What is a Dataset Homepage?
When a user clicks on a dataset in the projects list or navigates to a dataset via an invite URL, they are first taken to Variable Summaries mode by default (the mode with the horizontal scrolling cards). This mode is often a suitable starting point because it shows ”top-lines” of your dataset and is a quick and easy way of getting an overview of your results. But you can override this default and send your users somewhere different as a landing page, if you wish. That’s what a Dataset Homepage is - an alternative landing page for your users when they arrive into the dataset.
Uses of Dataset Homepages
By far the most common use of a Dataset Homepage is to make a Crunch dashboard be the first view that your users see. In many cases, a dashboard is designed as a friendly, convenient and accessible summary of the key findings of a dataset, and is therefore an ideal first experience to give users. Crunch datasets can have multiple dashboards, but only one can be set as the Dataset Homepage.
It’s also possible to set any other URL as a dataset’s landing page. In this case, the URL you specify will appear beneath the regular dashboard header, providing users with easy navigation to the dataset.
How to set a Dataset Homepage
By default, datasets have no homepage defined and a user will be brought to Variable Summaries mode, even if one or more dashboards have been created. To set a different landing page, dataset Editors can go to the dataset’s main menu and choose the “Edit dataset homepage” option.
In the panel that opens, you can either choose a Crunch dashboard from the dropdown list or click the “Advanced” button to specify the URL of a non-Crunch page or resource.
Hiding navigation controls to the dataset
By default, dashboards offer three different methods of navigating from the dashboard to the underlying dataset - via the “View dataset” button in the header, via the “View dataset” option in the dashboard’s main menu, and via double-clicking on an analysis tile to open that analysis in Tables & Graphs mode. But sometimes you might want to give users a dashboard-only experience, suggesting that the dashboard is the entirety of the deliverable. In these cases, you can hide the “View dataset” options in the header and menu, and disable the double-click behavior on the tiles. This is controlled via the dataset’s “Permissions” panel, available via the “Properties” option in the dataset’s main menu. By default, the “Navigate from dashboard to dataset” option is selected. Deselect this option to hide those controls.
However, there is an important caveat. This option does not prevent users from accessing the dataset; it merely hides the navigation controls that would otherwise make it easy to access the dataset. Anyone with the direct link to a dataset can still reach it if they know how, so this option should in no way be used to protect sensitive data from being accessed.