Dashboards are a fantastic way to represent data visually within your organisation from multiple source reports. Dashboards can show you what is happening now and what has already happened, in multiple different visualisations.

Overview

There are 2 types of Dashboards:

• Specified User Dashboards
  • In this instance the dashboard runs using the security settings of that single, specific user.
  • All users with access to the dashboard see the same data, regardless of their own personal security settings.
  • By setting the Running User as someone who has access to all of the required data, you can allow anyone who has access. Setting the Running User as someone who has access to all of the required data and allowing anyone who has access to the Dashboard to see this summarised data in which they would usually not have access to.
• Dynamic Dashboards
  • A dynamic dashboard runs using the security settings of the user viewing the dashboard.
  • Each user sees the dashboard according to his or her own access level.
  • This approach allows an administrator to use a single Dashboard, which displays data specific to the user accessing the Dashboard, for example, personal Sales Targets and Achievements.

Filters can be applied to Dynamic Dashboards, allowing the Dashboard data to be switched based on a specific filter instantly. For example, a car Garage may have a filter on their Car Sales Dashboard using a Car Make and a Sales Rep filter. This would allow the Dashboard user to quickly filter the data displayed on the Dashboard to only show data specifically relating to Volkswagen or cars sold by a specific Sales Rep.

If you are utilising Role Hierarchies withing your Salesforce Instance, then Managers with the “View My Team’s Dashboards” or “View All Data” permission can set an option to preview the dashboard from the point of view of users under them in the role hierarchy.

Your edition of Salesforce determines the number of Dynamic Dashboards allowed in your instance. 5 is the limit for Enterprise Edition, 10 for Unlimited and Performance Edition, and 3 for Developer Edition. If required, additional Dynamic Dashboard licenses may be acquired from Salesforce.

Creating a Dynamic Dashboard

To create a Dynamic Dashboard, we need to first create the Dashboard. We can then go back in and edit the Dashboard. We can then click on the Settings Cog, and within here we can then select ‘The Dashboard Viewer’ from within the View Dashboard As section.

 

Sharing

Dashboard Sharing is controlled by Dashboard Folders. If a user has access to the Folder in which the Dashboard resides, then they have permission to view the Dashboard.

Therefore it is highly recommended to think about the Running User of the Dashboard, and where the Dashboard is saved. If the running user has high access to sensitive data, and the Dashboard is in a widely accessible folder, then some users may have access to the Dashboard who you may prefer not to. In this situation, consider changing the Dashboard location to a more restrictive folder, or create a new folder with the required user access. 

Subscribing to Dashboards

In Salesforce Lightning, you can now Subscribe to up to 5 Dashboards. This feature needs to be enabled by your Administrator. Once activated, subscribing to Dashboards will refresh the Dashboard, and email the latest results to you on a scheduled basis. 

Subscribing to a Dashboard is as simple as selecting ‘Subscribe’. If this is not visible on screen, then use the little drop down arrow in the top right-hand corner of the Dashboard: 

Dashboards can be an extremely useful and powerful tool for any organisation.  Just be sure and cautious to understand the Running User and Folder Sharing settings.