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Getting Started with Custom Reporting

This guide is designed to help you get started with custom reporting, from access controls, basic concepts, and understanding the language used in data and reporting tools.

Access Controls

Understanding Reporting Concepts

Metabase Reports - a few key concepts

Next steps - Building your first custom report

With Metabase in Projectworks, you can create, save, and share custom reports using live data from your environment. Before you begin, check that your access controls are set up correctly. If you need assistance, reach out to your Projectworks Administrator.

Access Controls

When setting permissions for custom reports, be aware that this can grant users access to sensitive details like costs or margins that they might not normally see. Always review user access levels and report-specific permissions carefully.

Custom report access is controlled by Users Access Levels and Metabase report access

  1. Users Access Levels access determines if users can see the:

    • 'Reports (New)' tab - user has ‘Can View’ Reporting access

    • ‘Manage Reports’ button - user has ‘Can Manage’ Reporting access, or

    • ‘Create Reports’ button - user has ‘Can Edit’ Reporting access.

  2. Metabase report access controls the specific Dashboards users can see either through

    • their Role; or

    • as an individual.

Users MUST have the ‘Can View’ permission to be able to have either ‘Can Manage’ and/or ‘Can Edit' permission

Individual permission trumps the Roles with Access permission; i.e if your User Access Level does not have access to a Report, you can be given individual access to the Report.

Users Access Levels is managed via Admin → Access Levels → Reporting. 

Make sure the reporting option is ticked in the header - that will show the reporting button below.

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Metabase report access is managed via ‘Manage Reports’ via the ‘Reports (New)’ tab.

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  1. Navigate to the Reports (New) page;

  2. Select “Manage Reports” button;

  3. Select the three dot menu on any available Report;

  4. Select “Manage” option;

  5. A modal pop up that allows you to select Roles with Access (User Level Access) and individual users to be granted access to the report.
    ViewAccessViaReportPage

Understanding Reporting Concepts

Before you start using Metabase, it's helpful to get familiar with the key components of a report. If you have experience with Excel, many of these concepts will be intuitive.

Reporting terms with Excel analogies

Reporting Term

 

What It Means

 

Excel Analogy

 

Table

A collection of related data

An Excel worksheet (or structured table), e.g., Time Entries

Row

A single record in a table

One row in your spreadsheet e.g., a single time entry

Field (Column)

A specific piece of data for every row

A column like Client, Consultant, Hours, or Date

Filter

Limits which/what data you see

Using Excel’s Filter tool or applying formulas like =IF()

Group By

Buckets data by shared values

Creating row groups in a Pivot Table, like grouping by Project

Aggregate (Sum, Count, Avg)

Crunches data within a group

Functions like SUM(), COUNT(), AVERAGE() in a Pivot Table

Join

Combines data from multiple tables using a shared field

Using VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP to match fields from different sheets

Dashboard

A visual summary of key reports

A summary tab with charts, slicers, and key figures in Excel
 

Metabase Reports - a few key concepts

Metabase Reports in Projectworks are built from queries that pull live data from your environment. Each query is saved as a Question, which you can add to a Dashboard. Dashboards present your Questions as interactive reports accessible within Projectworks.

 

Metabase terms
Term Definition Reporting User Access Level required Metabase report access required

Report

A Report is how a Dashboard is displayed in Projectworks.

A User with access to a Report can see this in the Reports list when they navigate to the “Reports (Beta)” tab

Tags can be added to a Report by Users who have the “Can Manage” Reporting User Level Access.
Can View

Must have:

  • User Level Access to a Role with Access;

    OR

  • Individual Access

Dashboard

Questions can saved to a Dashboard.

Dashboards saved in the:

  • Projectworks Collection; or

  • Company Collection;

are displayed in Projectworks as a Report.

Warning If no Questions are added to a Dashboard and you access the Report via Projectworks, the report will be empty.

Filters can be added to a Dashboard, so that the Report can be filtered by the User accessing it.

Access to Dashboards saved in the:

  • Projectworks Collection; or

  • Company Collection;

can be shared with:

  • Roles with Access (i.e. Projectworks' Access Levels); and/ or

  • Individuals.

Warning Dashboards that are saved to “Your personal collection” are only visable to in “Your personal collection”
Can Edit

n/a

Question

A query on the Projectworks data is saved as a Question to form the basis of a Report in Projectworks.

A Question:

  1. can be saved as a Question only;

  2. can be saved as a new Dashboard; or

  3. be added to an existing Dashboard.

A saved Question can be used as the basis of an alternate Question.

Warning Questions saved to “Your personal collection” can only be accessed by you.

Questions saved in the:

  • Projectworks Collection; or

  • Company Collection;

can be accessed by other users who have the “Can Edit” Reporting User Level Access.
Can Edit

n/a

Visualization

The visual representation of a Question. This can be selected when a User is creating or editing a Question.

If a User has access to a Dashboard, this is how the Question will be displayed in the Projectworks Report.
Can Edit

n/a

Collection

A Collection is how Questions and Dashboards are grouped. When you are creating a Question or Dashboard, you can save them to:

  • “Your personal collection”, which keeps the Question and Dashboard private; or

  • The Company Collection;

The Projectworks Collection cannot be edited, but you can:

  • Add a Question from the Projectworks Collection to a Dashboard;

  • Use a Question from the Projectworks Collection as the basis of another Question.
Can Edit

n/a

Next steps - Building your first custom report

Now you have ensured you have the correct access controls and have an understanding of the general concepts around reporting we recommend building your first custom report.