A Looker dashboard gives you a visual overview of your data through a series of charts, visualisations, and tables.
Data visualisation is an essential part of decision-making. Many business owners use dashboards to make data more understandable. They are visual representations of data we use and help us focus on the most critical aspects. Dashboards are often used for operational purposes, such as making decisions or tracking performance over time.
Do you need help finding relevant data? Looker is a business intelligence software that allows organisations easily explore, analyse, and share data. It helps users create custom dashboards and reports and provides access to data via an intuitive interface. Looker makes it easier for businesses to make better decisions and carry them out faster.
Looker dashboards can track KPIs, spot trends, monitor opportunities, and create reports. They are essential tools for data-driven companies. On top of that, they’re easy to set up and customise. This guide will show you how to create dashboards using Looker.
Different Types of Looker Dashboard Tiles
You have three options for building your dashboard:
Query Tiles
You can create in-dashboard Query Tiles or add them to a dashboard using a Look or Explore function. A Query Tile is available only on Looker Dashboards, not regular Looker searches.
Query Tiles are a great option to avoid overloading your folders with too many Looks. The tile will remain on your dashboard even if you delete the Look. It is not affected by any further modifications you would make to the Look.
Look-Linked Tiles
A Look-Linked Tile is an excellent option if you need to create, modify, and test a query in one place but want it to be used in multiple dashboards. If the Look is changed, any associated tiles will be updated. You can only add a Look-Linked Tile to a dashboard from a Look. They link the underlying query of a Tile to a Look.
Both the Look and the dashboard must be located in the same directory. To add Looks from another folder, you must first copy the Look to the same folder as your dashboard.
Text Tiles
You can create Text Tiles using the Looker Dashboard. It labels and specifies the different graphical components of Looker Dashboards. These are designed to look more like headlines and descriptions than Tiles. They also have a simple style that allows you to customise the design.
How To Create a Looker Dashboard
You can display vital data in Looker via custom dashboards. To do this, you can create dashboards from a Folder, Look or Explore.
What You Will Need
To create a dashboard, you will need to:
- Log in using your administrator credentials to gain access to the Looker interface. After logging in, navigate to the folder and click Manage Access.
- Click the Access Level to modify the access level of a user or group.
- You must also have the appropriate Looker permission levels. These permissions determine how much control and visibility a user has over the data they see. Access to the LookML models is required for managing the data you wish to include in your dashboard.
Create a Looker Dashboard Using a Folder
You can create a dashboard in Looker from a folder.
- Navigate to the folder in which you wish to create the dashboard.
- Click New at the top of the folder.
- Choose Dashboard from the popup menu at the top of the screen.
- Enter a name in the pop-up window to create your new dashboard.
- Next, click on the Create Dashboard button.
- Edit dashboard.
The dashboard will be blank when you create it for the first time. You can add text or tiles by clicking on the Edit Dashboard button at the top of the dashboard pane or selecting Edit Dashboard from the menu.
Create a Looker Dashboard Using a Look or Explore
Using a Look or Explore is the second way to create a user-definable dashboard in Looker. Here’s how to create a new dashboard.
- First, navigate to Explore or Look.
- Once on the Look or Explore page, click Save to open a submenu.
- Next, choose As A New Dashboard in the sub-menu. The Save As New Dashboard window will open.
- Enter a name for the new dashboard in the Title field of the Settings tab.
- Next, choose a folder to store your dashboard. As mentioned above, you must have Edit and Manage access to your folder.
- The Filters tab allows you to choose whether to use the Look or Explore filters. You cannot use custom filters on dashboard filters. However, you can still use them on tiles.
- Next, click on Save in the bottom right corner.
Once you have created a dashboard, it is usually empty. To fill out the space, add text and tiles. You can do this by creating Query Tiles in the dashboard.
Click the Add button at the top of the dashboard. Next, choose Visualisation. The menu will display several Looker Explores. Choose one to create your query tile.
- Give your query a name. It will be the title of your dashboard tile. By selecting the relevant fields or filters, you can personalise your query.
- Customise your Visualisation preferences.
- Once you’re done, click Run to set up.
- Click the Save button to add the Query as a tile to your dashboard.
