Enhancement Requests for Advanced Analytics

[samwoo]

Good afternoon,

I hope this is in the correct place. @Richard.Ashton and I have some enhancement requests for Service Manager Advanced Analytics.

I know someone might say, use Power BI, but Hornbill is a very capable tool, and we don't really need to use most of the advanced functions of Power BI at the moment, and Advanced Analytics is perfect for what we need for the moment. We may not even need to use Power BI for a while.

• Add the ability to define Custom Titles to be displayed in the Header Bar within Widgets, instead of the name of the Widget.
  • If the Custom Title field is blank, use the Widget name instead.
  • Reason:
    Due it not being possible to group Widgets (like we can do in Email Templates), we identify them by our own naming conventions for example [Company Name] [Department Name] [Team Name] Widget Name this enables us to identify the Widgets but can make the names extremely long and does not look good when presenting the Widgets in a Dashboard, especially if it runs over multiple lines.
     
• Add the ability to define Text Only widgets
  • Reason:
    Shoving a load of Widgets onto a Dashboard is fine, but sometimes you would need to break the Dashboard some more into logical sections. Particularly where the requirement is to have a single dashboard to hold most of the information.
  • Workaround:
    This is a workaround that we have found that enables us to do this, by using a "List of Data" type Widget, with the following Custom SQL Query:
    
    This allows us to display the heading like so (we now have multiple headings like this in the same dashboard to break things up)
    
    
• Add the ability to control the size of the Pie Chart
  • Reason:
    For some reason, where there is a Pie Chart sitting in a Widget on a Dashboard, that, for examples fills a space of height 33 and width 50, the pie chart is tiny with lots of space around it, even around the Data Labels that comes off it.
  • Workaround:
    Put the Pie Chart into a smaller container, though there is a risk that parts of the Data Label will disappear outside of the Widget
     
• Add the ability to display the % in the Data Label instead of the Count
  • Reason:
    For example, two of our Pie Charts relates to the SLA being met or breached. We are only interested in the % number of tickets that are breached or met, but unfortunately the Pie Chart only displays the count. Maybe allow us to switch the Count and % between the Data Labels and Hovering.
  • Workaround:
    We can hover over the Pie Chart to see the %, but ideally, we would like to see the % on the Widget without having to hover over.
     
• Add scrollbars to the List of Data widgets if there is an overflow of data
  • Reason:
    We like to present a list of requests for example in a Data List to show all the P1 or P2 tickets. If the Widget overflows, we have no way of scrolling to see more data.
     
• Add the ability to define column hyperlinks List of Data widgets
  • Add a tab where we can specify which columns (Column 1, Column 2, Column 3, Column 4 and so forth, and like this as using SQL during editing, it won't know what columns are being used) then for whatever column we specify, allow us to enter a hyperlink and include a variable somewhere in that hyperlink that pulls in the value.
    When viewing the List of Data in a Dashboard, for each data in that column, will become a clickable hyperlink
  • Reason:
    This is possible in Power BI, but we thought it might be a nice addition to the Hornbill Widgets as well, but essentially would make it possible for us to click on these Hyperlinks in the column to take us to "that" Request, Assets, Google Search etc.

Thanks,

Samuel

[samwoo]

Good afternoon,

I just wanted to say that I tested adding a scrollbar using the F12 Developer Tools (overflow = auto) and it looks good:

 

[samwoo]

Hello,

My colleague also suggested that if a scrollbar is not feasible in the Data List widget, then maybe the results could be paginated, and the widget could show previous/next buttons.

Thanks,

Samuel

[samwoo]

I just noticed the tag is set to:

Please could an Mod change it so it appears as "enhancement" instead, as I suspect this could prevent the developers from seeing my post.

[Steve Giller]

The issue isn't visibility, all forum posts get spotted even ones that haven't been responded to.

This requests is more about intended use.

For example, Widgets are designed to be used on a Dashboard - which in turn is intended for a display screen, i.e. not one that is interacted with, which would render any scrolling or pagination pointless.
I'm not saying these aren't being considered (it's not my area, after all) but they are pretty much the opposite of the intended use case.

[samwoo]

Thanks @Steve Giller,

While the concept of a Dashboard/Slideshows are traditionally to be used with non-interactive display screens, I think it's worth considering adapting to the changing work environment/culture. With many of us now working remotely, maybe there should be consideration to redefining the Dashboard's purpose?

If Hornbill would consider redefining the Dashboards purpose, then maybe there is an opportunity to enable users to configure Dashboards as either 'Automatic' or 'Interactive.' An 'Automatic' Dashboard could be suitable for display screens and would go hand-in-hand with the Slideshows functionality, with auto-refresh and scrolling features for Widgets. An 'Interactive' Dashboard could offer scrolling, clickable links, and other interactive elements for those working remotely.

Our IT managers rely on Dashboards to scrutinize our IT services. While Slideshows are suitable for quick stats, an Interactive Dashboard would be ideal for a detailed examination. This way, we can cater to both scenarios, for quick high-level glances and in-depth analysis.

This might be one for @Gerry to have a think about? 

In an ideal world, I would love to not have to use external tools for this purpose (ie. Power BI), when what is already offered is fantastic can almost achieve what we would like it to achieve, hence my request for the enhancements in my posts above.

Thanks,

Samuel