Creating And Editing Dashboards

CloudZero's Analytics enables customers to self-serve cloud cost analytics. Organizers and Editors can create and edit dashboards to share with the rest of their organization. They can also create folders for organizing dashboards.

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Analytics Supports One Year Of Data

To ensure an optimal user experience when building dashboards, Analytics supports one year of data. Additional data remains accessible through the Explorer.

Viewing The Analytics Page

Select the Analytics link in CloudZero's top menu bar to view the Analytics page:

The Analytics Page in CloudZero

From the Analytics page, you can take the following actions:

  • Select a quick filter to display a list of certain dashboards:
    • All dashboards
    • Dashboards in your Private folder (Organizers and Editors only)
    • Dashboards marked as Favorites
    • Recent dashboards (5 most recently viewed)
  • Search all dashboards in the organization
  • Search dashboards within the current folder
  • Set a dashboard as a favorite by selecting the heart icon next to its name
  • Manage dashboards
  • Manage folders

Managing Dashboards

By default, dashboards appear in the Dashboards Home on the Analytics page. Organizers and Editors can take the following actions to manage Analytics dashboards:

All user roles can view public dashboards. Organizers and Editors can also view the private dashboards they have created.

Creating A Dashboard

To create a dashboard:

  1. From the Analytics page, select the Create Dashboard button:

    Create Dashboard button

  2. Enter a dashboard name.

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    Visibility Of Dashboards

    When you create a dashboard, it will automatically inherit the visibility of the folder you create it in.

  3. Select the Create button:

    Select the Create button to create a new dashboard

  4. On the new dashboard page, select Add to add a tile to your dashboard: visualization, text box, Markdown box, or button.

    Select Add to add a tile to your dashboard

  5. If you add a visualization tile, select CloudZero Billing Data as the source of cost data (called an "Explore"):

    Select CloudZero Billing Data

  6. Select the desired billing data fields to build your visualization. Use the search field to quickly find a field or browse through the dimension categories. Selecting a field will add it to the In Use tab and the Data section.

    Select billing data fields

  7. After selecting your data fields, select Run to see the data and the visualization populate. You can choose different fields and run the data again as needed.

    Select the Run button to explore the data

  8. To pivot/group the data, hover over the data you would like to pivot on and select the arrow icon. Alternatively, if the data you want to pivot on is in the table in the Data section, you can click on the icon and select Pivot.

  9. To add a filter, hover over the data you would like to filter on and select the filter icon. This will add the selected data to the Filter section on the right where you can determine how you want to filter. Note that the data you want to filter on does not need to be included in the Data section. For example, you can filter any visualization by date.

  10. Enter the visualization's name:

    Enter a name for the visualization

  11. Select the Save button:

    Save the visualization tile

  12. Optionally, adjust the size and location of the visualization tile and/or add more tiles. For more information about creating dashboard tiles, see Looker's documentation.

  13. Select Save to save the dashboard:

    Save the edited dashboard

Editing A Dashboard

Organizers and Editors can rename dashboards they have created and edit custom dashboards anyone has created.

Note that Viewers can view but not modify dashboards.

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Visibility Of Dashboards

When you create a dashboard, it will automatically inherit the visibility of the folder you create it in. You can change its visibility by moving it into a folder with a different visibility setting.

Renaming A Dashboard

To rename a dashboard:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the dashboard you plan to rename.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Configure Dashboard.

  4. Update the dashboard name.

  5. Select Update.

Editing Dashboard Content

To edit the content of a dashboard:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the dashboard you plan to edit.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Edit Dashboard.

  4. Follow the instructions in Creating A Dashboard to add, update, or remove tiles in your dashboard. For more information about editing dashboard tiles, see Looker's documentation.

  5. Select Save to save the dashboard:

    Save the edited dashboard

You can also edit a dashboard you are currently viewing. Select the three-dot icon and choose Edit dashboard from the drop-down menu:

Click the three-dot icon and select Edit dashboard

Copying A Dashboard

Organizers and Editors can copy a dashboard and then edit it. For example, you can duplicate one of CloudZero's standard dashboards or a custom dashboard that you or someone else created.

To copy a dashboard:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the dashboard you plan to copy.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Copy Dashboard.

  4. CloudZero will immediately create a copy of the dashboard and take you to it. Optionally, follow the instructions in Creating A Dashboard to add, update, or remove tiles in your dashboard. For more information about editing dashboard tiles, see Looker's documentation.

  5. Optionally, rename the dashboard. By default, CloudZero uses the original dashboard's name and adds (copy) at the end.

  6. Select Save to save the dashboard:

    Save the edited dashboard

Deleting A Dashboard

Organizers and Editors can only delete dashboards they have created.

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WARNING

If you delete a dashboard by mistake, you must contact your CloudZero representative to restore it.

To delete a dashboard:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the dashboard you plan to delete.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Delete Dashboard.

  4. Select the Delete button to confirm deletion. Note that this will immediately and permanently delete your dashboard:

    Select the Delete button

CloudZero deletes the dashboard and reloads the page.

Managing Folders

Organizers and Editors can take the following actions to organize dashboards into folders:

All user roles can view public folders. Organizers and Editors can also view the private dashboards they have created, which are stored in the Private folder.

Creating A Folder

You can create folders within folders, nested as deeply as needed.

Note that you cannot create folders inside the Private folder.

To create a folder:

  1. From the Analytics page, select the Create Folder button:

    Create Folder button

  2. Enter a folder name (100 characters maximum).

  3. Set the folder's visibility by selecting one of these options:

    • Public: visible to everyone in your organization.
    • User Groups: visible only to members of selected groups. Select the user group(s) that will have access to the folder from the drop-down list:
    Set the folder's visibility

    Note that you cannot create a new private folder. Use the existing Private folder instead.

  4. Select the Create button.

CloudZero displays a Folder created successfully message when it is done.

Configuring A Folder

Currently, you can update a folder's name and visibility.

Note that you cannot rename the Private folder or change its visibility.

To configure a folder:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the folder you plan to configure.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Configure.

  4. Optionally, update the folder name (100 characters maximum).

  5. Optionally, set the folder's visibility by selecting the user group(s) that will have access to the folder. If no groups are selected, the folder and its contents will be public to all users in the organization.

  6. Select Update:

    Select the Update button

CloudZero displays a Folder updated successfully message when it is done.

Deleting A Folder

A folder must be empty before you can delete it. Move or delete any dashboards that are inside the folder first.

Note that you cannot delete the Private folder.

To delete an empty folder:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the folder you plan to delete.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Select the Delete button to confirm deletion. Note that this will immediately and permanently delete your folder:

    Select the Delete button

CloudZero deletes the folder and returns you to the parent folder, or the Dashboards Home on the Analytics page if there isn't a parent folder.

Moving A Folder or Dashboard

You can move dashboards and folders. Moving a folder also moves all of its nested contents.

Note that you cannot move folders into the Private folder.

To move a dashboard or folder:

  1. From the Analytics page, locate the folder or dashboard you plan to move.

  2. Select the three-dot icon in the Actions column:

    Select the Actions icon

  3. Select Move.

  4. Select a destination folder:

    Select the destination folder
  5. Select the Move button:

    Select the Move button

CloudZero moves the item into the selected folder.

Changing A Dashboard's Visibility

Each dashboard inherits the visibility settings of its parent folder. Organizers and Editors can change a dashboard's visibility by moving it into a different folder:

  • To make a dashboard private, move it into the Private folder.
  • To make a dashboard public, move it into any public folder or the Dashboards Home.
  • To make a dashboard accessible to a limited audience, move it into a folder that is only visible to specific user groups. You can configure a folder to be visible to the groups you select.