Create a Report With Insight Builder

Gladly provides out-of-the-box reports you can generate via the UI where each report uses hardcoded Time Anchors and a set of metrics to produce data. With Insight Builder, you can choose your own adventure and create reports by allowing you to mix metrics on the subject of your report.

Gladly leverages Looker Business Intelligence (BI) solution to power the Insight Builder experience to provide an extensive list of features designed to bring a level of data clarity that you need. We'll reference Looker documentation where it's helpful so you can better understand how Insight Builder works.

Some of you may be seasoned Looker users and will feel right at home with the embedded builder experience in Gladly. If you're new to Looker, simply follow the steps below for step-by-step instructions on how to build a report. As a bonus, there are also many resources you can use to learn more about Looker in general.

• Visit Looker Connect to register for a free Looker Connect account. Here, you'll find a library of lessons, help docs, and videos to help you learn how to build reports in Looker.
• We reference relevant Looker documentation where it's helpful as you follow the instructions below to build a report.
• Check out the Insight Builder interface overview to get to know the Insight Builder interface.

Insight Builder steps

Below is a high-level introduction to the steps you need to take to build a report successfully.

Before you start

Before you build a report, we recommend that you first review the following information to learn how metrics and data are defined in Gladly. Knowing these can help you better understand the best ways to combine metrics to build your report.

• Metrics in Detail – Defines and explains Gladly report metrics.
• Time Anchors – Defines how Time Anchors work.
• Report Datasets for Insight Builder – Describes metrics available for each dataset used in Insight Builder.

Once you have a good grasp of how data is structured in Gladly, it's time to start creating your report to answer a question you have. Still, you may find yourself asking the question, "What dataset should I start with?". This truly depends on what you are trying to learn. The Report Datasets for Insight Builder should help you understand how to build a report from each dataset.

Create a Report

1. Click the menu icon on the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click Reports.
3. On the top left area of the Reports page, click the Create a Report drop-down list and select the dataset you want to build your report with.
   

Proceed to build a report using a particular dataset or by selecting a Quick Start report.

• Quick Start – Pre-configured reports designed to answer a specific question. For example, the Channel Mix Quick Start in the Contact Metrics dataset is pre-configured to show you a breakdown of incoming Contacts over each Channel for the last week. You can also manipulate these reports (e.g., add/remove filters, change date filter, update metrics, etc.) to change the output. Click a Quick Start report to open the pre-configured report. Each dataset has its own set of Quick Start reports.
  
• Start from a blank Builder – If you start from scratch instead of using Quick Start, we suggest watching the short overview video to get a feel of the Insight Builder experience and how to get started building your own report from scratch.
  
  

Insight Builder experience

1. Upon selecting a dataset, the Insight Builder interface opens on the right side of the screen, where you'll also see the dataset you chose in the top-left area of the Builder. 
   • The Explore page is a starting point for a query to build a report that explores a particular dataset with specific metrics.
   • The Explore page opens with the dataset you selected, ready for you to start adding metric dimensions and measures for more details.

At this point, you're officially able to begin building the report.

Begin building a report

From the blank Builder page with your chosen dataset, proceed by first adding dimensions or measures found under the All Fields tab.

• Dimension – Appears as blue columns in the Builder. It's a group or bucket of data that contains all the metrics available for the dataset you selected.
• Measure – Appears as orange columns in the Builder. It's the method chosen to measure the bucket of data (dimension) selected. For example, Count, Average, Time.
  

1. Click the All Fields tab. This tab is the starting place for building a report and displays all the available fields that you can select for a query. Event or Metric data available here tab depends on the dataset you have selected.
2. Select the dimensions (metrics for the selected dataset) you'd like to use and see them get added to the Data area on the right side of the Builder.
   
3. Select the measure you'd like to use and see them get added to the Data area.
   
   • The icons next to each dimension or measure provide more information about the field and indicate the options available for that field. The icons are visible when you hover over them. See Field-specific information and actions for more information on how to use this.
     
     • [A] Pivot icon – Click this icon to pivot or unpivot a field in a Builder. This icon will appear gray when a field is not pivoted and blue when a field is pivoted.
     • [B] Filter icon – Click this icon to use a dimension or measure as a filter or to remove them as a filter. The selected items immediately appear in the Filter section.
     • [C] Information icon – Click this icon to see a metric description.
4. Once you have added the desired dimensions and measures, click the In Use tab to see all currently active fields in the Builder.
5. Next, click the Filters section to select filter parameters for the report. Use filters to restrict the data you're viewing to items of interest.
   
   • Clicking the filter icon next to a metric adds the metric to the Filter section. See Filtering data overview to learn more about the Filter function.
   • Some datasets have default date filters in place.
     
   • Apply Filters as a way to aggregate data, especially if you choose to use different Time Anchor(s).
     • Click + to add another filter with new conditions.
     • Click X to remove a filter.
     • Click the Custom Filter box to create filters with custom conditions that might not be available with the other, simpler filter types. See Add a custom filter to learn how to use this feature.
6. Click Run to generate the report. Results are displayed in the Data section in table format.
   

Once the report is generated in the Data section, you can pick which visualization type to use to better make sense of your data, create pivots to make large sets of information easier to consume, and use table calculations/formulas as you would in a spreadsheet.

Filters

Filters allow you to limit the data you see. For example, you can use filters to limit the number of Contacts created in a particular Inbox for the last month. You can also design and control how non-analyst users filter reports in a dashboard. See Set Report filter for Non-Analyst Users for more information.

Visualization

Visualizations make it easy to consume a large amount of data by utilizing visual elements like charts and tables. See Quick Guide for a short overview of how Visualizations work.

1. Select the visualization type you'd like to use to display your data from the row of visualization icons.
   
2. Each visualization type includes different settings you can use to customize the appearance of the visualization. Click Edit to view these settings.
   
   • See Visualization types for detailed information on how to customize each visualization type.
   • Some visualization types may be incompatible, and you will see an error if you try using one that's incompatible.

Forecast in visualizations

Add data projections to help predict and monitor specific data points.

Pivots

Multiple dimensions are usually easier to look at when you pivot one of the dimensions horizontally. Each value in the dimension becomes a column. This makes the information easier to consume visually and reduces the need to scroll down to find data. Looker supports up to 200 pivoted values.

See Pivoting dimensions to learn how to use the pivot feature.

Totals

Click Totals to see the total value of a measure. For example, to see the total number of Conversation Metrics Conversation Created, click Totals to expose a Total row.

• Having a Row Limit reduces the number of rows you have, but the total would remain the same, although you may see a warning that you may be viewing incomplete data.

Row Limit

Set a row limit to limit the number of rows visible. Looker warns you that you might be hiding data if you set the row limit too low. Sort order is important here since Looker first applies the sort and then applies the limit. For example, if you only want to see the top 10 Topics by day, make sure you're sorting by day.

• Note – You must have a row limit applied if you plan on downloading a report. 

Calculations

Table calculations make it easy to create ad-hoc metrics. They are similar to formulas that are found in spreadsheet tools like Excel.

When used, table calculations appear as green columns in the Data table, rather than as blue columns (dimensions) or orange columns (measures).

Use table calculations to perform mathematical, logical (true/false), lexical (text-based), and date-based calculations on the dimensions, measures, and other table calculations in your query. The formulas that you use to execute these calculations are called Looker expressions. See Using table calculations for a deeper look at how this works.

• See Looker functions and operations to learn more about functions and operators.

Once you're happy with what you have, download the report, save the report on your personal dashboard, or save it as part of a shared dashboard.

Custom fields

Add Custom Dimensions, Custom Measure, or Table Calculation as custom fields on top of fields available in Insight Builder allowing you to create ad hoc dimensions and measures.

Download report

Download reports in formats like CSV, TXT, HTML, and even JSON that you can use to send to other users outside of your organization (or if they don't have access to Gladly). You can even use downloaded reports to feed into other analytics tools you have. See Downloading content to learn more.

Name and save report to a dashboard

A dashboard can house one or a collection of reports where similar or related reports can be stored for access. Think of dashboards as a way to organize and create themes around reports. Each report appears as a tile in the dashboard. 

Save report to a personal dashboard

Only the Analyst that created the report can access a report they built and saved in their personal dashboard.

Create a new personal dashboard

1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner of the Builder, click Save, then click As a new dashboard.
2. From the Save as a new dashboard screen, in the Settings tab, enter a title for your new dashboard.
3. From the Folder section, select Embed User. 
   • Note – Select the alphanumeric ID (this is your Org ID) to save and create the report the report as a new dashboard instead. The dashboard and report inherit the title but can be changed at any time.
4. Click the Filters tab, which shows the filters used in the report you are saving for the first time. These become the default dashboard filter for all reports added to the dashboard.
5. Click Save.

The report is now saved in a new personal dashboard.

Save report to an existing personal dashboard

1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner of the Builder, click Save, then click To an existing dashboard.
2. From the Add to a Dashboard screen, click Personal on the left side of the window, select the name of the existing dashboard on the list, then click Save to Dashboard.
   • Note – If you decide to create a new dashboard instead, click New Dashboard first, enter the dashboard name, then click Save to Dashboard.

The report is now saved in an existing personal dashboard.

Save report to a Group dashboard

Save reports in a Group dashboard so Administrators, Team Managers, and other Analysts can view them. Reports saved in a group dashboard are found in the Shared category on the left side of the Reports page.

Save to a new group dashboard

1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner of the Builder, click Save, then click As a new dashboard.
2. From the Save as a new dashboard screen, in the Settings tab, enter a title for your new dashboard.
3. From the Folder section, select the alphanumeric ID (this is your Org ID).
   • Note – Select Embed User to save and create the report the report as a new personal dashboard instead. The dashboard and report inherit the title but can be changed at any time.
4. Click the Filters tab, which shows the filters used in the report you are saving for the first time. Non-analyst users viewing the dashboard can apply the filters you select here to update the report when viewing the dashboard.
   • Note – Future reports you add to this dashboard inherit the filter you apply.
5. Click Save.

The shared dashboard is created by inheriting the name of the report, but the dashboard name and the reports it contains can be renamed at any time.

Save report to an existing group dashboard

1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner of the Builder, click Save, then click To an existing dashboard.
2. From the Add to a Dashboard screen, click Group on the left side of the window.
3. Select the existing Group dashboard where you'd like to save the report, then click Save to Dashboard.
   • Note – If you decide to create a new group dashboard instead, click New Dashboard first, enter the dashboard name, then click Save to Dashboard.

The report is now saved in an existing shared dashboard.