Before you begin: Creating a report in Report Studio is very similar to creating a PowerPoint presentation. The only difference is in PowerPoint you typically only add graphical elements to a slide. With Report Studio reports, you'll add visual elements and data.
There are three ways to create a report in Report Studio:
- Design template
- Freehand
- Report template
With a design template, you'll provide the data and choose a pre-designed template to work from. With freehand, you'll design your report from scratch. With a report template, TapClicks will provide the data and the design.
Instructions:
Add a New Report in Report Studio
1] On the left side menu, under Reporting, click Report Studio.
2] Report Studio appears.
| NOTE: In Report Studio you may see Reports that were previously created. |
3] Click +Add New Report button in the upper right.
4] The Choose a report type page appears.
Jump to the report type you want to create:
How to Create a Report Using a Design Template
How to Create a Freehand Report
How to create a Report Using a Report Template
How to Create a Report Using a Design Template
| NOTE: Design templates are pre-loaded presentations that speed up the process of crafting your data story. When you select Design Template, you will be shown a list of several themes to choose from. Just like creating a presentation from a previous deck, all you will need to do is connect your data sources and build out the story, adding or removing elements as you see fit. |
5] Click Design Template.
6] The Select a design template page appears.
7] Either scroll through the list until you find a design template you want or enter the name of the design template in the search box (results appear automatically).
8] When you locate the design template you want to base your report on, click it.
9] The Report Studio workspace appears pre-loaded with the design template you selected.
10] On the left side of the screen, you will see the pages in the template, each showing the pre-loaded elements. When you select a page to edit, you can add or remove any element to help tell your story.
11] On the right side of the screen, you will see the Styles, Settings, and Data tabs. These help you control the look and feel of your report and connect to your data.
| NOTE: To learn more about the specific controls, see the section below How to Create a freehand Report. |
12] Across the top of the page are controls for doing things like adding pages, changing page format, saving, publishing, and exporting your report.
13] When you have the report the way you want it, click Save in the upper right then go to How to Share Your Report.
| NOTE: You can also save a report before you are finished and return to work on it at a later time. |
How to Create a Freehand Report
| NOTE: When you select the freehand option, you will be asked to create a report from scratch. This will open Report Studio into a blank canvas where you can add and customize elements. This is similar to building a PowerPoint presentation from scratch. |
14] Click Freehand. The Report Studio workspace appears with an empty workspace and a single, untitled page.
Control Display Options
| NOTE: Across the top of the workspace are menu items to control the display of the workspace and the report. |
15] To turn on the workspace grid, click Toggle Grid. The grid is a graphical assist that helps in placing elements in the report in an organized way.
16] Click Format to choose between the two available aspect ratios for your report: 16:9 or 4:3.
17] Click Rotate Report to change the orientation from landscape to portrait.
18] Click Presentation to view the report like a PowerPoint presentation.
Set Report Styles
19] On the right side of the workspace, click the Styles tab.
20] Click Background to set the background color of the report pages. Click the color you want from the color wheel.
21] Click the small, medium, or large font to set the report's font size.
22] Click on any of the 10 circles in the Report Color Palette to set the report's color scheme.
23] Choose the desired options from the All Widgets Styles sliders.
Add/Edit Pages
24] To edit a page's title, click the Settings tab on the right side.
25] Enter the page's tile in the Title textbox.
26] To add a page to the report, click the Insert icon (i.e., plus sign) in the upper left.
27] From the popup menu that appears, click Page at the bottom of the menu.
28] To change the order of pages in the report, hover your mouse just below the page number you want to move. The mouse pointer turns into a cross and the handle control appears.
29] Click and drag the handle of the page you want to move to where you want to move it and then release the mouse.
Add Elements to a Page
30] To add an element to a page in the report, click the Insert icon (i.e., plus sign) in the upper left.
31] Choose one of the six options to add by clicking it:
- Widget: Data, Media, or Admin
- Image: search for an image on your local machine
- Text: fill in the textbox
- Icon: select an icon from the popup list.
- Variable: Company name, date range, recipient name, page title, page number or created on date
- Shape: square or circle
| NOTE: Creating widgets is quite complex. To learn how to do that step-by-step, see How to Create Widgets. |
32] To edit the element, start by clicking it. The border becomes a dotted line and your mouse pointer becomes a cross.
33]To move it, click and drag the element where you want it on the page.
34] To change its style, click Styles on the right-side menu and choose the desired options.
35] To change its settings, click Settings on the right side menu and choose the desired options.
36] To remove an element, click Elements on the left side menu.
37] Locate the element you want to remove from the list of elements and right-click it. From the popup menu that appears click Remove.
Specify the Data Source for Your Report
38] To specify the data source for your report, click the Data tab on the right side.
| NOTE: When specifying data during report building, you have two choices. You can use "real" data or you can use sample data. The advantage of using sample data is that it improves performance and lets you preview your new report sooner. Using sample data is recommended. |
39] To specify using sample data, slide the Use Sample Data slider to the right and you're done. Otherwise, slide the slider to the left and continue on.
40] To show comparison data, slide the Show Comparison Data slider to the right and click in the textbox below it. A calendar appears.
41] On the right side of the calendar, choose either Prior Period, Prior Year, or Custom Range.
42] If you chose Custom Range, click the first date you want to use for comparison and then click the second date you want to use for comparison. All the days between the two will fill in.
43] Repeat the same process for the date range by clicking in the Date Range textbox.
44] To choose which Client, Client Group, or Business Unit should be the source of your data, click in the appropriate textbox.
45] From the dropdown list that appears, locate the desired data source and click it.
46] Repeat the above steps to add pages/elements as needed until you get your freehand report the way you want.
47] When you have the report the way you want it, click Save in the upper right then go to How to Share Your Report.
How to Create a Report Using a Report Template
|
NOTE: Report templates are one step beyond design templates. With report templates, TapClicks provides the design AND the data. Report templates come in handy when you need to quickly tell a story for a given data source or marketing activity. These pre-designed reports are organized by channel (YouTube, Facebook Ads, etc.) and/or activity (SEO, email, etc.). If you are new to a channel and want to see best practices in reporting, you can quickly set up a report template and deliver your value to stakeholders. |
48] Click Report Template.
49] The Select a report template page appears.
50] Either scroll through the list of templates, enter the template name in the search box (results appear automatically) or use the Add Filters function to locate your record template of choice.
51] When you locate the template, click it to access it.
52] The Report Studio workspace appears with the report template you just selected which is pre-loaded with sample data.
53] At this point, you can leave the template as is or make changes to tailor it to your needs.
| NOTE: To learn more about your options for tailoring a report, see the section above How to Create a freehand Report. |
54] When you have the report the way you want it, click Save in the upper right.
How to Share Your Report
Once you have saved the report, you'll want to share it with stakeholders. You can share a report with stakeholders by publishing it or exporting it.
Publish Your Report
55] To publish the report, click Publish in the upper right of the page. Publishing a report produces a URL that you can share with stakeholders.
56] In the Publishing Options popup that appears, enter a title for your report in the Title textbox.
57] Enter a description for your report in the Description textbox.
58] Select either the Design Template radio button or the Report Template radio button.
59] Optionally enter tags in the Tags textbox. If the tag you want to enter already exists, it will show up there as you enter it. Just click it to add it. If it does not, you can add it by typing it in and hitting Enter.
60] When you have everything the way you want, click Publish.
Export Your Report
61] To export the report as a file to your local machine, click Export in the upper right of the page. Exporting a report produces either a PDF or PPT file. One is good for emailing, the other for giving presentations.
62] The Select Report Format popup appears. If you want to force the report to include sample data, slide that slider to the right. Otherwise, the current data selection will be used.
63] Click either PDF or PPT to export the report in that file format.
64] You should be able to locate the file in the Downloads folder of your local computer.