Analytics

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80 thoughts on “Analytics”

    1. found another link where salesforce says:
      “Tabular reports are the simplest and fastest way to return your data in a simple list view format. Keep in mind that tabular reports can’t be used to create dashboard components.”
      https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=000025298&type=1

      just tested this in my dev org – the link in my first comment is correct – i.e. you can use a tabular report as the source report for a dashboard component, bearing in mind:
      1) component should be table or chart and
      2) you need to limit the number of rows returned on the tabular report

  4. HI John, when clicking on ‘Choose a Report Format’ section, I’m getting ‘Invalid language code. Check that the language is included in your Knowledge language settings’. Thanks.

  5. Hi John, I am not able to determine reason for reporting snapshot. Will it not be more useful to have audit trail data used for discovering trends over timeline? Reporting snapshot will not capture all transitions of data and will capture only snapshot at scheduled point in time. Am I missing something here.
    Also does SF allow integration with third party ETL tools or snapshot is the only way to do it.

    Regds
    Nikhil

    1. Yes you can integrate to a data warehouse, which would be the most robust solution (or look at using wave). The idea is that you can capture the data at a point in time… e.g. compare the sales pipeline at the start of the month to the end of the month. You could do this with filters (e.g. opportunity created date), but the only way to compare the entire pipeline would be to capture the report data at the point in time when it was run (snapshot)

  6. Which dashboard components can display data from summary rows of a reports ? –> Is it chart and tables or matrix and Gauge. It was a exam question. I passed the admin (201) exam today. Thank you John for hosting this site

    1. Awesome thanks- and congrats! Not sure exactly what the question is getting at – as both can summarize data points. Metric and gauge can apply feedback within the chart (e.g. 90k — goal is 100k … where 100k is stipulated in the dashboard component).

  9. Hi John

    some of the videos under data management and analytics are not working
    eg. custom summary formulas. Salesforce.com PARENTGROUPVAL Report Formula
    i am suing a mac book pro

  10. Hi john,
    i have question related sharing my report and Dashboard to another user in my org.

    as before i do have Campaign report and dashboard..and i came to the point i m shring that borht folder(report and Dashboard) to the user who can access..
    @ that point 3 options are available.

    1)Viere
    2)Editor and
    3)Manager.

    first 2 i can understand..
    but i m confuse abt manager option.
    so at that access level…is that the particular user i need to select who is at manager level..or i want to give all the right to any user i want to share this dashboard and report with..
    and if something if it should be manager then i can go and select Role rather then the user ,right?
    and in other case where i wan to select user and want to give all the access what defined by Manager option at sharing point of any report and dashboard..
    am i right?
    Thank you .
    Tejal.

      1. john,
        Sorry didn’t get u , i think u r thinking my question like this”does manager required to share the folder”,

        but i m not in that point, i m saying if i want to share to a user with manager access level… (report and my dashboard.)..
        that user should be the manager or any other person (same peer) , can i share it with manager access level?

  11. Hello john,
    Im on the stage where i m really now good implementing reports and dashboards,
    Thanks to this site off course.
    but i m confuse at some point..

    so craving for ur help.

    for my question ..baseline consideration are

    .baseline consideration are
    scenario between 3 users in my org:
    User 1: SAD
    (license type…System Admin) that’s me ..:)

    User 2: SPUC
    ( license type……Standard Platform User Clone)

    User 3: SUC
    ( license type………..standard User Clone) user

    my question is…
    When i have report and dashboard, as admin, and i do want to share with some user that is SUC and SPUC.
    I have campaign related report type and Dashboard.
    and i want to share it with Suc and Spuc.
    i m able to share it with Suc but not able to share and display Dashboard chart with Spuc..

    what i m assuming is …Spuc user profile limiting him to access campaign…as the profile access limit to the obj. Campaign…
    and Suc user is able to see that same Dashboard as it’s profile is having access to campaign..

    —–>pls tell me if i m in wrong assumption that ,…profile have some thing to effect with user at dashboard shared folder for certain object access.

    ——> and further ,,,what if i o want SPuc User want to share my Dashboard of campaign report and i want him to give me green signal that he can really see my chart…?

    and one more thing i want to understand is…does this all scenario also effected by OWD settings as well.
    what if i change OWD for al users and for Suc who can ok to see my chart for campaign, i restrict him…@OWD .@record access to my campaign related records..?

    i know its really that u might think i might should go and explore by my self..trust me………i did try.. ..
    but really i m not able to conclude my problem.
    Your explanation will sure helping me all the time ,,and sure it will help me if u really give some advance idea…
    Thank you.
    Tejal @Learning mode.

    1. Yes the user needs to have a license type that supports the objects in order to run a report on them- regardless of profile or OWD settings. Your platform user should not be able to report on the campaign records for that reason.

          1. You probably can’t turn it off in new orgs:

            If your organization was created after the Summer ’13 Salesforce release, you already have analytics folder sharing. If your organization existed before the Summer ’13 release, follow these steps to make folder sharing available to your users.

  13. Hi John,
    I logged in as a user with system admin profile in my current development environment and found report builder did not work. Report wizard did work instead.
    However, when I logged in as a user with standard user profile , the report builder did work.
    Could you have an idea how to troubleshoot and fix the issue?
    Many thanks,
    -Crystal

  14. Hi John,
    The layout of Help and Training changed a week or two ago. I can’t find the first link: Getting Started on Reports and Dashboards.
    Thanks.

  15. In your key facts you say “A custom summary formula is different than a custom formula field.” Can you actually create a custom formula field (column) in a report, or only reference a custom formula field that is in an object?

    1. You can reference a custom formula field in a report, yes (this field would need to be created on the object). A custom summary formula (created within the report) is only accessible within the report in which it is created, and cannot be referenced on the object.

  16. Thanks for your response John. Here’s the full question –
    which dashboard component can display data from the summary rows of reports?
    (2 answers)
    a.Gauge
    b.Table
    c.Chart
    d.Metric

  17. I have a question about dashboard component. Tried testing but still unsure.
    In one of the quizzes it is asked which dashboard component can display data from the summary rows off a report.
    I think it is Table and Metric, but could also be Gauge and Chart.

    Any thoughts? Anyone ?

  18. Hi John, Great section and thank you for your hard work.
    I was a little confused between these 3 terms:

    1. ‘Analytic Folder Sharing’
    2. ‘Enhanced Sharing for Reports and Dashboards (access levels).’
    3. ‘Enable Access Levels for Sharing Report and Dashboard Folders’ (The check box setting that appears under Setup->Customize-> Reports and Dashboards –> Folder Sharing)

    Are all 3 the same thing?

    Thanks.

    1. Yes I believe these are all referencing the same sharing mechanic – that is the ability to define different tiers of access to reporting/dashboard folders (that is essentially one feature, although the configuration to enable has a few different associated terms).

      1. To further clarify/confirm with respect to this sharing model… If the report folder sharing is set to Edit but a user’s permissions (either through profiles or other sharing mechanisms) for the object to which the report applies is more limited, the permission controls access to the report in the folder, right?

  19. Could you say that cross object filters are a quick way to replicate some of the functionality of custom report types? For example, if I only need to filter by criteria on a certain object, but not include any fields from that object in my report.

    1. Trending reports are done on the record level and store historical changes about that particular record. Snapshots can be done at the record level as well – but are really capturing historical report data (that report data can be include record data). For example, you could use a snapshot to record summary within an opportunity pipeline report – e.g. # opps, amount, etc. at X date. You could store that data in a custom object and then report on that summarized data, establishing a trend of the pipeline itself over time. Great question Alex – I will make a note to clarify this material next pass through.

      1. It seems too like Historical Trending reports have limits on the time frame that you can look at– up to 5 dates in the past if I remember correctly. Whereas Analytic Snapshots could look at any or all days since the snapshot object has been configured.

  25. Hi John. I created a report folder and a report in it. I did not share the access to the folder with any users. Still users with “Manage Reports in Public Folders” and “Create and Customize Reports” permission in their profiles are able to view and customize the report. The users do not have any other permission set or sharing rule.
    What I have understood is if the folder access is not shared with anyone then the folder should not be visible to anyone and also users should not be able to customize the report. What have I missed?

    1. A user with access to manage public report folders would have access to all report folders (that’s the intention of the permission). Generally speaking that is true- without elevated privileges and unshared private folder would not otherwise be visible.

      1. Ok, thanks for the reply. Now I’ve disabled the “Manage Reports in Public Folders” permission and only enabled the “View Reports in Public Folders” and “Create and Customize Reports” permission. Still the user is able to edit the report in a folder which is not shared with anyone.

  27. For a question like this:

    A user can only report on information they have “read” access to.
    True
    False

    What would the answer be?
    Wouldn’t it be false since a user can also report on information that they have read/write access to?
    The site I was taking the test on gives the answer as True. I’m not sure what is correct.

  29. In another comment, someone mentioned that the plural form of axis is axes. You responded asking where you had used the term – I think I found it. The second objective, in your description of the Matrix report type. I don’t know why that stuck with me!

    Taking my exam tomorrow AM – wish me luck! Your site has really helped me so far, we’ll see if it pays dividends!

    1. Nailed the exam this morning. Your site was definitely my #1 resource. Before I found your site, I watched the Admin 201 video series on the Salesforce.com partner training portal. Your detailed information really helped fill in the gaps. Thank you so much!

  33. To all of the people looking to take the exam, I would highly recommend building a few reports and dashboards. Learn about the sharing/security around these as well. Reflecting back on the exam I recently passed, I would say that this section is definitely worth it spend a bit longer in this section. Also, would recommend going back through this guide and reading the ‘key facts’ that John has posted.

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