Board

This page is part of TIPP CORE. Board is the maintenance form where you build a board: a dashboard page made of lenses (saved data views) placed side by side in a grid. You choose which lenses appear, how wide and tall each one is, how each is shown, who may see the board and some extra behaviour such as linked filtering and automatic refresh. Only Synergy administrators use it, when creating or changing a dashboard for users.

Before you start

• You must be a Synergy administrator. Other users are denied access.
• The page also passes the TIPP page security check.
• The lens tables must be set up in the database. If they are not, the page shows a message instead of the form.
• You need at least one active lens. Only active lenses can be added to a board. Lenses are created and maintained on the TIPP Lenses pages.
• For Home page for and Only for role, roles must already exist in Synergy. The Administrator role is also available in these lists.

How to create a board

1. Open the Board page without choosing an existing board. The title shows Board with the suffix “New”. Active and Linked filtering are ticked and Minimum security level shows 10.
2. In Name, type a short name using letters, digits, dot, underscore and hyphen only. It is used in the web address of the board.
3. Optionally fill in Title and Description. If Title is empty the Name is used as the title.
4. Under “Lenses on this board”, pick a lens in Add a lens and press Add. The lens appears in the list as a new tile.
5. Repeat for each lens you want.
6. For each tile choose the Width, Height and Show as, and optionally type a Heading.
7. Press Save. The message “Saved.” appears.

How to arrange the lenses

1. Find the lens in the list under “Lenses on this board”. Its number is its position.
2. Press Up or Down to move it one place. Up is hidden for the first tile and Down is hidden for the last.
3. Change Width and Height from the lists. Tiles flow across a twelve column grid in list order and wrap to a new row when the row is full.
4. Press Remove to take a lens off the board.
5. Press Save to keep the layout.

Each new tile starts as Third width and Normal height.

How to save and open the board

1. Press the button labelled “Save+Open” (shortcut access key O).
2. If the board is valid it is saved and the board itself opens so you can see the result.
3. If something is wrong, an error message appears and you stay on the Board page.

How to delete a board

1. Open the board to edit.
2. Press Delete and confirm “Delete this board?”.
3. The board is removed and you go to the Lenses page.

Screen guide

The basics

• Name: required, up to 50 characters, letters, digits, dot, underscore, hyphen only. Must be unique among boards. Short, no spaces.
• Title: optional, up to 100 characters. Shown as the board title. Defaults to the Name when empty.
• Description: optional, up to 255 characters.
• Linked filtering: tick box, ticked by default. When on, clicking a bar or a row filters every other tile that has a column of the same name. For this to work the lenses must name their shared columns the same way.
• Refresh every: whole number of seconds. 0 leaves the board alone. The page says 30 is the minimum.
• Active: tick box, ticked by default for a new board.

Security

• Minimum security level: whole number, default 10 for a new board. The page does not explain further what the number compares to.
• Only for role: optional list of Synergy roles, including the Administrator role. When you reopen a board that is limited to the Administrator role, Only for role shows Administrator. Leave it empty for a board that is not limited to a role.
• Home page for: optional list of Synergy roles. People in this role can be sent to this board when they sign in.

Lenses on this board (columns of the tile list)

• Number: the position of the tile.
• Lens: the name of the lens.
• Heading: optional text replacing the lens title on this board. Empty means the lens uses its own title.
• Width: Quarter, Third, Half, Two thirds or Full width (3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 of 12 columns).
• Height: Short, Normal, Tall or Very tall.
• Show as: “As the lens is set”, Table, Chart or Single number. This lets one lens appear as a number on one board and as a table on another.
• Up, Down, Remove: move the tile or take it off.

Toolbar buttons

• Run a procedure: an optional button on the board that runs a stored procedure. When you save, the procedure must exist in the Synergy database or in the division you named.
• Links: optional links shown on the board toolbar. Links that are not allowed are rejected on save.

Top buttons

• Save: saves and stays.
• Save+Open: saves, then opens the board.
• Delete: deletes the board after confirmation.
• Close: returns to the page you came from, or to Lenses if there is none.

Messages and what to do

• “Give the board a name.” Fill in Name.
• “The name may contain letters, digits, dot, underscore and hyphen only.” Remove spaces and other characters from Name.
• “There is already a board called ‘X’.” Pick another Name.
• “Add at least one lens.” Choose a lens and press Add before saving.
• “Choose a lens to add.” You pressed Add with nothing chosen in Add a lens.
• “The button’s procedure ‘X’ does not exist in the Synergy database.” or “… in division N.” The procedure name in the toolbar button does not exist where it should run. Correct the name or the division.
• “Saved.” The board was saved.

If the lens tables are missing, the page shows a message about missing tables and the form does not appear. Ask your TIPP administrator to complete the setup.

What you cannot do here

• You cannot drag and drop tiles. Use Up, Down, Width and Height.
• You cannot create or edit a lens here. Use the Lenses pages.
• You cannot add a lens that is not active.
• You cannot use this page unless you are a Synergy administrator.

Related pages

• Lenses: the list of lenses and boards. Close and Delete return there.
• The board itself: opened with Save+Open to show the result.
• The lens editor: where the lenses used as tiles are defined.

Common questions

What is a board?

A board is a dashboard made of several lenses laid out on one page. You build it here.

How do I add a lens to a board?

Choose it in Add a lens under “Lenses on this board” and press Add, then press Save.

How do I make a lens wider or taller?

Change Width (Quarter, Third, Half, Two thirds, Full width) or Height (Short, Normal, Tall, Very tall) on its row, then Save.

How do I change the order of tiles?

Press Up or Down on the row. Tiles flow across the grid in that order.

Why does Save say I need to add at least one lens?

A board cannot be saved empty. Add a lens first.

Why is my lens not in the Add a lens list?

Only active lenses are listed. Activate the lens on the lens page first.

What is Linked filtering?

When ticked, clicking a bar or row on one tile filters the other tiles that have a column of the same name.

How do I make the board refresh automatically?

Type a number of seconds in Refresh every. The minimum is 30. Use 0 for no automatic refresh.

How do I restrict a board to a role?

Choose the role in Only for role and press Save. This includes the Administrator role. Use Home page for to make the board the start page for a role.

Why can I not use this page?

Only Synergy administrators can open Board.