[[dashboard]]
= Dashboard and visualizations

[partintro]
--
**_Visualize your data with dashboards._**

The best way to understand your data is to visualize it. With dashboards, you can turn your data from one or more <<data-views, data views>> into a collection of panels 
that bring clarity to your data, tell a story about your data, and allow you to focus on only the data that's important to you. 

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/dashboard_ecommerceRevenueDashboard_7.15.0.png[Example dashboard]

Panels display your data in charts, tables, maps, and more, which allow you to compare your data side-by-side to identify patterns and connections. Dashboards support several types of panels to display your data, and several options to create panels.

[cols="2"]
|===

| <<aggregation-reference,Editors>>
| Use one of the editors to create visualizations of your data. Each editor varies in capabilities for all levels of analysts.

| <<maps,Maps>>
| Create beautiful displays of your geographical data.

| <<xpack-ml-anomalies,Anomaly swim lane>>
| Display the results from machine learning anomaly detection jobs.

| <<xpack-ml-anomalies,Anomaly chart>>
| Display an anomaly chart from the *Anomaly Explorer*.

| <<logs-app,Log stream>>
| Display a table of live streaming logs.

| <<add-controls,Tools>>
| Add interactive filters with *Controls* panels.

| <<add-text,Text>>
| Add context to your panels with *Text*.

|===

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[[create-dashboards]]
== Create dashboards

Dashboards provide you with the space where you add panels of your data.

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[[dashboard-minimum-requirements]]
=== Minimum requirements

To create dashboards, you must meet the minimum requirements. 

* If you need to set up {kib}, use https://www.elastic.co/cloud/elasticsearch-service/signup?baymax=docs-body&elektra=docs[our free trial].

* Make sure you have {ref}/getting-started-index.html[data indexed into {es}] and a <<data-views, data view>>.

* When the read-only indicator appears, you have insufficient privileges
to create or save dashboards, and the options to create and save dashboards are not visible. For more information,
refer to <<xpack-security-authorization,Granting access to {kib}>>.

[float]
[[open-the-dashboard]]
=== Open the dashboard

Begin with an empty dashboard, or open an existing dashboard.

. Open the main menu, then click *Dashboard*.

. On the *Dashboards* page, choose one of the following options:

* To start with an empty dashboard, click *Create dashboard*.
+
When you create a dashboard, you are automatically in edit mode and can make changes to the dashboard. 

* To open an existing dashboard, click the dashboard *Title* you want to open.
+
When you open an existing dashboard, you are in view mode. To make changes to the dashboard, click *Edit* in the toolbar. 

[float]
[[create-panels-with-lens]]
=== Create and add panels

You create panels using the editors, which you can access from the dashboard toolbar or the *Visualize Library*, or add panels that are saved in the *Visualize Library*, or search results from <<save-your-search,*Discover*>>.

To create panels from the dashboard toolbar, use one of the following options:

* *Create visualization* &mdash; Opens the drag-and-drop editor, which is the recommended way to create visualization panels.

* *Select type* &mdash; Opens the menu for all of the editors and panel types. 

To create panels from the *Visualize Library*:

. Open the main menu, then click *Visualize Library*.

. Click *Create visualization*, then select an editor. 

To add existing panels from the *Visualize Library*:

. In the dashboard toolbar, click *Add from library*.

. Click the panel you want to add to the dashboard, then click *X*.
+
When a panel contains a saved query, both queries are applied.
+
When you add search results from *Discover* to dashboards, the results are not aggregated.

[[tsvb]]

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[[save-panels]]
=== Save and add panels

Consider where you want to save and add the panel in {kib}.

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[[save-to-visualize-library]]
==== Save to the Visualize Library

To use the panel on other dashboards and *Canvas* workpads, save the panel to the *Visualize Library*. When panels are saved in the *Visualize Library*, image:dashboard/images/visualize-library-icon.png[Visualize Library icon] appears in the panel header.

If you created the panel from the dashboard:

. In the editor, click *Save to library*.

. Enter the *Title* and add any applicable <<managing-tags,*Tags*>>.

. Make sure that *Add to Dashboard after saving* is selected.

. Click *Save and return*.

If you created the panel from the *Visualize Library*:

. In the editor, click *Save*.

. On the *Save* window, enter the *Title*.

. Choose one of the following options:

* To save the panel to a dashboard and the *Visualize Library*, select *Add to library*, add any applicable <<managing-tags,*Tags*>>, then click *Save and go to Dashboard*.

* To save the panel only to the *Visualize Library*, select *None*, add any applicable <<managing-tags,*Tags*>>, then click *Save and add to library*.

[float]
[[save-to-the-dashboard]]
==== Save to the dashboard

Return to the dashboard and add the panel without specifying the save options or adding the panel to the *Visualize Library*. 

If you created the panel from the dashboard:

. In the editor, click *Save and return*.

. Add an optional title to the panel.

.. In the panel header, click *No Title*.

.. On the *Customize panel* window, select *Show panel title*.

.. Enter the *Panel title*, then click *Save*.

If you created the panel from the *Visualize Library*:

. Click *Save*.

. On the *Save* window, enter the *Title*.

. Choose one of the following options:

* If you want to add the panel to an existing dashboard, select *Existing*, select the dashboard from the dropdown, then click *Save and go to Dashboard*.

* If you want to add the panel to a new dashboard, select *New*, then click *Save and go to Dashboard*.

To add unsaved dashboard panels to the *Visualize Library*:

. Open the panel menu, then select *More > Save to library*.

. Enter the panel title, then click *Save*.

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[[add-text]]
== Add context to panels

To provide context to your dashboard panels, add *Text* panels that display important information, instructions, images, and more. You create *Text* panels using GitHub-flavored Markdown text.

. On the dashboard, click image:images/dashboard_createNewTextButton_7.15.0.png[Create New Text button in dashboard toolbar].

. In the *Markdown* field, enter the text, then click *Update*.

For example, when you enter:

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/markdown_example_1.png[Markdown text with links]

The following instructions are displayed:

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/markdown_example_2.png[Panel with markdown link text]

Or when you enter:

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/markdown_example_3.png[Markdown text with image file]

The following image is displayed:

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/markdown_example_4.png[Panel with markdown image]

For detailed information about writing on GitHub, click *Help*.

[float]
[[save-the-markdown-panel]]
=== Save and add the panel

Save the panel to the *Visualize Library* and add it to the dashboard, or add it to the dashboard without saving.

To save the panel to the *Visualize Library*:

. Click *Save to library*.

. Enter the *Title* and add any applicable <<managing-tags,*Tags*>>.

. Make sure that *Add to Dashboard after saving* is selected.

. Click *Save and return*.

To save the panel to the dashboard:

. Click *Save and return*.

. Add an optional title to the panel.

.. In the panel header, click *No Title*.

.. On the *Customize panel* window, select *Show panel title*.

.. Enter the *Panel title*, then click *Save*.

[float]
[[arrange-panels]]
[[moving-containers]]
[[resizing-containers]]
== Arrange panels

Compare the data in your panels side-by-side, organize panels by priority, resize the panels so they all appear immediately on the dashboard, and more.

In the toolbar, click *Edit*, then use the following options:

* To move, click and hold the panel header, then drag to the new location.

* To resize, click the resize control, then drag to the new dimensions.

* To maximize to fullscreen, open the panel menu, then click *More > Maximize panel*.

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[[edit-panels]]
== Edit panels

To make changes to the panel, use the panel menu options.

. In the toolbar, click *Edit*.

. Open the panel menu, then use the following options:

* *Edit lens* &mdash; Opens *Lens* so you can make changes to the visualization. 

* *Edit visualization* &mdash; Opens the editor so you can make changes to the panel. 
+
To make changes without changing the original version, open the panel menu, then click *More > Unlink from library*.

* *Edit panel title* &mdash; Opens the *Customize panel* window to change the *Panel title*.

* *More > Replace panel* &mdash; Opens the *Visualize Library* so you can select a new panel to replace the existing panel.

* *More > Delete from dashboard* &mdash; Removes the panel from the dashboard. 
+
If you want to use the panel later, make sure that you save the panel to the *Visualize Library*.  

[float]
[[duplicate-panels]]
== Duplicate panels

To duplicate a panel and the configured functionality, use the clone and copy panel options. Cloned and copied panels replicate all of the functionality from the original panel, 
including renaming, editing, and cloning. 

[float]
[[clone-panels]]
=== Clone panels

Cloned panels appear next to the original panel, and move the other panels to provide a space on the dashboard.

. In the toolbar, click *Edit*.

. Open the panel menu, then select *Clone panel*. 
+
When cloned panels are saved in the *Visualize Library*, image:dashboard/images/visualize-library-icon.png[Visualize Library icon] appears in the header.

[float]
[[copy-to-dashboard]]
=== Copy panels

Copy panels from one dashboard to another dashboard.

. Open the panel menu, then select *More > Copy to dashboard*.

. On the *Copy to dashboard* window, select the dashboard, then click *Copy and go to dashboard*.

[float]
[[search-or-filter-your-data]]
== Search and filter your data

{kib} supports several ways to search your data and apply {es} filters. You can combine the filters with any panel
filter to display the data want to you see.

For more information about {kib} and {es} filters, refer to <<kibana-concepts-analysts,{kib} concepts>>.

To apply a panel-level time filter:

. Open the panel menu, then select *More > Customize time range*.

. Enter the time range you want to view, then click *Add to panel*.

[float]
[[apply-design-options]]
== Apply design options

Apply a set of design options to the entire dashboard.

. If you're in view mode, click *Edit* in the toolbar.

. In the toolbar, *Options*, then use the following options:

* *Use margins between panels* &mdash; Adds a margin of space between each panel.

* *Show panel titles* &mdash; Displays the titles in the panels headers.

* *Sync color pallettes across panels* &mdash; Applies the same color palette to all panels on the dashboard.

[float]
[[save-dashboards]]
== Save dashboards

When you've finished making changes to the dashboard, save it.

If you are saving a new dashboard:

. In the toolbar, click *Save*.

. On the *Save dashboard* window, enter the *Title* and an optional *Description*.

. Add any applicable <<managing-tags,*Tags*>>. 

. To save the time filter to the dashboard, select *Store time with dashboard*.

. Click *Save*.

If you are saving an existing dashboard, click *Save*.

To exit *Edit* mode, click *Switch to view mode*. 

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[[download-csv]]
== View the panel data and requests

View the data in visualizations and the requests that collect the data. 

. Open the panel menu, then click *More > Inspect*.

. View and download the panel data.

.. Open the *View* dropdown, then click *Data*.

.. Click *Download CSV*, then select the format type from the dropdown:

* *Formatted CSV* &mdash; Contains human-readable dates and numbers.

* *Unformatted* &mdash; Best used for computer use.
+
When you download visualization panels with multiple layers, each layer produces a CSV file, and the file names contain the visualization and layer {data-source} names.

. View the requests that collect the data.

.. Open the *View* dropdown, then click *Requests*.

.. From the dropdown, select the requests you want to view.

.. To view the requests in *Console*, click *Request*, then click *Open in Console*.

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[[share-the-dashboard]]
== Share dashboards

To share the dashboard with a larger audience, click *Share* in the toolbar. For detailed information about the sharing options, refer to <<reporting-getting-started,Reporting>>.

[float]
[[import-dashboards]]
== Export dashboards

To automate {kib}, you can export dashboards as NDJSON using the <<saved-objects-api-export, Export objects API>>. It is important to export dashboards with all necessary references.

--
include::tutorial-create-a-dashboard-of-lens-panels.asciidoc[]

include::lens-advanced.asciidoc[]

include::create-panels-with-editors.asciidoc[]

include::make-dashboards-interactive.asciidoc[]

include::dashboard-troubleshooting.asciidoc[]
