Recently I was approached with a requirement to create some dashboards. It got me thinking as to how I can provide a dashboard using a cloud based service which integrates with my data sources. This article is about how you can use CLICDATA to create dashboards and it is free to use for personaluse.
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| Project Management Dashboard |
About the Project Management Dashboard and CLICDATA
- The dashboard covers the key aspects about a project status update.
- The dashboard is built using clicdata which is a cloud based business dashboard software.
- The dashboard can be shared online via a link.
- The dashboard will auto update from the source on a hourly or daily basis.
- Data can come from spreadsheets in Dropbox and cloud based project management software.
- This specific dashboard is built using a excel spreadsheet template in Dropbox.
- The dashboard will work on other platforms - tablet, mobile etc.
- Providing capability of viewing the the project status anywhere - anytime is priceless.
How to create a Project Management Dashboard with CLICDATA
Creating a dashboard with CLICDATA involves a few steps so I have categorized the tasks you need to do into 4 steps. Before getting into the details I recommend you go through some Basics.
Step 1 : Create your data source
- Creating your data source means getting your data which you want to show on dashboard ready.
- In this specific example I have used DropBox as my data source and the data comes from an excel status report template.
- You can download the Project Status Report Template that I have used in the example.
- The excel template has different tabs for Project Schedule, Budget, Risks, Issues and Change Requests.
- The excel status report template has several tabs or sheets as with CLICDATA you can import one sheet a time. I will explain in detail in the next section how you can create data connections.
- CLICDATA supports integration with a large set of applications and interlaces. Please check out their site for the full list.
Step 2 : Create your data connections
- Data connections allow you to integrate and get data to your dashboard from your data sources.
- You can setup a schedule to refresh data to your dashboard. It can be daily or hourly.
- Please see the detailed step-by-step tutorial on how you can create a connection in CLICDATA.
Step 3: Create your project management dashboard
- This is the most difficult but the most exciting step as well.
- In this step you will create your dashboard using the widgets provided by CLICDATA.
- It is a good idea to draw a diagram/wireframe about what you want on your dashboard before you actually start working it.
- You may also want to see all the widgets avaliable to understand which suits your purpose.
- Please see detailed step-by-step article on how to create your dashboard.
Step 4: Share your dashboard with others
- After all the hardwork finally its time to share your work.
- After saving your dashboard please go to the main screen on the dashboard section.
- Clicking on the lick icon will take you to a Live Link Screen. After making the link and setting up the privacy options make sure you hit on the save button.
- You can use the link provided to share your dashboard.
- You can see my dashboard at - https://app.clicdata.com/v/5o3LDbM2cZxK
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| Sharing your dashboard |
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| Enabling your Dashboard link |
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