SmartCollect SC² Help
SmartCollect SC² documentation / Panels / Add a panel

Add a panel

Panels allow you to show your data in visual form. This topic walks you through the most basic steps to build a panel.

1. Add a panel to a dashboard

  1. Navigate to the dashboard you want to add a panel to.

  2. Click the Add panel icon.

  3. Click Add new panel.

SmartCollect SC² creates an empty graph panel with your default data source selected.

2. Edit panel settings

While not required, we recommend that you add a helpful title and description to your panel. You can use variables you have defined in either field, but not global variables.

Panel title - Text entered in this field is displayed at the top of your panel in the panel editor and in the dashboard.

Description - Text entered in this field is displayed in a tooltip in the upper left corner of the panel. Write a description of the panel and the data you are displaying. Pretend you are explaining it to a new user six months from now, when it is no longer fresh in your mind. Future editors (possibly yourself) will thank you.

3. Write a query

Each panel needs at least one query to display a visualization. You write queries in the Query tab of the panel editor. For more information about the Query tab, refer to Queries.

  1. Choose a data source. In the first line of the Query tab, click the drop-down list to see all available data sources. This list includes all data sources you added. Refer to Add a data source if you need instructions.
  2. Write or construct a query in the query language of your data source. Options will vary. Refer to your specific data source documentation for specific guidelines.

4. Choose a visualization type

In the Visualization section of the Panel tab, click a visualization type. SmartCollect SC² displays a preview of your query results with that visualization applied.

For more information about individual visualizations, refer to Visualizations.

5. Apply changes and save

Save the dashboard. Either press Ctrl/Cmd+S or click Save in the upper right corner of the screen.

Your options vary depending on the changes you made and whether or not it is a new dashboard. We recommend you add a note to describe your changes before you click Save. Notes are very helpful if you need to revert the dashboard to a previous version.

What next?

Our SmartCollect SC² Fundamentals tutorial is a great place to start, or you can learn more about SmartCollect SC² by reading one of the documentation topics linked below: