What are Dashboards?

Dashboards collect information about a record to summarize and display the collection in a single location. Dashboards are used on the constituent record's dashboard tab, on the giving tab, on dataset records (such as funds, companies, and appeals), and on the Consolidate Records tool.

For example, a constituent record can include event information on the Timeline tab, gift information on the Giving tab, and custom fields like a class year on a custom tab. A dashboard can bring this information together on the constituent's Dashboard tab.

Creating a Custom Dashboard 

Dashboards are created using the Dashboard tool in the database. They include two primary components: the query that collates the data and the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.

Query Component 

Dashboard content is collected through a query. The query exports provide the merge fields used in the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editor to display information on the dashboard. Since the exports are used as merge fields, the names of the exports must be Liquid markup friendly (lowercase, with no spaces or special characters other than an underscore or hyphen).

The Filters section of the query determines the data appearing in the dashboard. The filters can also be used to determine dashboard visibility for specific users, roles, or permissions.

WYSIWYG Editor

The dashboard’s WYSIWYG editor enables you to see and edit content as it appears in a webpage interface. The editor can create the content for the dashboard with the standard tools and with HTML. If using the standard tools, no HTML knowledge is required. The editor's toolbar includes standard text, table, and image tools.  

Merge fields are used to display the exports created in the dashboard query. To display the export information in the WYSIWYG editor, enter the name of the export exactly as it appears in the dashboard query and enclose the name in double curly braces. For example, an export named type would be {{type}}.

Selecting the Source tool on the toolbar enables editing the dashboard's HTML content. Advanced HTML coding can be used in the editor’s source section if the standard tools do not provide the necessary advanced code.  

The WYSIWYG editor supports Liquid markup, which can display content dynamically on the dashboard. For more information on using Liquid markup, see the Fundamental Liquid Markup and Conditional Logic Knowledge Base article. 

Further Reading - Creating Custom Advancement Dashboards

The following Knowledge Base articles provide procedures for creating custom advancement dashboards:

• Constituent 

• Gift

• Dataset