Using Page Selectors to customize the context in your Views and Boards

  • 4 March 2022
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Depending on how you have configured your block or board, you might have a dimension under Pages.  Let's take a look at how you can customize the user experience based on the Page selector configurations you set up.  

 

 

June release update!

Dynamic pages has been replaced by Adaptive Display

If the dynamic pages option was previously turned off, the adaptive display will be set to 'All available items'. If the dynamic pages option was turned on, the adaptive display will be set to 'Dynamic selection'

 

How can members adjust page selectors?

 

Members can adjust page selectors by clicking on the dropdowns on the top left of the Board or from within a Widget to adjust the context of their Boards.  There are also two other ways that members can adjust their page selectors.

 

Using Headers in Tables and Metrics

When working with Boards, you can change a page selector by right-clicking on a dimension item within a header and selecting Set as Page.

 

 

Using Charts 

If you have a dimension as a Page selector, that is also on a chart, you can click on any item from that chart and hit Set as Page to set that item as a page selector.  

If your chart is displaying multiple dimensions as page selectors, it will apply to all of them

 

 

How do builders configure Page Selector options?

In order to define page options, you must have a dimension in the Pages section of the Configure panel.  To configure a Page Selector on a Board, you must first click “Edit Board” after that you will see the Page options icon appear.  When working in Blocks, you will see the option next to your Pages in the top left.  When adjusting the page selectors for a widget, you will see a Page options link.

 

 

Page Selector Options

 

Page Selector Order 

 

You can control the order that Board page selectors appear by dragging and dropping them into the desired order.  As new page selectors get added they will show up at the end but you can always adjust.  The order of page selectors within a widget can be controlled by their order from the pivot of the saved view

 

Multi vs Single Page Selector 

One of the first choices you’ll need to make is between Multi or Single Page selectors.  These have very different behaviors, let's first look at a Single page selector.   

When you select a Single page selector, users will be limited to only looking at one item within that dimension. For example, when a user selects March, they will be looking at Data for March.   

Using a Multi-selection page selector allows for users to view one item, similar to a Single page, or you can combine items in a view.  When you select multiple values, Pigment will combine those values based upon the Metric’s selection in the Aggregator panel.    

 

The initial selection will be determined by the default selector type but can be changed.  The default selector type will only impact newly created views.

 

 

Available Items 

 

You can control which items are available for users to select by using the Available items.  This can be very helpful to limit the number of options for a user.  For example, if you have a list and there is only data for a few items on that list, you could limit the selection to only those items. All types of variable are available as Available Items. For more information, see Item Variables

 

Security

Available items should not be used for security purposes. It is only used to limit the selection to help users quickly find the item they need. Depending on a user’s permission settings for Configure Views and/or Configure Boards they could adjust this setting and make items available to them.

 

Adaptive Display

 

Adaptive display essentially controls the items appearing in page selector dropdown based on various factors, ranging from predefined available items to dependency on other page selections or data availability. Their options can be set at the Board or widget level. 

All Available Items will show the items set in Available items.  Dependent Page Selections adjusts to Parent page selections, allowing you to limit options based on another page selector.  Dynamic Selection uses the same functionality of Dependent Page Selections but adds in the filtering out of blank cells, only showing items when data is present for that item.  There is more information about Adaptive Display here.

 

Display Mode 

 

Display mode allows you to control the visibility of Page selectors in Boards and widgets.  You can show, hide or minimize a page selector.  When hidden, a page selector will not appear.  Minimize consolidates page selectors in a drop-down that end users can click on to access all minimized page selectors. This article goes into more detail on how to use Display Mode. 

 

Blue vs black color selectors

 

Selectors by default are black, once you change the selector to a different value the color changes to blue.  This selection will remain for your entire session within Pigment.

 

Reset page selectors

You can clear your selections on an individual page selector by clicking the X next to a page selector. This option resets the page selector to its preset Page options. You can also reset all selections by clicking the Reset link to the right of the page selectors. This can be done at the widget or the board level. 

 

Default Items 

 

Default Item defines the page item or items that appear when a Board or Block is open.  Users can still adjust the page selector but it will return to the default when it is closed and reopened.  This setting works on both Multi and Single select options. All types of variable are available as Default Items. For more information, see Item Variables

 

Page options for Widgets in a Board

 

Linking Page Selectors 

When working with Widgets on a Board, you can adjust the options for each individual Widget. Once you click Edit Board you will notice Page options appearing in the top right.  This allows you to edit the page options for each individual Widget.  You’ll notice a link icon next to every page within a widget. When linked, a Widget’s page selection will sync with the page selectors located at the top of the Board. 

For example, if your Board’s Country page selector is set to France, all other widgets with a Country page selector will sync to France.    If you unlink a page selector, you can then adjust that page selector right within the widget.  You also have the ability to set different Selector, Available Items, and Default Items.

 

Here you can see the Country dimension is unlinked while the Cost Center dimension remains linked.

 

These options can really improve the experience for everyone on your board! Check out this article Board Inspiration(including top tips for Board design) to really improve your board design. 


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