Overview 

The purpose of this article is to help you navigate Tableau Dashboards through the BI Portal, a central hub where you can access UW’s reports, dashboards, and data cubes. The article walks you through how to easily find dashboards using the search or catalog features, explore dashboards with filters and breakdowns, and export data in different formats. You’ll also learn about the Knowledge Navigator tool, which helps you understand the context and relationships between different data points.

 

Page Contents

• What is the BI Portal?
• How to find Dashboards on the BI Portal
• Dashboard Details
• Navigating Dashboards
• Knowledge Navigator
• Need Help?

 

What is the BI Portal?

The BI Portal is a one-stop catalog, connecting you to UW’s Enterprise Data Warehouse central reports, dashboards, and data cubes. Please visit the BI Portal Knowldgebase article for information on how to navigate the BI Portal.

 

How to find Dashboards on the BI Portal

Search

If you know the name of the dashboard you are looking for, you can type the name in the search feature and select it from the list of results. 

 

Catalog

You can access the catalog page by clicking the CATALOG link on the banner or the View Full Catalog tile in the Browse by Subject Area section on the home page.

On the catalog page, you can view the complete catalog of reports, dashboards, and cubes. Use the filters on the left-hand side to narrow down the displayed items. Each tile on the catalog page includes a thumbnail, title, related subject areas, and associated tags for the corresponding report, dashboard, or data cube. You can view an overview of each item by hovering over its thumbnail.

 

To find Academic Dashboards, select “Dashboards” from the Type dropdown, and “Academic” from the Subject Area dropdown.

 

 

Dashboard Details

The Overview on the details page of a specific dashboard provides a brief explanation of its contents

 

Some dashboards also include an Interpretation tab, which answers common questions and provides context that may not be intuitively obvious.

 

The Filters tab provides additional information about the filters used on the dashboard. 

 

The Technical Information tab provides information such as when the dashboard was created and/or updated, and how often the data is refreshed.

The Definitions tab provides a list of terms used in the dashboard, as well as a short description for each.

 

Clicking on a specific term will open the Knowledge Navigator tool in a new tab. This will give you the full definition, along with specific relevant details such as related options, glossary, synonyms, and its relationship to similar items.

 

 

Navigating Dashboards

Note - This document used the Enrollment Summary dashboard as an example. Other dashboards might have different features.

Filters

Dashboard filters let a viewer narrow a dashboard's results to only the data the viewer is interested in.

Breakdowns

Dashboard breakdowns refer to a section within a data dashboard that provides a detailed analysis of a specific metric or category by further dividing it into smaller components, allowing users to see how different factors contribute to the overall data point, essentially giving a more granular view of the information displayed on the dashboard.

Dashboard Format

Dashboards may provide the option to view the data in a graphical or tabular format. You can switch between Graphical to Tabular formats by clicking on the “Switch to Tables” or “Switch to Visualization” options on the top-right corner of the dashboard. 

Note - This option may not be available for all dashboards.

Visualization view

 

Tabular view

Exporting Data

You can also export dashboard data to Excel by clicking on the download icon on the top-right corner of the dashboard and selecting “Crosstab”. In some instances, you may be able to download the dashboard as an image, PDF, and a PowerPoint slide.

 

Note - Some export options (such as “Tableau Workbook”) might not be available depending on your level of access.

 

Knowledge Navigator

Knowledge Navigator provides you with the business context for data, helping you discover the information you need faster than ever. Use Knowledge Navigator to: 

• Discover information quickly
• Access self-service information
• Learn both visually and textually
• Visualize relationships between key terms, tables, columns, reports, dashboards, and web services
• Connect to business intelligence tools

 

 

 

Need Help?

For answers to frequently asked questions and instructions on how to receive help, please visit our Help: BI Portal page.