Release 91 Notes: Saturday, June 15, 2013

Thanks for checking in to see what’s new for Release 91! In this release we've made several usability improvements to our Metric Editor, added the ability to edit an attribute label's type directly from within GoodData, and introduced PDF page break dividers on dashboards. We're also introducing a new offering: The GoodData Private Cloud. Read on for the details!

New updates since release 91:

Release 91.1

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Release 91.2

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Release 91.3

Thursday, July 4, 2013

What's New: Release 91

Metric Editor Improvements

The Metric Editor now boasts an enlarged metric editing field, giving you more space to view and edit longer custom metrics. Other bug fixes and improvements offer a smoother metric editing workflow, making it easier to carry out tasks like inserting syntax within a metric's definition or copying and pasting metric definitions.

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Modify an Attribute Label's Type From Within GoodData

With the new Labels options in each attribute's detail page you can edit an attribute label's type. This allows you to determine how users can display that attribute's values in a report (as plain text, hyperlinks, images). Alternatively, setting an attribute label to one of the supported geographic region types makes the attribute available for use in GoodData's Geo chart widgets.

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Figure: Edit an attribute label's type to dictate how that attribute's values can displayed in reports and widgets.
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Figure: Labels with the type set to one of the supported geo labels make an attribute available for use in Geo chart widgets.

For more information on modifying an attribute label's type to prepare it for use in Geo chart widgets, see Setting Up Data for Geo Charts. Or refer to Using and Configuring Geo Charts to learn more about adding Geo charts to your dashboards.

Page Break Dividers Visible in Dashboard Edit Mode

Design dashboards with PDF output in mind using GoodData's new page break dividers, visible while modifying a dashboard in Edit Mode. Page break dividers allow you to anticipate where page divisions will land once you've exported a dashboard. This helps avoid the situation where a key report is split between two pages of your PDF.

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Dashboard Object Manipulation by Arrow Keys

You can now use arrow keys to move a selected dashboard object across a dashboard. (Or hold SHIFT while pressing an arrow key to move widgets 10 pixels at a time.) Squint your eyes and you might just feel like you're playing a video game circa 1992...

CloudConnect Designer – Facebook Reader Now Supports Graph API

The Facebook Reader component of CloudConnect Designer now supports gathering Facebook data through the Graph API, allowing you access to a richer set of Facebook data, including the Ads API.

What's New: Release 91.1

CloudConnect Designer – Force Publishing

CloudConnect Designer now supports the option of forcing publication of your logical data model into a project. This could be useful for overriding built-in safeguards designed to prevent publishing logical data models into a project where changes could cause preexisting metrics and reports to be removed. Force publishing is especially useful in cases where the contents of a project are no longer relevant and can be overwritten without consequence. As is the case with all advanced features, use force publishing with care!

For more information, see our article on Resolving Logical Data Model Dependencies.

URL Parameter Macro

The new URL parameter macro inserts the value of a dashboard’s URL parameter into GoodData web content widgets and text boxes. This could be useful in the case where a GoodData dashboard is being externally filtered with HTTP parameter filters and contains embedded web content that you’d like to filter by these same values. To pass the parameter filter values through to the embedded web content, you could add the URL parameter macro  %URL_PARAM(<parameter_name>)%  to web content widget’s iframe embed code. Once the widget is saved, the entire macro would be dynamically replaced by the parameter’s current value in the dashboard’s URL.

For more information on the URL_PARAM macro, see Using Macros in Text Boxes and Embedded Web Content.

All New Projects Now Running on Extensible Analytics Engine (XAE)

All new GoodData projects, whether created by command line tool or CloudConnect, are now set to run on our Extensible Analytics Engine (XAE) by default. Project users will be able to enjoy performance benefits as well as extensions to our MAQL query language that have been enabled by the introduction of XAE.

Abort Remote Graph Runs on a Server

You can now abort ETL graphs while they are running. This is particularly useful for developers testing large graphs with long-running ETL processes that exceed the amount of time required for testing. The feature can also be used to cancel duplicate ETL processes if two identical graphs are running simultaneously.

Intelligent Report Editor

GoodData's Report Editor now features improved algorithms that help guide users as they add metrics and attributes to a report. Because the Report Editor now recognizes metrics that contain the latest, XAE-enabled MAQL functions and keywords, it's once again able to rule out nonsensical combinations of metrics and attributes in the same report.

What's New: Release 91.2

White Label Dashboard Backgrounds

GoodData now supports background customization for dashboards that are accessed through secure.gooddata.com or an organization's customized web portal (e.g. analytics.company_name.com). Custom background colors and images allow organizations to further extend branding across their dashboards.

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Figure: Custom background colors and images on a dashboard

What's New: Release 91.3

Metric Editor Update – Copy & Paste Metrics

Previously, MAQL syntax that was copied and pasted in the Custom Metric Editor represented project elements like facts, metrics, and attributes by their URIs, not by their human readable titles. Project element URIs are now automatically replaced by the associated element's title.

Introducing the GoodData Private Cloud

GoodData's latest offering brings enhanced security to customer data and projects through services like Encryption at Rest, in which all data is written to the datastore in an encrypted format. Customers who opt to use the Private Cloud will enjoy the extra assurances of a wholly encrypted environment on top of GoodData's existing enterprise-grade security systems.

For more information, see the GoodData Private Cloud Deployment Guide, or contact your GoodData Account Manager.

New Help Articles

Blocking Cookies May Make Embedded GoodData Inaccessible

Some modern browsers like Firefox and Safari are now blocking third-party cookies by default. Many web services like GoodData rely on third-party cookies for authentication purposes when offerings are embedded in other sites. Disabling third party cookies may keep you from accessing the GoodData Portal if you or your customers are accessing GoodData through a window embedded in another application. In such cases, dashboards cannot be displayed until third-party cookies are enabled in your browser. To resolve this issue, follow these simple steps.

Resources for Designing Beautiful and Effective Dashboards

GoodData Design Lab

Dashboards are only as effective as they are user friendly, and design plays a big role in how users will consume your organization’s business data. The GoodData Design Lab is a new community where developers can grab design elements for use on GoodData dashboards or start a conversation about what types of design elements would be useful additions down the road.

5 Design Tips for Best-in-Class Dashboards

At GoodData we’ve helped hundreds of organizations create effective business dashboards. The way we see it, dashboard design is more than just heaping your most critical business metrics onto a single screen. By implementing a few simple design principles, you’ll be well on your way to transforming how your dashboard viewers put their data to work.

Custom Embed Tool

The Custom Embed Tool puts power in the hands of any dashboard designer to create a visually stunning layout for dashboard users. With the tool’s embed code generator you can customize the look and feel of text, boxes, icons, and images in a matter of clicks and paste the associated code directly into GoodData’s Web Content Widget. Get started by accessing the tool on the Web, or use it while editing a GoodData dashboard as a Google Chrome extension. Then enter your desired specifications using the tool’s layout as a guide.

NEW Getting Started Guides

Getting Started with Dashboards Reference Sheet

Post them on a wall, stick them to your fridge, pin 'em to your cubicle – GoodData reference sheets are cheat sheets you don't have to hide. Our Getting Started with Dashboards Reference Sheet is perfect for anyone primarily interested in consuming data to make well-founded business decisions.

Getting Started Guide for Editors

In five short tutorials, the Getting Started Guide for Editors will get new users up and running with the basics of GoodData. Topics include building new dashboards, creating and customizing reports, working with charts and tables, defining drill paths, and establishing dashboard filters.

Getting Started Guide for Developers

The Getting Started Guide for Developers will help you understand the principles, tools, and resources for loading data into the GoodData platform and integrating data into GoodData projects. Topics include an overview of CloudConnect Designer and the features you can use within GoodData to create your first reports and dashboards.

On the Horizon

GoodData is committed to rolling out new, innovative features. Here's what we've been hard at work on:

  • Smarter dashboard filters will mean that the filter values you have selected will be saved from one session to the next. No more need to reconfigure filters each time you log in!
  • Redesigned report info panels on dashboards will allow you to expand and collapse report details and easily access report editing and exporting features. Check out a sneak peek of the new feature prototype below – we'd love to hear what you think.
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Prototype of the redesigned report info panel with collapsible metric/filter details.

Also on the way:

  • Improved performance for large dashboards
  • Increased flexibility for sorting chart data from the Report Editor
  • Public API for white labeling configuration

Well that about does it for release 91. We hope you'll check back soon for new improvements we'll be unveiling in the weeks ahead. Happy reporting!

For more information on recent updates we've implemented at GoodData, see the Release 90 Notes.

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