Build a Report

A report starts with one or more data sets, such as your customers or the activities of your team. You drag their fields onto Columns, and the preview shows the result as you work.

Watch the short video, then follow the steps below.

Menu	Reports > Report Builder > New Report
Permission	Build reports and manage own custom reports and views
Feature	Report Builder

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

Design a report

1. Open Reports > Report Builder and click New Report.
2. The builder opens on Design. Give the report a title on the Settings tab, the first tab, where you can also add a description and a category.
3. Click Add data set. Pick a data source on the left (or All), then click Add on the data set's card. Its fields appear in the Data pane on the left, grouped by part.
4. Drag fields onto Columns. You can also click the column icon next to a field. Numbers are added as a Sum by default; text, dates and identifiers become dimensions.
5. Click a column to change it in Properties on the right (see Columns and formulas).
6. The Preview under the shelves refreshes as you work. Click Refresh to run it again.
7. Click Publish (or press Ctrl+S). Unfinished designs can be published: the builder lists their problems, and the report shows them when it runs until they are fixed.

Drag a column along the Columns shelf to move it. Click the cross on a column to remove it.

Add data sets

Add data set opens a window that lists every data set you may use:

• The list on the left shows All data sets, then one entry per data source, with how many data sets each one has. Type in Filter to find a data set by its name or description.
• Once your report has a data set, the window opens on Related, which lists the data sets linked to the ones you already have. Their cards say Related to and the data set they link to; they are joined for you when you add them.
• A data set you already added says Added, and its button becomes Add again. Adding a data set twice is useful to report on the same data in two roles, such as the person who created an activity and the person it is assigned to.

In the Data pane, each data set is a card with its fields. The first data set is marked Base, and the others are numbered in the order they are joined. A small sign before each field tells its type: # for numbers, Date for dates and times, and T/F for yes or no values. Use Search fields at the top to find a field across all data sets. Use the buttons on a data set's card to edit its join or to remove it.

When a report reads more than one data set, the data sets must be joined. See Join data sets.

Group and add up

A column is either a dimension or a measure:

• A dimension shows values as they are, such as Region or Status.
• A measure combines the values of many rows, such as the Sum of Total or the Count of orders.

A report without measures shows one row per record. As soon as a report has a measure, it shows one row for each group of dimensions: with Region and the Sum of Total, one row per region with its total.

To count rows, drag Number of rows from Calculated fields in the Data pane onto Columns. It counts the rows of each group.

Sort and keep the top rows

Under the shelves:

• Sort: pick a column in Add sort… to sort by it. Click a sort to switch between ascending and descending, or click the cross next to it to remove it. Add more sorts to break ties.
• Top rows: type a number to keep only the first rows after sorting, for example the top 10 customers by revenue. Leave it empty to keep all rows.

The date filter a new report starts with

A new report starts filtered on the last 30 days of its first data set's main date, such as when records were created, which keeps reports over a lot of data quick. People who run the report can pick another period; to change the default or remove the filter, click it under Filters. See Filters.

Preview your report

The Preview runs the report as you build it, with your own access to the data. When something is not right, a message above the preview says what to fix, such as a join that still needs matching columns.

When you publish, the builder checks the report. If it still has problems, it is published anyway and lists them, so you can come back and fix them; until then, the report shows the problems instead of running. See Publish and versions.

Next: Columns and formulas.