kibana/docs/user/dashboard.asciidoc

[[dashboard]]
= Dashboard

[partintro]
--

A _dashboard_ is a collection of visualizations, searches, and
maps, typically in real-time. Dashboards provide
at-a-glance insights into your data and enable you to drill down into details.

With *Dashboard*, you can:

* Add visualizations, saved searches, and maps for side-by-side analysis

* Arrange dashboard elements to display exactly how you want

* Customize time ranges to display only the data you want

* Inspect and edit dashboard elements to find out exactly what kind of data is displayed

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

[float]
[[dashboard-read-only-access]]
=== [xpack]#Read only access#
If you see
the read-only icon in the application header,
then you don't have sufficient privileges to create and save dashboards. The buttons to create and edit
dashboards are not visible. For more information, see <<xpack-security-authorization>>.

[role="screenshot"]
image::images/dashboard-read-only-badge.png[Example of Dashboard read only access indicator in Kibana header]

--

[[dashboard-create-new-dashboard]]
== Create a dashboard

To create a dashboard, you must have data indexed into {es}, an index pattern
to retrieve the data from {es}, and
visualizations, saved searches, or maps. If these don't exist, you're prompted to
add them as you create the dashboard, or you can add
<<add-sample-data, sample data sets>>,
which include pre-built dashboards.

To begin, open *Dashboard*, then click *Create new dashboard.*

[float]
[[dashboard-add-elements]]
=== Add elements

The visualizations, saved searches, and maps are stored as elements in panels
that you can move and resize.

You can add elements from multiple indices, and the same element can appear in
multiple dashboards.

To create an element:

. Click *Create new*.
. On the *New Visualization* window, click the visualization type.
+
[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_add_new_visualization.png[Example add new visualization to dashboard]
+
For information on how to create visualizations, see <<visualize,Visualize>>.
+
For information on how to create Maps, see <<maps,Elastic Maps>>.

To add an existing element:

. Click *Add*.

. On the *Add panels* flyout, select the panel.
+
When a dashboard element has a stored query,
both queries are applied.
+
[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_add_visualization.png[Example add visualization to dashboard]

[float]
[[customizing-your-dashboard]]
=== Arrange dashboard elements

In *Edit* mode, you can move, resize, customize, and delete panels to suit your needs.

[[moving-containers]]
* To move a panel, click and hold the panel header and drag to the new location.

[[resizing-containers]]
* To resize a panel, click the resize control and drag
to the new dimensions.

* To toggle the use of margins and panel titles, use the *Options* menu.

* To delete a panel, open the panel menu and select *Delete from dashboard.* Deleting a panel from a
dashboard does *not* delete the saved visualization or search.

[float]
[[viewing-detailed-information]]
=== Inspect and edit elements

Many dashboard elements allow you to drill down into the data and requests
behind the element.

From the panel menu, select *Inspect*.
The data that displays depends on the element that you inspect.

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_inspect.png[Inspect in dashboard]

To open an element for editing, put the dashboard in *Edit* mode,
and then select *Edit visualization* from the panel menu. The changes you make appear in
every dashboard that uses the element.

[float]
[[dashboard-customize-filter]]
=== Customize time ranges

You can configure each visualization, saved search, and map on your dashboard
for a specific time range. For example, you might want one visualization to show
the monthly trend for CPU usage and another to show the current CPU usage.

From the panel menu, select *Customize time range* to expose a time filter
dedicated to that panel. Panels that are not restricted by a specific
time range are controlled by the
global time filter.

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/time_range_per_panel.gif[Time range per dashboard panel]

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

When you're finished adding and arranging the panels, save the dashboard.

. In the {kib} toolbar, click *Save*.

. Enter the dashboard *Title* and optional *Description*, then *Save* the dashboard.

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

[[embedding-dashboards]]
Share your dashboard outside of {kib}.

From the *Share* menu, you can:

* Embed the code in a web page. Users must have {kib} access
to view an embedded dashboard.
* Share a direct link to a {kib} dashboard
* Generate a PDF report
* Generate a PNG report

TIP: To create a link to a dashboard by title, use: +
`${domain}/${basepath?}/app/kibana#/dashboards?title=${yourdashboardtitle}`

TIP: When sharing a link to a dashboard snapshot, use the *Short URL*. Snapshot
URLs are long and can be problematic for Internet Explorer and other
tools. To create a short URL, you must have write access to {kib}.

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

To export the dashboard, go to *Management > Saved Objects*. For more information,
see <<managing-saved-objects, Managing saved objects>>.