Introduction to Reports and Dashboards in Lightning Experience

Reports and Dashboards are used to segregate the data and showcase the outcome in effective visual presentation.

What is a report?

The report is a list of records (Ex: Accounts or Opportunities or Leads) that meet our specified criteria. To get the required data, we can filter, group, and sort records. We can also display the results in a graphical format like a chart. We can also save the reports and segregate them in Folders for future use.

New Report

What is a report type?

A report type is like a template that has all the required settings to make reports easily. The report type specifies which fields and records are available for use when creating a report.

Report Type

What is a dashboard?

A dashboard is a visual display of key metrics for records. The dashboard is divided into multiple components. The relationship between a dashboard component and a report is 1 to1. For each dashboard component, there is one source report. We can also use the same report in multiple dashboard components of a single dashboard (for example, we can use the same report in both a bar chart and pie chart view).

Like reports, dashboards can also be stored in folders. We can provide access permissions to specific persons to see the data in the dashboard and its source reports. If the dashboard is not showing data properly, refresh the dashboard to update the changes performed in reports.

Empty Dashboard

Dashboard with a visual display of Reports

Quiz:

1) A dashboard is

A) A list of records that meet the criteria you define
B) A visual display of key metrics and trends for records in your org
C) A list of key tasks to be completed in your org
D) A view of your computers memory usage

2) A report type determines

A) Which fields and records are available for use when creating a report
B) Who can access the report
C) The date range used for the report
D) The colors available in the dashboard