Analytics is Deputy's new reporting and analytics tool, allowing managers to view and analyse scheduling and timesheet data.

Analytics allows managers to view, tailor and bookmark pre-configured reports and visualizations.

If the answer to the question you seek is not answered by one of Deputy's default set of reports you might like to use Analytics+ (a paid product) to build a custom report yourself. Any custom reports you create will appear at the top of the list under the My Reports heading.

• Introduction to Report building
• Create a new custom report from a blank template
• Copy and modify a default report to make a new custom report
• Report states
• Add elements to build a report
  • Data elements
  • Control elements
  • UI elements
  • Layout elements
• Tips to help format the layout of your report
• Editing an existing custom report
• Renaming a custom report
• Sharing a custom report
• Deleting custom reports

 

Introduction to Report building

Before we build our report, let's look at why we might run a report and what elements make a good report.

We usually run a report because we want to find the answer to a question we have about patterns or outliers in data. As a report builder, each custom report you build can be thought of like a blank canvas where you can add all the pieces of the puzzle that the report user will need to find the answer to that question.

There are four main categories of elements available for you to add when building a report:

Element category	What are they?	Examples include
Data elements	These elements are built directly from a specific data source that you select according to the type of report you are building.   Read more about Deputy Datasets.	a table a pivot table a chart Note: No matter how the data is displayed in the element you select, the underlying data from the data source is always column-based.
Control elements	These elements are added to allow the report user to manipulate data elements in the report	data filters parameter selectors
UI (User interface) elements	These elements add additional context, styling, and navigation to reports	buttons dividers images spacers embeds text
Layout elements	These control how the information is presented	containers modal

 

Therefore, every report is built upon one or more selected data sources to provide the data elements whether they be represented as a table, visualization, chart or plain columns of data.

The control elements are added to help the user filter and manipulate the data to find the relevant data they need

The UI and layout elements make the report easier for users to understand and navigate.

Note: If you don't want to start with a 'blank canvas' to build a new report you can also copy a default report and modify it to customise it to your business needs.

Let's look at creating a custom report using both approaches:

• Create a brand new report from scratch
• Copy and modify an existing default report to customise it

 

Create a new custom report from a blank template

1. From the left-hand side menu click the + icon.

2. Give your report a name, click on Blank template and click Create report.

A blank report will open in 'edit' state and you are now you are ready to add your data elements.

 

Copy and modify a default report to make a new custom report

If you would rather base the report on an existing default one, open the report you wish to duplicate and then click the three dots icon on the top right-hand side of your screen and select Make a copy.

Or click on the + icon.

When using the + option you will be asked to name your report and select which template you would like to base the new report on.

A duplicate copy of the report will be opened in 'edit state' and you can now make customisations to build your report.

Any reports you create will be listed at the top of the left-hand side menu under the My Reports header. 

You can also rename or delete any custom report if required.

 

Read more about Creating a copy of a Deputy Analytics report to customise including some worked examples.

 

Report states

All Deputy default reports included in Deputy Analytics are published and may not be edited, only copied. 

Be aware that custom reports, however, can exist in two states:

1. Published

Published reports are listed on the left-hand side under the My Reports section header and are ready for report users to view and manipulate the data as required or export reports.

2. Editing

While you are building a new custom report, or when you click on the Edit button to change an existing custom report you built previouslythen you will see that the report shows the status as Editing.  Once you make changes to the custom report such as adding or deleting an element then you can Publish the changes.

Note: while building or amending a custom report, if you click away from the Reports tab in Deputy or close the browser before you click Publish, then any work you have done to build that report in this session will not be saved.

 

Adding elements to build a report

In the Editing state of the report we can use the Add new element tab to start adding elements to the custom report.

As introduced earlier there are three elements to building reports.

The first element we need to add to build a report is a data element.

Data Elements

When building your new dashboard, you will need to bring the relevant data as a flat table visualization into the dashboard.

1. In the DATA ELEMENTS section, select from:

• Table OR
• Chart OR
• Pivot Table

In the example below we will choose a table. You will be presented with a list of Deputy datasets.

If you know the Deputy dataset you want to use to build your table just click on the name of the dataset to select it and the entire data set will be added to your custom report as a table.

If you would prefer to preview what kind of data is contained in the dataset, click Preview.

2. A new window will pop up with the dataset and you can select specifically which data columns from the dataset you wish to add to your table. As you click the tick boxes the columns will appear on the right. When you have added all the columns you need click Add 

The table you created will be added to the report.

3. You can continue to add more data elements to the page if required such as a chart or pivot table by repeating step 1.

If you would like the new element to be dependent on the element you just added you can click on the add graph icon at the top right of the element:

4. If you would like to add a new data element based on a different data source then click on the + icon on the top left-hand side to Add element.

7. Select the new data element you would like to add to your dashboard. In this example a chart has been selected.

You will be presented with a list of Deputy datasets.

If you know the Deputy dataset you want to use to build your chart just click on the name of the dataset to select it and the entire data set will be added to your custom report.

If you would prefer to preview what kind of data is contained in the dataset, click Preview and select to add specific columns as shown in step 2 above.

9. For the new chart you have created, you can customise:

• the type of chart you wish to use and how it is displayed
• The X and Y axis data (see below)
• Colors, tooltips, trellis and label

Setting the X and Y axis:

You can choose which columns of data from your dataset represent the X and Y axis on your chart by dragging them into place as shown below.

Or an alternative way is to click on the plus icon and search for the name of the column name you wish to add using a text search then click to select and add that data column as the X-axis.

You can continue to add as many data elements to your report as you think the report user will need to find the information they need.

 

Control Elements

Once you have your data on your dashboard, it's time to add control elements that allow report users to filter and manipulate the data and make it more meaningful to them.

Users viewing reports can change the value of a control element to automatically update the data displayed in any elements targeted by that control.

 Click on the + icon on the top left-hand side to Add element.

Select the CONTROL ELEMENT from the left-hand side and drag it into your dashboard.

There are several control elements available to add to reports:

• List Values
• Text Input
• Text Area
• Segmented
• Date Range
• Slider
• Range Slider
• Checkbox
• Switch
• Top in
• Drill down

Once you have added your data elements and your control elements then you can use the UI elements to improve the appearance of the report.

 

UI (user interface) elements

Add the following UI Elements to your reports to personalise the look of your reports and make them easier to understand. Click on the element to add it to your dashboard.

Text

Use the Text element to add text to the report such as a Report Heading or disclaimer via a free text field, modify the display of the text by changing the Font, size, style, colour and alignment as well as the background colour.

 

Image

Use the Image element to add your branding to reports by uploading your own image files (BMP, JPEG, PNG etc) to your reports.

 

Button

The Button element allows you to create an onscreen button that can be linked to various actions. Change the style of the button by changing the colour, shape and text that is displayed.

Then, using the Actions area, choose what you want to happen when the button is clicked, actions available are - launch a specified URL, navigate the report, modify or refresh an element as well as download or email the report.

 

Embed

An embed element adds a webpage, video, or other report to a page. Any iFrame-enabled URL can be embedded. Use control variables within your embed URL to customize what content is displayed according to different inputs.

 

Divider

Using a Divider allows you to visually separate areas of a report by adding a vertical or horizontal line with a customisable colour and thickness.

 

Layout elements 

Layout elements allow you to control how other elements in the report are presented:

Container (border)

Add a container (or border) as a new element to your report then add a new data element such as a chart or table within the container:

You can format the styling of the container so that the chart or table will have a border.

 

Modal (pop up)

Rather than add a data element to the main space in a report, you can also choose to add a data element as a modal or pop up so that the data will appear when a button is clicked on the report.

Add the modal as a new data element to the report then select the chart or table to add within the modal element.

When the report is published, the user can view the chart by clicking a button to open the pop up modal.

 

 

Tips to help format the layout of your report

Once you have added the data, controller, layout,and UI elements of your report there are ways you can adjust how your report looks.

Firstly, if you click on the Page layout tab you can get a clear idea of all the different elements you have added to make up your report. In the below example, the report contains:

• a UI element as text
• a control element as a date range
• a data element as a table
• a UI element as a divider
• a data element as a chart
• a data element as a chart within a container

While in Editing state, on the right-hand side you can see all the elements you have added. 

You can click and drag to move them around the page to display in the preferred order or resize them to use up the preferred amount of space.

Once you have finished building your report don't forget to Publish.

Now, you can click on your custom report name under the My Reports section to view, filter and export the report required.

Read more about common functionality in every report.

 

Editing a custom report

You can make further customisations or add additional elements to any custom reports you have created.

1. Select the published custom report you wish to edit and click on the Edit button on the top right-hand side of the page.

2. If you click on the Page overview tab on the far left-hand side you can see which elements have already been added to this report.

Click on an existing element to amend it's configuration.

Or click on the + icon to add a new element and configure it.

3. Once you are happy with the edits you have made to your custom report don't forget to click Publish so the changes you made are saved.

 

Renaming a custom report

You can rename a custom report to make it more meaningful. Or perhaps you want to rename a report you copied to differentiate it from the original Deputy default report.

Just click on the title of the custom report (you can see the pencil icon appear next to the title field to let you know it's editable) and type the new name. The new name will take effect when you hit enter or return.

 

Sharing a custom report

You can share a custom report you've created (any report under 'My Reports' with others in your Deputy account with Analytics access. You can give them view or edit access.

1. Select the custom report under 'My Reports' that you want to share, click on the ellipsis (...) on the top right of the screen and select Share.

2. Select a name from the drop-down  list or scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and select Anyone with Analytics access to share with everyone in your Deputy account with access to Analytics.

3. Once you have selected who can access your report you can decide whether they can have View or Edit access. If you have added someone in error simply Remove them.

4. If you remove access they will no longer be able to view or edit the report you have shared and any unsaved changes they may have made will be lost. Click Remove access if you wish to remove access.

5. If you want to check which team members can access a report at any time, select the report under My Reports, click on the ellipsis (...) on the top right of the screen and select Share.

You can see which team members have view and edit access in each report.

 

If a report has been shared with you it will appear under the Shared With Me header on the left-hand side.

Depending on the permission rights you have been assigned by the creator of the report, you will either be able to view or edit the report. In the example below the person viewing this report, has been given edit access to the shared report but note that they are unable to delete the report in the same way they would be able to delete a report they had created themselves.

 

Deleting a report

To delete a custom report that is no longer needed:

1. Click to open the custom report you wish to delete (under My Reports at the top of the list on the left-hand side)

2. Click the three dots icon on the top right of the screen and select Delete.

3. You will be asked to confirm that you want to delete the report. Click Delete.