Reports
A report is what you send a client: a document of A4 pages to read, or Slides at 16:9 to present. Dash or a template builds it from the client's accounts, you edit it, and you save it. The figures freeze the first time you save it, so the numbers your client reads are the numbers you checked.
Reports and dashboards
| Dashboard | Report | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A live page your client opens | A document or Slides about one period |
| Its figures | Change as the data changes | Freeze the first time you save it |
| How it's built | Widgets on a grid | Rows of blocks on fixed pages or slides |
| How your client gets it | A link, or a briefing | A link, an email with a PDF (once or each month), or a file you download |
Share, download and send work the same way for both: the same three buttons in the report's top bar, the same share dialog, the same email code for viewers, and the same Send dialog. See Share, download and send.
What you can do
- Create a report with Dash from a description, from one of 28 templates, or from an empty report
- Tell Dash how the report must look in the same description, for example "dark theme" or "no cover"
- Choose the accounts, the period and what it's compared with
- Edit on the page: type into text, add blocks with the slash menu, drag blocks, change widths
- Edit the cover and the closing page where you read them
- Ask Dash to rewrite a block, answer a comment or change the report. Dash suggests the changes, and you accept or reject each one, or all at once
- Comment on a block or on selected words, mention a team member, and resolve the thread
- Brand it: presets, team and client themes, logos, your own fonts, six cover layouts, a closing page, headers, footers, page numbers and contents
- Share it, download it as a PDF or PNG images (and PowerPoint for Slides), and email it from your Gmail once or on a schedule
- Start next month's report from this one
Document or Slides
You choose the layout when you create the report. You can't change it later.
| Document | Slides | |
|---|---|---|
| Page | A4 portrait (US Letter is an option in Design) | 16:9 |
| When a page is full | The next rows go onto a new page | The extra is cut off, and the editor tells you to move blocks to a new slide |
| To see it as your client does | Preview | Present, full screen |
| Best for | The monthly report a client reads | The review you present on a call |
Saved, unsaved and draft
A report is Saved, has Unsaved changes, or is a Draft. There is no approval step.
| Status | What it means | What your client sees |
|---|---|---|
| Saved (green) | You selected Save, and you made no edits after that | This version |
| Unsaved changes (amber) | You saved the report before, and then edited it | The version you saved. Point to the status to see its date |
| Draft (grey) | You never saved the report | Nothing yet. A Draft has no link |
Your edits are kept as you type: the top bar says Saving draft…. If you close the tab, you lose nothing. But your client sees an edit only when you select Save again. Then the link shows the new version at the same address.
A Saved report gets unsaved changes when you:
- Edit its pages or blocks. When you accept a change that Dash suggests, that is an edit too.
- Edit the text on its cover or closing page, or the text in its header or footer.
- Change its period, its accounts or its comparison. The editor asks you to confirm first.
- Select Refresh data
These things don't change the status:
- A new name
- A design change: colours, fonts, the cover's layout, image and logos. Design isn't frozen: a change shows on the link right away. A PDF you already sent is kept as it went out.
- Comments
Save
Select Save in the top bar. Most of the time, that is all: the report saves, and a notice says Saved.
The Save this report? dialog opens first only when there is something to check:
- Open comments
- Blocks that didn't load, or that have no data for the period
- Text that quotes a number that no chart or table shows
- A period that isn't over yet
- A recurring send that starts when you save. The dialog names it.
Read what the dialog says, then select Save. When the dialog has a warning, the button is Save anyway.
Discard changes
To go back to the version you saved, select Discard beside Save. It is also Discard changes in the menu (⋮). Discard shows only on a report with unsaved changes.
The dialog asks Discard unsaved changes? and gives the date of the saved version. Select Discard changes. The changes since that date are lost. If you changed the period or the accounts, they go back to the saved ones too. If a recurring send waits for the report, the dialog names it, and that send goes with the saved version.
When figures freeze
The first time you save a report, the figures in every data block freeze. After that:
- Editing text, design or layout doesn't change a number.
- A block you add later, or a block whose data you change, loads live until you save the report again. Then it freezes too.
- Refresh data (in the ⋮ menu) loads every block again. On a Saved report, this leaves unsaved changes: your client keeps the saved version until you save again. Changing the period or the accounts does the same.
- When you save it after that, the editor tells you how many figures changed since the version your client has.
Each month
Reports are per period. October and November are two reports, not one report edited twice. The reports you make each month for one client are a series.
- New report from this (in the ⋮ menu) keeps the pages, blocks and design, moves to the next period, loads fresh figures, and has Dash write new commentary. The new report continues the series. See Create a report.
- Duplicate report (in the ⋮ menu) makes an exact copy as a new Draft, with nothing rewritten. Give it a name and, if you want, another client. Its figures load fresh when you open it. The copy has no link, no comments and no send history, and it starts a new series. If you change the client, check the copy's accounts in Data: they still point at the first client's.
A recurring send follows the series: each month it sends that month's report. See Send every month.
The Reports page
Reports lists the reports for the client selected in the client switcher. On All clients, filter by Client too.
- Search, and filter by Status (Saved or Unsaved), Layout, Period (this or last month, quarter or year) and Comments (Mentions me or Open comments).
- Sort by: Period, newest (the default), Last edited, Last sent or Name.
- Switch between List view and Grid view.
- Each report shows its status, how many comments are open, and @ with a number when comments mention you that you haven't read.
- Each report's menu has Share, Download, Send, Duplicate report, New report from this, Sent and scheduled and Delete report.
- Select reports with their checkboxes to download their PDFs or delete them together. A report that isn't saved downloads as it is now, marked Draft.
With no reports yet, the page suggests three templates the client's accounts can run: a report across channels, one for its main channel, and an audit. Select one to open Create report at its last step, with that template chosen. A client with no accounts a template can use shows Add accounts instead, and All clients shows Connect an account.
Who can do what
| To | Permission |
|---|---|
| Open reports and read their comments | View reports |
| Create, edit, save, refresh data, upload fonts | Create and edit reports |
| Delete a report | Delete reports |
| Comment, reply and resolve | Comment on reports |
| See who a report is shared with | View who can open reports |
| Share a report, or download it | Share and export reports |
| Remove someone from a report | Remove people from a report |
| Send a report | Create and edit briefings. To send a report that isn't saved, which saves it, also Create and edit reports |
| Save or change a team theme | Create and edit themes |
| Change the agency logo | Change team settings |
| Change the client logo | Add and edit clients |
The permissions matrix shows which roles hold each one.