or PowerBI visualization or a set of sales figures hosted somewhere else.
- Scriptable dashboards have their own container type in the ‘tray’ where analyses get saved. Note, you will need to create a dashboard container if you want to build a dashboard.
- The tray menu has separate options for “New deck…” and “New dashboard…”. Decks and dashboards are represented by different icons.
- The tray also contains a representation of a dashboard’s structure, with analyses organized into folders to match the tab structure of the dashboard. New analyses are saved into the currently open ‘folder’/tab but can be dragdropped into any other tab. New tabs can be created by clicking the “Add tab” icon at the bottom of the tray.
- Note that decks do not have tabs and therefore do not have folder organization.
You can read more about the features and how to make best use of them on the various pages in the following list of articles:
Dashboard Differences — full list
The following table describes all of the differences introduced with scriptable dashboards:
| Feature | Old dashboards | New dashboards |
|---|---|---|
| Saving analyses | Just one container type – “Decks” | Two container types – “Decks” and “Dashboards”. You need to create a dashboard container if you want a dashboard. The tray menu has separate options for “New deck…” and “New dashboard…”. Decks and dashboards are represented by different icons. |
| Creating a dashboard | After saving analyses to a deck, use the “Configure dashboard” menu option in the main dataset menu. | Before saving any analyses, create a new Dashboard container, then save analyses into it. |
| Setting a dashboard as landing page / dataset homepage | When creating a dashboard, choose “Set as landing page” in the Configure dashboard panel. | This is now called “Dataset homepage” and is now a property of a dataset rather than a dashboard. You can find a new “Edit Dataset homepage” option in the main dataset menu. |
| Hiding navigation options | Early Access users were able to select a checkbox in the Configure dashboard panel to hide the navigation options from dashboard to dataset. | All editors (not just Early Access) can deselect a dataset-level setting for “Viewers can navigate from dashboard to dataset” which lives in the “Permissions” tab of the dataset properties. It does the same as before, but now it’s a dataset setting, rather than a dashboard setting. |
| Organization of dashboard analyses in the tray | Everything was shown in a single flat list. No relation to the layout or position in the dashboard. | Analyses are now organized into folders to match the tab structure of dashboards. New analyses get saved into the currently open ‘folder’/tab but can be drag-dropped into any other tab. New tabs can be created by clicking the “Add tab” icon at the bottom of the tray. Note that decks do not have tabs and therefore do not have folder organization. |
| Number of dashboards per dataset | Datasets can have only one dashboard | Datasets can now have any number of scriptable dashboards. If there is more than one dashboard, the “Dashboard” button in the header changes to a dropdown where the user can choose which one to view. Each dashboard has its own unique URL. Note that whilst a dataset can have multiple dashboards, only one can be set as the dataset’s homepage (previously called the Landing page). When in a dashboard, a new “Switch dashboard” dropdown is shown when there is a choice of dashboards. |
| Setting the dashboard’s title | A field within the Configure dashboard panel | The title can be set in “Dashboard properties”, which can be found both in the dashboard’s main menu and via the dashboard’s dedicated Dashboard properties icon in the header. |
| 3-dots menu, top right | Only a subset of the normal 3-dots menu option | All the usual 3-dots menu options found in the rest of the app. |
| New tile types | N/A | New dashboards support two new tile types – Videos and “External resources”. Video tiles can contain a video hosted anywhere (e.g., Vimeo, YouTube, or privately hosted). The video plays directly in the tile and resizes appropriately. External Resource tiles contain iframes that allow you to embed any other web content in a tile. This allows Crunch dashboards to contain non-Crunch content, such as a Tableau or PowerBI visualization or a set of sales figures hosted somewhere else. |
| Viewing and editing the script of a dashboard | N/A |
Scriptable dashboards, as the name suggests, have a user-editable script behind them. Editors can view the script for every element of a dashboard – individual tiles, full tabs, and entire dashboards. When in Edit mode, every tile has a new “Edit script” button upon hover. The active tab has a dropdown menu with an “Edit script” option (as well as a “Delete tab” option, which now lives here). And the dashboard’s main menu has an “Edit script” option. Each of these will open a slide-in panel that has the script for that element (a tile, a tab, or the whole dashboard). This is too big a topic for this summary, but full details can be found in the following article: |
| “New from script…” tile option | N/A | Scriptable dashboards allow you to create a new blank tile, ready for you to paste in the script from another tile. To support this, there’s a “New from script…” option in the “+” menu in the header when in Edit mode. |
| Download the script of a dashboard | N/A | The dashboard’s main menu has a “Download script” menu option. This opens a side panel from where the Editor user can choose whether to export using category labels or codes, then trigger the export. |
| Look and feel | As before | Cleaner, more modern appearance, with thin borders around each tile and a white background. |