Build a dashboard with sample data

Build a dashboard with sample data

Learn how to create a dashboard with sample data from the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore in the sample LookML project on your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance.

This quickstart guides you through building a dashboard with the following tiles, including an optional Look-linked tile that you can add to your dashboard if you've completed the Build a Look with sample data quickstart:

• Top Weekly Spenders: Identify the top spenders for the past four weeks to target them with personalized promotions.
• Yearly Sales Goal Tracking (2024): Visualize your year-to-date sales and compare them to a set goal by using table calculations to visualize a a running total and by adding a reference line.
• (Optional) Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks): If you've completed the Build a Look with sample data quickstart, you can also add your shipping delay analysis Look to this dashboard.

Before you begin

To follow along with this quickstart, you'll need access to a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance that includes the sample LookML project. The sample project includes the prebuilt Intermediate Ecommerce Explore that is used in this quickstart.

Note: The Intermediate Ecommerce Explore is found in the Z) Sample LookML model. This model name may differ on your Looker instance.

Optionally, if you want to incorporate a pre-existing Look into your dashboard, you can follow the instructions in the Build a Look with sample data quickstart.

You'll also need to have a the following Looker permissions on your Looker (Google Cloud core) instance (or a Looker role that includes these permissions):

• access_data: Access the sample data in the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore
• explore (and its parent permission, see_looks): Access the Explore page and run queries in the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore.
• see_user_dashboards (and its parent permission, see_looks): View the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.
• save_dashboards (and its parent permission, save_content): Save and edit the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.
• save_looks (and its parent permission, save_content): Save the Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks) Look (if you complete the Build a Look with sample data quickstart).
• create_table_calculations: Create the table calculations for the Yearly Sales Goal Tracking (2024) tile.

Create the new dashboard from an Explore

This section guides you through querying data and creating a visualization for the Top Weekly Spenders tile, which will show the top 15 customers by sales in the last 4 weeks. You'll then save the visualization as the first tile on your new dashboard.

Navigate to the Explore

First, you'll use the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore to visualize the sample data. To navigate to the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore, follow these steps:

1. In Looker, click Main menu menu to expand the main navigation menu, if not already expanded.
2. In the main navigation menu, select Explore.
3. Click Z) Sample LookML (or the corresponding model name on your instance) to expand the list of Explores, if not already expanded.
4. Click 2) Intermediate Ecommerce Explore to open the Explore page.

Query and visualize the data

Next, you'll select fields from the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore and then define the visualization for the Top Weekly Spenders tile, which shows the top 15 customers by sales in the last 4 weeks. To select fields and visualize the sample data, follow these steps:

1. In the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore, select the following fields from the field picker:
   • Users > Email
   • System Keys > User ID (On Order Item)
   • Order Items > Sales (Validated)
2. In the Data section of the Explore, set the value of Row Limit to 15.
3. In the Data section of the Explore, click the gear menu for the System Keys User ID (On Order Item) field, and then select Hide this field from visualization.
4. To create a filter that limits the data to the last 4 weeks, follow these steps:
   1. Click the Filters section of the Explore to show the filter options, and then click + Filter.
   2. In the Add Filter window, expand the Order Items view to show the Created At Date dimension group.
   3. Under the Created At Date dimension group, select the Created At Week field.
   4. Set the filter condition to is in the last and enter the value 4 in the text input field, and then select weeks from the list of timeframes.
5. In the Data section of the Explore, click the Order Items Sales (Validated) field to sort the results by the Order Items Sales (Validated) field in descending order.
6. To run the query and display the results, click Run.
7. Click the Visualization section of the Explore to see the visualization of the query results.

Looker displays the query results in the Visualization section of the Explore page, with the query results showing only the top 15 customers by sales amounts in the last 4 weeks.

Save your visualization as a new dashboard

To save the visualization that you created in the previous section as a new dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Click the Explore actions gear icon settings and select Save, and then select As a new dashboard.
2. In the Save as a new dashboard window, in the Title field, enter a title. This title will be applied to both the new dashboard and the tile that you have created. You can change the title of the dashboard later if you want to.
3. In the Settings tab, in the Folders section, select the folder to which you want to save the dashboard.
4. Click Save. Looker displays a notification informing you that your tile has been saved to a new dashboard.
5. Optionally, click the View dashboard link within the notification to be taken directly to your new dashboard in edit mode. When in edit mode, you can select the existing dashboard title and enter a new title. In this example, you can enter Sales and Customer Insights as the title.

Add additional tiles to the dashboard

Next, you'll add more tiles to your dashboard. You'll create a query tile that tracks progress against a yearly sales goal and, if you completed the Build a Look with sample data quickstart, you'll add that Look to your dashboard as a tile.

Create a new query tile within the dashboard

In this section, you'll create the Sales Goal Tracking (2024) tile, which will show your cumulative sales over time compared to a yearly sales goal and uses table calculations to define the running total and the target sales.

To create the tile from within the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.
2. Click the Dashboard actions three-dot icon more_vert, and then select Edit dashboard.
3. In the page header, click Add, and then select Visualization.
4. In the Choose an Explore window, select the Intermediate Ecommerce Explore.
5. In the title field, enter a title (in this example, enter Sales Goal Tracking (2024)).
6. In the Explore field picker, select the following fields:
   • Order Items > Created At Week
   • Order Items > Sales (Validated)
7. To filter the data to show only 2024 sales, follow these steps:
   1. Click the Filters section of the Explore to show the filter options, and then click + Filter.
   2. In the Add Filter window, expand the Order Items view to see the fields in the Created At Date dimension group.
   3. Under the Created At Date dimension group, select the Created At Date field and choose the is in the year condition. Enter 2024 in the text input field.
8. In the Custom Fields section, click Add and then select Table Calculation to create the following table calculations:
   • Cumulative Sales:
     1. Enter the formula running_total(${order_items.total_sales_price_validated}).
     2. Set the value of Format to short_dollars.
     3. In the Name field, enter Cumulative Sales.
     4. To save the table calculation, click Save.
   • Target Sales:
     1. Enter the formula row() * 72000 + (${cumulative_sales} * 0).
     2. Set the value of Format to Decimals.
     3. Set the value of Decimals to 0.
     4. In the Name field, enter Target Sales.
     5. To save the table calculation, click Save.
9. To hide the Order Items Sales (Validated) field from the visualization, in the Data section of the Explore, click the gear menu for the Order Items Sales (Validated) field, and then select Hide this field from visualization.
10. To run the query and visualize the query results, click Run.
11. In the Visualization section of the Explore, configure the visualization:
    1. In the Visualization menu, select Column to display the query results in columns.
    2. Click Edit tune to open the Visualization menu.
    3. In the Series tab, in the Customizations section, expand Target Sales, then in the Type field select the Line option.
    4. In the Y tab, in the Markings section, click Add Reference Line. In the Value menu, select Custom, and then enter the value 3750000 in the text input field. This value represents the yearly sales goal.
    5. Set the Label Position setting to Center.`
12. To save the visualization, click Save.
13. In the Edit Dashboard window, click Save to save the dashboard.

The Sales Goal Tracking (2024) tile is now displayed on the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.

Add an existing Look as a tile (Optional)

If you have completed the Build a Look with sample data quickstart, you can add your Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks) Look to your dashboard as a tile.

To add this Look to the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard, follow these steps:

1. In the Looker main navigation menu, navigate to the folder where you saved your Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks) Look.
2. Click the Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks) Look.
3. Within the Look, click the Explore actions gear icon settings, select Save, and then select To an existing dashboard.
4. In the Add to a Dashboard in this folder window, select the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.

5. Click Save to Dashboard.

   Note: Clicking Save to Dashboard adds the Look as a static query tile, rather than as a Look-linked tile. To keep the tile updated with changes to the Look, use the Add Look to Dashboard option instead of the Save to Dashboard option.

The Weekly Shipping Trends (Last 8 Weeks) tile is now displayed as a static query tile on the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard. You may need to refresh the page to see the newly added Look in your dashboard.

Create an interactive dashboard filter

In this section, you'll add an interactive dashboard filter to the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard. This filter lets viewers dynamically adjust the timeframe for the data displayed, choosing options like Today, Last 7 Days, or Last 30 Days.

Note: Depending on the tiles that you've added, a filter may already be applied to your dashboard. You can edit or delete any existing filters.

To add a relative date filter on the Order Items Created At Date field, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.
2. Click the Dashboard actions three-dot icon more_vert, and then select Edit dashboard.
3. In the page header, click Filters, and then select Add filter.
4. In the Add Filter window, in the Filter by section, expand the Order Items view, then expand the Created At Date dimension group, then select the Created At Date field.
5. In the Title field, enter Order Date.
6. Optionally, in the Configure Default Value section, select the timeframe that you want to be displayed by default.
7. Optionally, in the Tiles To Update tab of the Add Filter window, configure the tiles that you want to update when the filter is applied.
8. Click Add.

The Order Date filter is now added to the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard. Users can now filter the data by selecting timeframes like Today, Last 7 Days, or Last 30 Days.

Reposition and resize the dashboard tiles

This section explains how to arrange and format the tiles on your dashboard to customize its layout and appearance. To reposition or resize tiles on your dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Sales and Customer Insights dashboard.
2. Click the Dashboard actions three-dot icon more_vert, and then select Edit dashboard.
3. To reposition a tile, click and hold the tile's six-dot Hold and drag to reorder icon reorder, and then drag the tile to its new location.
4. To resize a tile, hold your cursor over the bottom right corner of the tile, and then click and hold to drag the tile's border to resize it.

Tip: You can also use the Quick layout option in the page header to quickly arrange tiles in rows with a uniform size. Select the number of tiles that you want per row, and then adjust the arrangement or resize individual tiles as needed.

What's next

• Creating user-defined dashboards
• Editing user-defined dashboards
• Adding and editing user-defined dashboard filters
• Filtering and limiting data
• Sharing data