Building a dashboard
You build a dashboard by describing what you want to see. SoterAI chooses the data, creates the components and lays them out. You then refine it by asking for changes. No design or data-modelling skills are needed.
Start a new dashboard
- 1Open Dashboards from the left-hand navigation.
- 2Click Create.
- 3Choose Dashboard. (The same menu also offers Diagram, Tool, Form and Something else.)
A new chat opens and SoterAI sends your opening request for you. It then asks a few questions to get started:
- what the dashboard should answer, for example incident trends, open hazards or risk register status;
- where the data should come from: records in your workspace, a spreadsheet or CSV you upload, or numbers you type;
- which components you must have, for example KPI tiles, a trend chart, a breakdown by location or a table.
Suggested replies appear under SoterAI's message. Click one, or type your own answer.
Describe what you need
Ask for the business information you need. You don't need to know table names or how the data is stored.
Example prompts
While SoterAI works, the chat shows what it's doing, for example Building Risk Register Status dashboard. Building takes a little longer than a normal reply.
Open your dashboard
When the dashboard is ready, it appears in the chat as a card with its title, its status and the date and time. Click Open to show it in a panel beside the chat. The dashboard also appears on the Active tab of the Dashboards page straight away.
The panel header shows the title, who can view the dashboard and when it was last updated, with these controls: Share, the padlock (Lock design), ⋯ (Open full page, Copy workspace link, Archive) and Close.
Where the data comes from
A single dashboard can combine several sources.
| Source | Examples |
|---|---|
| SoterAI | Records, Data Sources, Actions, Risk Intelligence |
| Files and typed data | A spreadsheet or CSV you upload to the chat, or figures you type |
| Connected apps | Third-party platforms you've connected to SoterAI. See Connecting External Apps to SoterAI. |
| Storage services | Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, SharePoint |
| Databases and APIs | Databases, data warehouses and APIs available to your workspace |
SoterAI can only use data you have access to. If it can't find the data a component needs, the component shows that no data is available rather than made-up figures.
What SoterAI can build
SoterAI picks the right type of component for each part of your request and your data:
Metric (KPI) tiles
Headline figures such as totals and counts.
Bar, line and area charts
Compare values and show change over time.
Pie or donut charts
Where they suit the data.
Tables and ranked lists
Detail and top-N views, such as your highest-risk sites.
Trend indicators
Show whether a figure is rising or falling.
Status summaries
A quick read on where things stand.
Readability comes first: SoterAI favours the clearest chart over visual variety, and arranges the layout for you.
Refine your dashboard
To change anything, ask in the dashboard's chat. For example:
You can't move or resize components by hand; SoterAI handles the layout. If the design is locked, SoterAI tells you and leaves the dashboard unchanged until you unlock it.
Name your dashboard
SoterAI names the dashboard from your request. To rename it, click the title in the dashboard's header, type the new name and press Enter (Esc cancels), or choose Rename from the card's ⋯ menu on the Dashboards page. Names can be up to 120 characters. You can't rename a dashboard while its design is locked.
Chat about a single component
Select a metric, chart or table, or a single point on a chart, to focus the chat on it. Editing appears above the message box, and the placeholder changes to, for example, Change "Total risks" — or ask for anything else... Your next message is then about that component, and the component is shown as a label in your sent message. To clear the selection, click × next to Editing. For example:
Selecting a component doesn't change anything on its own; it only sets the subject of the next message you choose to send. On a locked dashboard, components can't be selected; you'll see This dashboard is locked. Unlock it to make changes.
Insights
SoterAI looks for useful trends, changes, risks and unusual values in your dashboard's data. When the data supports a finding, it adds an insight card that states it. It doesn't draw conclusions the data doesn't support. Insight cards are recalculated each time the dashboard's data is refreshed.
Things to know
Your work is saved automatically
There's no separate save step.
The data is as of when it was built
To keep a dashboard updated, make it Live. See Keeping a dashboard up to date.
Only you can continue the dashboard's chat
People you share the dashboard with see the dashboard only.
To change the look