This blog provides show notes for our Dec. 5, 2024, webinar, “Unlocking the Power of Natural Language Processing (NLP) with Bold BI^®.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Bold BI Senior Product Manager Madhan Kumar S.  

Overview 

In this webinar, we explored how NLP in Bold BI changes dashboard creation and data analysis. Designed for business analysts, data scientists, product managers, and decision-makers, this session showcased how NLP saves time, accelerates decision-making, and simplifies complex workflows. 

Key topics covered: 

1. Introduction to BI: Understanding the role and significance of business intelligence in analyzing data and delivering actionable insights for informed decision-making. 
2. What is NLP? Explanation of natural language processing and its relevance in today’s data-driven world.
3. NLP in BI: Exploring the integration of natural language processing within business intelligence tools.
4. Bold BI AI Assistant: An overview of the Bold BI AI Assistant and its capabilities in enhancing BI workflows.
5. AI Assistant for data analysis: How the Bold BI AI Assistant can be used to analyze data and enhance dashboard functionality through automation.
6. Design with AI Assistant: Leveraging the AI Assistant to design and optimize Bold BI dashboards, making the dashboard design process more user-friendly and efficient.
7. Customization through chat: Using chat interfaces in BI solutions for a personalized, dynamic data analysis and customization experience.
8. Demo: A practical demonstration showcasing the functions and advantages of BI tools with NLP integration, highlighting real-world applications.
9. Best practices: Strategies and guidelines for effectively using NLP and BI together to maximize the potential of data-driven solutions.

The session concluded with a Q&A.

Q&A 

Q: Can we use our own API key? I have credits.
A: Currently, you cannot use your own API key for Bold BI AI features. These features are in beta, and the AI service supporting them is hosted in our cloud environment. However, we plan to introduce an option to use your own API key in our release scheduled for the first week of February 2025. Additionally, we will offer connectors for popular models, enabling you to connect to your own model seamlessly. 

Q: Can we please integrate Zoho CRM?
A: Yes, we offer a data source connector for Zoho CRM that allows you to import data from it.

Q: Does this work for the on-premises version?
A: The AI features work in the on-premises version. However, the AI service supporting these features is hosted in the cloud. Therefore, an internet connection is required for the AI features to function in the on-premises setup. Full on-premises support is planned for the release scheduled in the first week of February. 

If you missed the webinar, or would like to watch it again, you can view it on our YouTube channel or watch it here:

Summary 

In this webinar, we learned about real-world applications of NLP in BI, saw how it improves analytics for businesses, and discovered how even nontechnical users can easily interact with data through intuitive natural language commands.  

We hope you enjoyed this webinar. If you did, keep an eye out for future Bold BI^® webinars. If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover, please mention them in the comments section. If you’re not yet a Bold BI customer, try it for yourself by signing up for a free trial.

Recommended resources (related links) 

Bold BI Introduces AI-Powered Embedded Analytics Assistant! [blog] 

What’s New – November 2024 Release Updates | Bold BI

How to Activate the AI Assistant License | Bold BI

This blog provides show notes for our October 24, 2024 webinar, BI Unleashed: Data-Driven Solutions for Business Growth. The webinar was presented by Suriyaprakasam R, Support Manager for Bold BI^®.

Overview

In this webinar, discover how business intelligence (BI) can optimize sales strategies, enhance customer segmentation, track marketing ROI, streamline supply chain operations, improve inventory management, and elevate customer experiences for sustainable business growth.

Key topics covered include:

1. An introduction to BI: The importance of BI in analyzing data and delivering actionable insights for informed decision-making.
2. Data-driven solutions: How these solutions aggregate and analyze data from various sources to provide real-time insights, improve efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction.
3. Key features of BI: Visual representation of data, identifying new opportunities, and enabling quick responses to market changes.
4. BI best practices: Strategies for effective implementation and use of BI tools.
5. AI and predictive analytics in BI: The role of AI in enhancing BI capabilities.
6. Mobile and self-service BI: The benefits of mobile BI and empowering users with self-service tools.
7. Calculating ROI of BI: Methods to measure the return on investment from BI initiatives.
8. The future of BI: Trends and advancements in BI technology.
9. Empowering data-driven solutions: How BI supports data-driven decision-making for business growth.

The webinar emphasized the critical role of data as a currency for growth, highlighting examples from companies like Starbucks, Amazon, and Netflix. It concluded with a Q&A session, reinforcing the importance of leveraging data effectively for growth, profitability, and long-term success.

Q&A

Q: Does Bold BI have a community license?

A: Yes, you can check if you are eligible at this link: https://www.boldbi.com/resources/community-license/

 Q: Can you show how to schedule dashboards and how to set up alerts?

A: Please refer to this help link: https://help.boldbi.com/working-with-dashboards/dashboard-schedule/

You can set up schedules and alerts in Bold BI by following these help links:

Schedules: https://help.boldbi.com/managing-resources/manage-schedules/

Data alerts: https://help.boldbi.com/working-with-dashboards/data-alerts/

If you missed the webinar, or would like to watch it again, you can find the recording on our YouTube channel and following.

Conclusion

During this webinar, we demonstrated Bold BI’s powerful embedding and ad hoc reporting features. If this topic interested you, be sure to keep an eye out for future Bold BI^® webinars! If you’re not yet a customer, get started with Bold BI now by signing up for a free trial!

Recommended resources (related links):

Bold BI v8.1 Release Highlights for Embedded Analytics

This blog provides show notes for our August 8 webinar, “Optimizing Inventory Management for a Retail Corporation.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Rajendran SP, assistant general manager for Bold BI^®.

Overview

In this webinar, we explored how Bold BI and integrated ETL (extract, transform, load) processes can transform your inventory data into actionable insights.

Objectives

• Understanding ETL Processes: Learn how integrated ETL solutions can consolidate various data sources, ensuring clean and reliable data for analysis.
• Gleaning Real-time Data Insights: Discover how Bold BI can provide real-time insights into your sales and inventory data, allowing for timely and informed decision-making.
• Optimizing Stock Levels: Explore strategies to prevent stockouts and reduce excess inventory.
• Improving Operational Profitability: See how data-driven insights can help in reducing operational costs.
• Customizing Dashboards and Reports: Get hands-on experience with creating and maintaining BI dashboards that cater to your specific business needs.
• Looking at Case Studies and Best Practices: Learn from real-world examples and best practices to implement successful inventory management strategies in your organization.

Q&A

Q: Can you implement ETL directly from MongoDB datasets? And can we point Bold BI directly to Mongo data sources?

A: Bold ETL provides a more streamlined way to process Mongo databases and transform them to required fields, which can then be connected from Bold BI. Bold BI also connects to MongoDB with extract support. The MongoDB MySQL client can connect in live mode, too, supported only via the MongoDB BI connector.

If you missed the webinar, or would like to watch it again, you can find the recording on our YouTube channel and following.

Summary

During this webinar, we covered how to harness disparate sales and inventory data, turning it into a cohesive, real-time overview that can significantly improve operational efficiency and profitability.

Recommended resources (related links):

1. Bold BI v7.11 Release Highlights for Embedded Analytics [blog]
2. How to Perform ETL with Bold BI Dataflows

If you’re not yet a Bold BI customer, try it for yourself by signing up for a free trial.

This blog provides show notes for our November 2 webinar, “Deploy Bold BI^® to Docker in Under a Minute.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Boomigha Velayutham. If you missed the webinar, or would like to watch it again, check it out on our YouTube channel, or watch it here.

Embed video:

Overview

In this webinar, we delved into the basics of Docker, understanding its advantages and how it can be utilized in deploying Bold BI in just a minute. We guided attendees through the process of upgrading Bold BI once it’s deployed on the Docker container. Finally, we demonstrated how to manage the containers and volumes, taking them up and down as needed, and how to maintain the application from a local perspective to maintain a persistent volume.

This webinar is ideal for those interested in BI Docker deployment and looking to streamline their application development and management processes. You will gain practical knowledge and skills that you can apply immediately to your own Docker environment.

Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction

[00:30] What Is Bold BI?

[01:26] What Is Docker?

[02:38] What Is Docker Compose?

[03:07] Docker Benefits

[03:55] Docker vs. Docker Compose

[04:29] Deploy Bold BI in Docker

[05:20] Downloading Docker Compose File

[07:24] Replace Bold BI Unlock Key

[08:20] Postgres and Bold BI Containers

[09:38] Launching the App

[11:50] Deploy Using Existing Database

[13:15] Configure Setup Manually

[14:25] Host Path as Persistent Volume

[13:32] Related Resources

[15:58] Outro

Q&A

Q: Can we upgrade Bold BI once it’s deployed in a Linux distribution?

A: Yes, you can. We have documentation explaining how to upgrade to latest version of Bold BI after deployment.

Q: Is it possible to configure NGINX manually?

A: Yes, you can. Please see our documentation.

Q: Can I do silent installation?

A: Yes. Bold BI supports silent installation. Please refer to this documentation.

Q: Are there any minimum prerequisites to run Bold BI without issues?

A: Yes. We have listed minimum requirements for the application based on the distribution that you choose on this page.

Q: Can I install Bold BI on Mac OS?

A: Yes. We support installing Bold BI in Mac OS. See how to do so in this KB article.

Q: What are the containers you support?

A: We support all container services, like ECS, AKS, EKS and GKE.

Q: What is the minimum required CPU and memory for a Docker container?

A: 2 Core and 4 GB RAM.

Q: Do you support deploying on multiple containers?

A: Yes, we do.

Q: What are the image variants supported?

A: Debian (AMD and arm64), Ubuntu (AMD and arm64), Alpine (AMD and arm64). Check out this guide on GitHub.

Summary

During this webinar, we covered ways to enhance your BI Docker deployment skills.

We hope you enjoyed it and please keep an eye out for our future Bold BI^® webinars.

Recommended resources (related links)

• Overview
• Deploy Bold BI to Docker
• Documentation
• Pre-requisites
• Download Docker Compose File

Visit our website to sign up for a free trial if you’re new to Bold BI.

This blog provides show notes for our September 21, 2023 webinar, “Understanding Linux Distributions: Deploying and Troubleshooting Bold BI^® on Linux Servers.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Boomigha Velayutham. If you missed the webinar or would like to watch it again, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel or embedded below:

Overview

In this webinar, we introduce different Linux distributions. Then, we’ll set up an environment, integrate Bold BI with Ubuntu and CentOS, and look at some troubleshooting techniques.

Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction

[03:27] Ubuntu Using Apache

[17:15] Ubuntu Using Nginx

[33:02] CentOS Using Apache

[46:34] CentOS Using Nginx

[59:14] Troubleshoot Issues in Linux

[01:04:25] Closing Notes

Q&A

Can we upgrade Bold BI once deployed in a Linux distribution?

Yes, you can. We have documentation that explains how to upgrade to the latest version of Bold BI after deployment. Please refer to the following link: Upgrade to Latest Version of Bold BI.

Is it mandatory to install optional libraries in Bold BI?

No. If you are going to connect any database in Bold BI, then a library is required for the specific connector in Bold BI.

Is it possible to configure Nginx manually?

Yes. Refer to this documentation.

Can I perform silent installation?

Yes, Bold BI supports silent installation. Please refer to this link.

Q: Are there any minimum prerequisites to run Bold BI without any issues?

Yes. We have state the minimum requirements for the application based on the Linux distribution that you choose in our documentation.

Summary

During this webinar, we walked through the steps of integrating Bold BI with Ubuntu and CentOS.

We hope you enjoyed this webinar and that you’ll keep an eye out for our future Bold BI webinars.

Recommended resources (related links):

• Bold BI documentation.
• KB article, “How to Troubleshoot the Bold BI Application Deployment in Linux Environment”
• Bold BI^® Road Map.

Visit our website to sign up for a free trial if you’re new to Bold BI.

This blog provides the show notes for our July 21, 2022, webinar, “What’s New in Bold BI^® 5.2.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Syncfusion^® developer Boomigha Velayutham. If you missed the webinar, or would like to watch it again, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel or following.

Overview

In this webinar, we walked through the new features and improvements in Bold BI 5.2 for both embedded and on-premises deployments.

Account and password

• Configure a password policy.
• When an incorrect password is entered more than 5 times, the account is locked.

Cross-origin policies

• Configure the known domain list to avoid SSRF attacks (server-side request forgery).
• Set up CORS headers on the settings page.
• Deliver data alerts and standard dashboard exporting to webhooks.

Data store and settings

• Configure MySQL as IMDB (data store).
• Upload and manage custom widgets. Manage the existing widgets.

Data source and designer

• New connectors—ClickHouse and BoldDesk.
• The Google BigQuery data source can connect to service account authentication.
• You can create a data source using a REST API.
• Support for joining tables using an expression column.
• Support to view distinct sums and averages in widgets.
• The ability to view raw data in a grid.
• The ability to view a summary in a grid.
• Grids and KPI cards act as listeners for the period-over-period widget.
• You can interact with tabbed widgets.
• You can load data on dashboards faster using a data cache.

Embedding

• Embed a dashboard via iframe in edit mode.
• Embed the data source designer in edit mode via iframe.

Rest API

• REST API support:
  • To update CORS settings.
  • To check pinboard name exists.
  • To update email settings.
  • To update Azure AD settings.
  • To update Azure AD schedule synchronization settings.
  • To manage account settings.
• APIs for the following entities in terms of embedding:
  • Show or hide data source configuration in a designer.
  • Show or hide all the columns by default in the underlying data view.
  • Show or hide the preview option in the designer.
  • Customize the toolbar buttons in the designer.
  • Publish dashboards via API.

Q&A

Following is the Q&A portion of the webinar.

How long does the cached data remain?  

Cached data will remain until the cache expiration time you set. You can set a maximum of 60 minutes. After expiration, when the same view is loaded, it gets data from the server and caches it.

Is XML response format supported for creating a data source via REST API (programmatically)?

Yes. You can create a data source for XML and CSV format, as well. Bold BI supports creating data sources with JSON, XML, and CSV as response formats.

Can we also send mail if I enabled webhooks for the scheduler?

Yes. If you choose recipients, emails will also be sent. Through the scheduler, you can send email and trigger a webhook, as well.

Can we restrict the publish action for dashboards for both internal and external domains?

Yes. You can restrict the publish action for both internal and external domains by including the domain names in the known-domain.json.

Can we add summary rows to existing grids that were created prior to this update? Or is it limited to grids created after the update?

Yes, you can apply a summary row to a grid designed previously, but you’ll need to reconfigure it through our new version.

Summary

During this webinar, we looked at the new features and improvements in Bold BI^® 5.2 for both embedded and on-premises deployments.

We hope you enjoyed this webinar and please keep an eye out for our future Bold BI webinars. Get started with Bold BI today by signing up for a free trial on our website.

Recommended resources (related links):

• Bold BI documentation.
• Bold BI v5.2 Release Highlights for Self-Hosting and Embedding blog
• Bold BI roadmap

This blog provides a summary of our presentation at Solutions Review’s Data Demo Day, a virtual trade show where we had the opportunity to showcase Bold BI’s impressive data analytics. Data Demo Day was hosted by Doug Atkinson of Solutions Review, and our presenters were VP of Sales Brad Freeman and CEO Daniel Jebaraj. A recording of the presentation is embedded below, followed by an outline of the presentation and a transcript of the Q&A segment.

Presentation

How Bold BI started

Bold BI^® was developed for internal use to evaluate the massive amount of data generated within Syncfusion over the last 20 years of business. We made Bold BI available to the public and have since added many features and updates requested by our customers.

Embedded excellence

Bold BI is built from the ground up to be embedded within your application, making it easy for deployment, customer use, and white labeling. Bold BI has also been recognized by Gartner as an embedded analytics vendor and was listed in the top 10 of G2’s top software development vendors of 2022.

Licensing

Bold BI features an industry-changing licensing model with predictable costs. There are no per-user fees or other hidden charges. We offer just one, simple flat fee so you can focus on growing your business. We also provide free analytical dashboards and reporting to small businesses and individuals under a community license program to help them grow with a little less stress.

Embedded vs. stand-alone analytics

• Stand-alone analytics: Customers bring in data, are able to create dashboards, and then share them with others for analysis and monitoring. Examples include Tableau and Power BI.
• Embedded analytics: The analytics platform becomes a part of your software application. Customers do not have to leave their system to go out and perform analytics.

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are some side-by-side comparisons between the two.

Bold BI highlights

• Deep integration: Every aspect of the UI becomes a seamless part of your application.
• 30+ widgets: Provides nearly every kind of visualization widget needed to display any kind of information. All fully customizable.
• Drag-and-drop designer: Anyone can easily construct dashboards and perform the analytics they need. All configuration, customization, and publishing is completely codeless.
• Connect to any data source: Currently supports over 150 connectors to popular data sources without the need for an intermediate data store. New connectors are added regularly, and custom connectors are supported.
• Use any server or client framework: Use any framework—.NET, PHP, Java, Rails—whatever you want to integrate Bold BI into your app.
• Multitenancy: Multitenancy is supported out of the box to simplify access for separate divisions, departments, teams, customers, etc.
• Single sign-on: Use Microsoft 365 or other third-party authentications to sign on for the server side and provide a frictionless experience on the client side.
• Embedding-friendly licensing: We only charge by project. No per-user or per-server fees, and no hidden scaling costs.

Demo

Watch the Data Demo Day presentation to see Bold BI in action. In less than 20 minutes, CEO Daniel Jebaraj creates a data source and a dashboard on the server side, and then embeds the dashboard in a custom ASP.NET Core application. Along the way, he showcases Bold BI’s volumes of customization options and even sample dashboards designed for specific industries.

Q&A

For the Q&A, questions were collected from attendees, curated, and presented by Doug Atkinson of Solutions Review, and answered by Syncfusion VP of Sales Brad Freeman.

What kind of support does someone new to Bold BI receive?

We have 24/5 support, and then we also have live chats. We have chat via the customer’s Bold BI account, where they can submit an incident online and get an answer pretty rapidly. Our team has the availability to arrange live demos and live calls at any time, so they’ll walk you right through your issue.

Every new customer gets full onboarding. They receive a full training with the support team to help them get up and running and build their first dashboard. That’s a big help. Most people pick it up pretty quickly, but if you need it, the support’s always there. That’s the biggest thing we’ve been known for going on 20 years now.

Is the Community Edition still available?

Yes, it’s still available: Bold BI Community License.

What integrations are available?

We have over 130 direct connects currently, and then we have a Web API, so you can connect to most other things. With a lot of connectors, we build them on demand. So, if a customer comes to us and they need to connect a database that we currently don’t support, we’ll just build it for them. It might take a couple days, but we’ll get it connected for them.

What sets Bold BI apart from other embedded analytics solutions?

The biggest difference between Bold BI and other solutions is we’re not just someone you buy from and never hear from again. Our success is built on our customers’ success. We are only as successful as they are, so we ensure they’re successful. That’s why our support is so in depth. If you have an issue, we’re going to be there. If it takes all day, we’ll be there, whatever is needed. That’s what makes us who we are.

I think that’s a big thing that a lot of people don’t realize is still available out there in this world: live people to talk to, and someone that actually cares about your business.

Can you speak a little bit about how Bold BI deals with data security?

It’s all housed and we do tons and tons of scans. With new customers, a lot of times they come to us and want another particular security scan. So we add it into the implementations and update that for all our other customers as well.

We try to stay as far ahead of the curve as we can. There are a lot of items that we’re actually in the process of implementing, like HIPAA certification and many, many others.

What sorts of organizations are you seeing traction with right now for Bold BI?

General finance is a big one. Another is inventory tracking, particularly for people who want to look at how to track their inventory on different scales and different models. For example, a business that might not have had the funds to track their smaller line of inventory is now able to with Bold BI.

How does an implementation go? What’s the full cycle from first contact through ultimate implementation?

We usually start off with a trial and we do a live demo with the potential customer. We walk through, answer their questions, and get an understanding of what their needs are. We then help them get up and running. Once they’re actually ready to move, we set up an onboarding call. We have an entire team dedicated that: our client success team.

The client success team reaches out to the customer, sets up everything they need, walks them through everything. They do a live call with them to help them build up their dashboards and see what their needs are, then the support team designs and gives them samples. The whole process for a customer, depending on the depth, can be from three days to a week and a half. It just really depends. Some people get up and running the same day. If it’s a big embedded one, it might take a little bit longer with the programming, but it’s a pretty quick turnaround. Most people are up and running inside of a month, fully distributing and everything.

What should a business be preparing for if this is something new that they are stepping up to or if they’re moving from another system?

Preparation is primarily giving us ideas of what they want. The data sources they need, what their designs are, and what they want. Those things help us get them exactly what they need, because we’ve always operated based on customers’ references. If you come to us and say you need this kind of grid or this kind of chart, we’re going to get it there for you. It might not be there out of the box, but we have tons of components available from the Syncfusion side that we can build right into the dashboard for you. From there, understand that we are here to help.

What if a company’s data is a bit of a mess? Can you help them untangle all that?

Yes. We have a data migration tool that helps take the customer data in and bring it to the scenario they want. That’s available via our support. Messy data is something no one needs to fear.

What’s the best way for somebody to get in touch?

Via our website. Just go to boldbi.com. You can hop right on a chat and start talking to us live. We cover it 22 hours a day, so someone’s almost always there to answer questions.

Recommended resources (related links):

• Bold BI Video Tutorials
• Bold BI v5.1 On-Premises and Embedded Products Release Highlights [Blog]
• Introducing the Free Version of Bold BI for Community Users [Blog]
• Bold BI Webinars

To learn more about Bold BI’s impressive features, sign up for a free trial.

This blog provides the show notes for our August 5th, 2021, Bold BI^® webinar, “Improve Your User Experience with Multitenancy in Bold BI.” The webinar was presented and hosted by Bold BI software developer Boomigha Velayutham. If you missed it, or would like to watch multi-tenant solution again, you can do so on our YouTube page or here.

Introduction

Bold BI supports multitenancy, in which a single environment can serve multiple tenants through a scalable and resilient architecture. In this webinar, we will discuss how the underlying infrastructure of Bold BI is completely shared and logically isolated for multi-tenant deployment. We will also take a look at the rebranding options for the multitenant application.

Agenda

• What is multitenancy?
• Multitenant architecture in Bold BI.
• Managing resources in multitenancy (users, site access).
• Publish module. 
• Deployment of dashboards.
• Publishing in an internal tenant. 
• Publishing in an external tenant.
• Custom attributes and isolation code on a tenant level. 
• User interface customization.
• White labeling.

What is multitenancy? 

• Multiple independent instances of a software application operate in a shared environment.
• Each instance/organization is a tenant.
• Each tenant is integrated physically but separated logically.
• Example: Banking processes. 

Types of multitenancy 

• Standalone app
• Database per tenant
• Share multitenant 

Security 

• Data security
• Application security

Concepts 

• How to create a new tenant in Bold BI.
• How can I publish dashboards to another tenant? How do I synchronize the latest changes in other tenants?
• How can I restrict dashboard access or data source access in a shared dashboard for other tenant users?
• How can I add multiple users for a tenant? How can I add a single user and multiple tenants at a time?
• Custom attributes and isolation code.
• User interface customization.
• White labeling.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this webinar and please keep an eye out for our future Syncfusion webinars. Following are some of the questions received during the webinar, answered.

Get started with Bold BI® by signing up for a free trial and create more interactive business intelligence dashboards.

Q&A

Q: Hi, what are the steps involved in binding the published project on IIS to your personal hostname and not the localhost?  

A: You can find helpful tips for this on our FAQ page.

Q: Does this tool handle tabular reports like an invoice for an online order being produced just as the user completes the order, or is it based on historical data polled periodically?

A: Yes, Bold BI^® can be used to create invoice reports. However, we have another product in the Bold line with similar infrastructure, known as Bold Reports, that would be more suitable for your specific requirement.

Q: Does each tenant have unlimited dashboards or is there a separate charge for the quantity of presentations per tenant?

A: No, there is no limitation for any resources. You can have any number of dashboards.

Q: If you change the custom_ui.json and the results are not what you expect, is there a comparison tool to identify what was changed to help undo the problem?

A: Thank you for the good feature idea. At present, we don’t have a comparison tool for the UI. We will log this in our feedback portal.

Q: Is there a price calculator to estimate the subscription cost per tenant? Is there a separate charge for each tenant created?    

A: No, the pricing is flat. You can have any number of tenants in your deployment.

Q: Is there an API available to create a series of tenants automatically via a script?           

A: Yes. We have APIs to create tenants, delete or add users, manage permissions, etc.

Recommended resources (related links):

• Multitenancy
• Publish dashboards
• User interface customizations
• White labeling

The following show notes are from our webinar “Creating a Dashboard in 5 Minutes or Less with Bold BI^®,” which was presented by Syncfusion^® Product Solutions Engineer Aaron Melamed.

Introduction

In this webinar, we demonstrate how Bold BI is the most effective way to create a dashboard.

Creating Your Dashboard

Use Bold BI’s Dashboard Designer to create a new dashboard or edit an existing one. It consists of a toolbar at the top, a toolbox on the left containing widgets, an Editor pane at the center of the page, and a Navigation panel on the right with a Data Source pane and a Properties pane.

You can find more information about each element of the Dashboard Designer in another video called “Working with the Bold BI Interface.”

Let’s start by opening the Dashboard Designer and adding a data source.

1. Click the Add icon in the left navigation bar and choose Start from Scratch.
2. Enter the name for your dashboard and click Add and Design.
3. You will be redirected to the Dashboard Designer user interface with a blank dashboard. To add a data source, click the Data Source pane on the right side of the Dashboard Designer and click the Create New
4. The list of supported data sources will be displayed. Under Categories, choose Files and select a data source.
5. Enter the name for your data source. Choose the file.
6. After the file uploads, click the Preview & Connect You will be redirected to the Choose Table(s) pop-up where you can select the required tables.
7. Click Connect.
8. You will be redirected to edit the data source designer page. From the Table Explorer, drag your data table into the Table Design Also, choose another table, Channel_Details, and join both tables using the column Channel_Id. Click the Merge button to join both tables.
9. Add a few columns by adding expressions in the data source designer. Click the Expression icon available at the top of the toolbar.
10. Finally, click Save.

You can find more information about each option inside the data source designer by watching the previously mentioned video: “Working with the Bold BI Interface.”

Working with Widgets

Let’s start configuring each widget for your dashboard. To begin with, display some of the important metrics by adding card widgets at the top of the dashboard.

Add a card widget in the Editor pane. In this widget, you can show information such as visitor count.

1. Click the settings icon at the top of the widget to assign data to the widget and choose the Assign Data. The Assign Data tab holds a data configuration view. The numeric columns and numeric expressions are listed under the Measures section; other types of columns and dimension expressions are listed under the Dimensions section.
2. Drag the Visitors column into the Actual Value section and change the widget name to Visitors Count.
3. Add another card widget to show the customer acquisition cost that was created using an expression in the data source designer. Drag the CAC column into the Actual Value.
4. Change the cost display format to currency. To do this, click the settings icon on the CAC field, choose Format from the drop-down menu, select the currency type and the “thousands” representation, and click OK. You can see the format of the cost has been changed to the currency type in the widget.
5. Similarly, add two more card widgets to show the return on investment (ROI) and dormancy rate. Change the display format to percentage for the two widgets. For the ROI card widget, add a description defining the ROI marketing term.

Utilize the description area to explain terms or provide information to the user.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this webinar and now have a few new ways to control how your data is managed. Be sure to keep an eye out for other upcoming Bold BI^® webinars. 

Get started with Bold BI by signing up for a free trial and create more interactive business intelligence dashboards. If you have any questions on this blog, please feel free to post them in the following comment section. You can also contact us by submitting your questions through the Bold BI website or, if you already have an account, you can log in to submit your support question.

Recommended resources:

• Syncfusion Bold BI website
• Bold BI video tutorials