Power BI dashboard, that has multiple tabs at the bottom

[ddumas]

I have seen a Power BI dashboard that has multiple tabs at the bottom.  All (relevant) BI visualization tools have this capability.  I cannot find anywhere of how to do this in the service.  I cannot imagine you would have to create a custom web page to facilitate this functionality, so hopefully it's built in already and I am just not seeing it.

Dave

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@ddumas You are describing a report, not a dashboard. The report can have as many tabs as you want, the dashboard is a single pane that redirects to any number of reports, visualizations, actions.

[ddumas]

Hmmm...That's strange.  Call me crazy but QlikView and Tableau dashboards have multiple tabs, and all charts, etc are interactive immediately when the user visita them.  Why would I ever create a dashboard in Power BI if a "report" is far more functional?  Ex. For a Power BI Dashbard I have to click on a chart to take me to a report page and then and only then is that page interactive.  

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@ddumas The same reason you would want to only look at certain gauges on your car dashboard. For certain reports dashboards are the only thing I want to look at, and if need be, drill into the reports. They can also be used to surface multiple reports in a single place. Each tile can connect to a different report.

Now, there are many use cases where just sharing a report is better, and it appears that is in the works based on the user voice request here, so stay tuned I'm sure it is on the way.

[ddumas]

Ok.  I would just say to MS- look at the competition - Tableau and QlikView,and really any other visualization tool.  In those tools all "Dashboards" are multi-tab and fully interactive.  When you create a dashboard in Power BI Desktop, best design IMO is to design it to have all the tabs with KPIs, charts and tables exactly the way you want users to see it .  When you publish, it should look exactly as it was designed in Desktop (like those other tools do).  That way there is no confusion and having to then create a dashboard twice.   I am hoping that will be added in the future as an option.

Ex.  "Publish as fully interactive Dashboard?"  Yes/No.  Everyone will pick Yes 🙂

Dave

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@ddumas I guess I'm slightly confused with your description. When you publish the Desktop file, the report is deployed exactly as you see it in the Desktop. So other than having to share via the Dashboard "currently", the experiance is the same when the user is interacting in the reports as with other tools...

Use the Dashboard as a place holder, or better yet, share an App and the user can just access the reports directly. Or share the dashboard and send the link to the user.

Your "best design" description is exactly what I linked to, you will be able to share a report directly soon...

[ddumas]

I just took a week long course (Boot Camp) for Power BI from a MS partner.  The way it was shown to me is the following steps.  This assumes an enterprise type deployment where many users can see / share the dashboard(s):

1.  Publish a pbix from PBI Desktop

2.  Create a blank dashboard

3.  One by one, place individual charts on the dashboard. 

4.  Now all the desired charts have been added to the dashboard.  However, the charts are not interactive and do not respond to filters.  They are essentially clickable images at this point.

5.  When you click on a chart on the dashboard it takes you to what I would call the "real" dashboard, which you are calling a "report" (reports cannot be shared, correct?), which has all the tabs, and  is interactive.

From someone coming from Tableau and QlikView, where all you have to do is publish a dashboard whiich can be shared and is instantly interactive with multiple tabs, can you see how this above process does not make sense?  Maybe I am missing something - again I just took one class.  Maybe the instructor at the boot camp explained it wrong.

Dave

[Seth_C_Bauer · Accepted solution]

@ddumas The difference here is "can" vs. "have to". Sounds like the instructor showed you how to leverage a dashboard to pin visuals. But you don't have to use a dashboard in that way if it doesn't make sense for what you want to do. "Yes" it is still a requirement to share via a dashboard. Sharing a report directly is coming soon.

Think of a dashboard as a means to an end. There are many implementations where I just have a list of reports in a dashboard, and the dashboard becomes the single "folder" for my reports. A user clicks on the report they want, and gets the interactivity we are describing.

But dashboards also allow me to have streaming tiles next to report tiles. Information from different reports, and adds another layer of flexibility to meet a wide variety of needs.

Right now, you are stuck sharing a dashboard. Another option I described would be to share the workspace as an App. Using a dashboard may not apply to your needs, and I think MSFT gets that many people want to just share a report, so they are building it.

[ddumas]

Thanks for going over this.  I think when MSFT adds report sharing, it will be more usable.  IMO, a "Report" should really be called a "Dashboard", and what is now a "Dashboard" should be called something else, as it's functionality is quite different than what is in other toolsets.  I also have to learn the functionality of an App as it relates to the current use of "Dashboard" and "Report".

Dave