Problem Sharing Dashboards-first time users do not have access

[APACK01]

We've noticed an interesting development in the last month or so with the dashboard sharing mechanic.  It is not a show-stopper but it is extremely annoying and makes PowerBI seem clunky to managers trying to get access to reports.

Scenario:

Report consumer (the person being shared with) has never logged into app.powerbi.com before

Report consumer does have PowerBI (free) license (and has had one for weeks)

Dashboard does not contain any row level security

Dashboard does not leverage any pro features

We are synching ADFS with the cloud

The full email address is an alias for a shortened domain address

     Example:  User Full Name= Mark Smith, Public Email= mark.smith@contoso.com, True Email= mksh123@contoso.com

Procedure:

1) Dashboard owner clicks on "Share" button, access slider opens on right of screen

2) Start by typing user Full Name OR Public Email or True Email in the Share window

3) Autofill correctly retrieves user and displays Full Name and True Email

4) Finish manually typing (Full Name OR Public Email OR True Email) OR select the Autofill Option

5) User does receive e-mail link

6) User's Public Email does show up on Access list

7) User clicks link in email to go to dashboard

😎 User logs into app.powerbi.com with organization credentials

9) User brought to generic "get data" page.  No left hand dashboard menu is present

10) There IS a waiting notification about a new dashboard

11) User clicks on dashboard link is notification, then gets a message about not having access

12) User complains to me about why doesn't this stupid thing work

13) Report owner goes back to sharing pane on dashboard, then on the Access tab clicks on "Cancel Invite"

14) Report owner re-shares following steps (2-4)

15) Now User's Full Name appears on the Access tab

16) User can either follow link again or log in to app.powerbi.com and has visibility to correct dashboard(s)

This does NOT happen with anyone who has previously successfully viewed any other dashboard.

Questions:

Is this something simple that I'm not seeing from the User side, such as an option they should select when they log-in for the first time?  Tough for me to get this kind of feedback from my constituents.  If so I could add some boiler plate instructions to the email link.

Could this have something to do with our synched cloud ADFS setup?

Any feedback is apprecaited, thanks!

[NerdFlanders]

This is still happening with us, has something changed or is there another workaround? 

Would be annoying to go to 1000 users and tell them to login first to see nothing and wait till I share something with them...

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @APACK01,

As you mentioned the issue occurred last month, did you tried to share a dashboard to see if the issue persists currently?

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[APACK01]

Yes, it has been happening since last month and is still happening.  Interestingly, when someone logs in for the first time (successfully), and then tries to access the dashboard via link or notification (unsuccessfully), they usually inform me.  After that I re-share it with them, and they now have two entries on the "Access" tab, the original one showing their email address, and the new one shows their full name, obviously pulled back from AD.  As @Seth_C_Bauer mentioned, this may be normal, but it is still a clunky way to introduce PowerBI to managers.

[v-qiuyu-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @APACK01,

Did you share the dashboard from the group workspace or My Workspace? I got information from PG if share dashboard from group:

"This is by design for now, we will have a design change at the beginning of next year.

Temporary Workarounds: Either share the dashboard from My Workplace, or log into the user before attempting to share the dashboard."

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu

[Anonymous]

I get this error for MY OWN dashboard that I published to the workspace after clicking the link I copied out of the "share" window. Surely that can't be by design? Workspace members can't view it either. 

[fish3101]

Can anyone provide an update on when this will be fixed. The workaround of sharing from My Workspace does not work for me so I actually have no workaround available at all.

[ScottBrier]

Same here. Trying to see the silver lining - for our small scale projects, I usually schedule time to walk folks through first-time login, which actually helps start off the relationship. They feel more comfortable reaching out for help, which has helped us increase adoption. Still pretty painful though!

[APACK01]

I can't say I'm happy with the design, but the workaround is suitable for the time being.  Thanks for the information!

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@APACK01 Cutting through all the different email/user set up things. I believe this behaviour happens no matter what if the end user has never logged in. I would recommend an email blast to all report end users to log in, give it a couple days, then share the dashboards.

Another option, is if they have issues, you don't have to revoke and re-create, you can just send them the link in the access panel of the shared dashboard prompt.