Navigating the Explore interface


Use this article to help you find your way around the Explore interface.


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Use this article to help you find your way around the Explore interface.
This article contains the following sections:


Explore interface basics
Explore libraries
Dashboard, Report, and Dataset libraries
Explore admin settings (Professional and Enterprise only)




Explore interface basics

The main menus in Explore are the top toolbar and the sidebar, which are visible from most
Explore pages. The interface items you'll see depend on the version of Explore you're
using.


Top toolbar

The top toolbar helps you navigate Explore, and switch to other Zendesk products.
Here you can find your current location in the product, use the search function, and
access other Zendesk products and your user profile.



Table 1. Top toolbar icons and links






Link/Icon
Task




Analytics ⍌

Products menu: Contains links to all of your Zendesk products.




Search: Opens the search box. This enables you to search the
reports, dashboards, and datasets library for the term you entered.




User profile: Opens a drop-down menu where you can access your user
profile, view keyboard shortcuts, give product feedback, open the Explore Help
Center, and sign out.








Sidebar

The sidebar lets editors and admins access Explore libraries, and settings.

Note: Viewers can only access the dashboards library.



Table 2. Sidebar icons






Icon
Task






Dashboards library (all Explore plans): Displays all of the
pre-built dashboards and any of your shared or created dashboards. Editors and
admins can create new dashboards by clicking the New dashboard button.
From this location, editors and admins can open the Dashboard Builder and
create, share, delete, and duplicate dashboards. See Understanding dashboards.




Reports library (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Displays
all of your reports. Only editors and admins have access to this icon. From this
location, editors and admins can open the report builder and create, share,
duplicate, and delete reports. See Understanding reports.




Datasets library (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Displays
all of your datasets. Only editors and admins have access to this icon. From
this location, editors and admins can open the Dataset Builder and create, edit,
duplicate, and delete datasets. See Understanding datasets.




Dataset exports (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Opens the
Dataset exports page where you can export and then combine Zendesk data with
other data sources, giving you a fuller picture of your business operations. See
Exporting datasets from Explore.




Settings menu (Professional and Enterprise plans only): Contains
account settings such as dataset access, dashboard sharing, default chart
colors, export settings, and default start of week. Only admins can access these
settings. See Explore admin
settings.









Explore libraries

When you open Explore, you always start in the Dashboards library. If you're using
Explore Professional or Enterprise, you can switch to the Reports, and Datasets libraries
which have the same look and feel. The main components in each library are:


Header: Displays the name of the library you're in and the number of items in the
library. This is the total number of items, whether or not they have been created by you
or shared.


Create dashboard/New report/New dataset: Adds a new dashboard,
report, or dataset.


Main window: Contains a list of all your dashboards, reports, or datasets. There
are up to three tabs you can use to change the list of items in the library's main window.


All: Displays every item, regardless of who created it .

My dashboards/reports/datasets: Displays all items that were
created by you.

Shared with me: Displays only items authored by others that have been shared
with you.




Settings: Shows a dropdown menu where you can edit, duplicate, and delete items.
For reports and dashboards, you can also choose to share them. The Settings icon
( ) displays next to a dashboard, report, or dataset name.




Dashboard, Report, and Dataset libraries

In Explore, editors and admins can create new dashboards, reports, and datasets using the
Explore builders. Builders contain all available customization options and settings. For
more information on creating and customizing dashboards, reports, and datasets, see Getting Started with Zendesk Explore for reporting and
analytics.
This section contains the following topics:
Report Builder
Dashboard Builder
Datasets library (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)




Report Builder (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)

Editors and admins can create and edit report in the report builder. The report builder
automatically opens whenever a user creates a new report or selects an existing one. For
more information, see Reports.


Tip: A new report builder is currently in Beta. If you're interested in trying it out,
see Working with the report builder (Beta).

The report builder contains the following components:



Metrics: Add quantitative data, or metrics to your report (see Adding metrics).

Attributes: Add any qualitative data, or attributes to your report
in Columns, Rows, Filters, and Explosions. Each of these
locations cause your report to render differently (see Adding attributes).

Pivot table: Switch your column and row attributes using the pivot table
button ( ) to the right of Columns. The pivot table feature
saves you time by automatically moving your attributes, so you don't have to drag and
drop.

Top toolbar: Contains options for your report that do not include
customization. You can click the Report name box to enter a new name or the
Datasets box to navigate back to the dataset the report was created from.


Table 3. Top toolbar icons






Icon
Task





Displays the Explore dashboards that your report has been added to.





Query tags: View and configure tags associated with your
report.




New report: Removes everything from your report. This action
cannot be undone.




Undo: Reverses the last action you performed.




Redo: Restores the last action you undid.




Reload report: Resubmits all of the report's calculations
behind the scenes. This can be useful when you’re manipulating especially
complex or custom metrics. Reloading the report is faster than reloading
the entire webpage and prevents you from losing any work that you haven’t
yet saved.




Save: Saves the report, or click the down arrow to open a
dropdown list with four different saving options. Reports do not save
automatically. See Saving your report.







Customization menus: Each menu detailed below performs a different type of
customization (see Customizing reports).


Table 4. Customization menus






Icon
Task






Visualization type: Change your chart type. The Visualization
type menu icon will display the chart type you selected. If you have not
yet selected a chart type, the Visualization type menu icon will show the
auto-chart icon. See Visualization types reference.





Chart configuration: The primary location for all of your
chart formatting options. Customization options differ, depending on your
chart type. See Customizing reports.




Result manipulation: Perform calculations on already processed
results, including totals, percentage difference, and more. See Result manipulation reference.





Calculations: Create custom metrics and attributes to use in
your reports or in other custom elements. See Calculated metrics and attributes
reference.











Dashboard Builder (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)

Editors and admins can create, customize, and share dashboards in Dashboard Builder.
Dashboard Builder opens automatically whenever a user create a new dashboard or selects an
existing one. See Dashboards.
Dashboard Builder contains the following elements:



Toolbar: The customization toolbar displays at the top of the dashboard. The
toolbar includes options to share, save, and rename your dashboard (see Customizing dashboards). This toolbar also
includes sharing and publishing options (see Sharing dashboards).


Dashboard: The dashboard is where you add widgets and other information to
create your report. Content in the dashboard is what will be visible to viewers when
you share your report.





Datasets library (Explore Professional and Enterprise only)

Editors and admins can create and edit datasets in the datasets library. Typically, you
will choose an existing dataset to use as the basis for your reports.
However, you might want to create a new dataset that you can modify for testing.





Explore admin settings (Professional and Enterprise only)

Edit your Explore account options and other settings in the Settings menu .
The admin menu has three tabs:


Dataset access: Manage dataset access (see Setting Explore dataset access).


Sharing: Manage options related to sharing dashboards outside Zendesk (see Sharing Explore dashboards outside Zendesk) and scheduling with
end users (see Scheduling with end users).


Formatting: Manage options related to default chart colors (see Setting default chart colors), export formatting
(see Setting export separators and decimal precision),
and default start of week (see Setting the start of the week for reports and filters).




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