Create a New Report
Outline
Intellum offers a powerful report creator that gives you direct access to the data tables behind your account. Reporting makes it easy to quickly pull data on users, courses, enrollments, events, and more. There are over 30 report types available to help you get started digging into your data.
This article walks you through creating a new report, provides an overview of the report page, and introduces report columns and queries.
Create a new report
Think about what data in the platform best applies to the problem or question at hand before creating a Report.
Try to answer these questions when starting a new report:
- Problem & Purpose: What should the data solve or what question should it answer?
- Report Type: Which type of report gets you closest to the data needed to solve that problem or answer that question?
Ready? Create a report in these easy steps:
- Click Reporting in the admin nav.
- Click New Report.
- Fill out the Report Name field (this can be edited later).
- Choose a Report Type based on your need.
When ready, click Create.
You are taken to the Create a New Report page, where you'll use the options on this page to choose which data points you need, who and what the report will query, and how you want it all exported.
New report page
1️⃣ Report Columns
- You'll find the default columns for the report type you chose included in the Report Columns section.
- You can remove columns, drag & drop to reorder columns, or click Add Column to include additional columns.
2️⃣ Query
- Create a customized Query to pinpoint exactly the data you need. A default query for each report type is included as a starting point.
- Queries can include User fields, Enrollment statuses, Courses, and more.
- Example: If I want the report to only cover the last quarter, I can choose "Enrollment completed on" as "last quarter" to narrow my report.
3️⃣ Preview, Export, and Save
- Preview
- Reports run in the background to ensure reliability. For a preview of results before exporting or saving, just click Preview.
- Export
- You can Export a report if it's data-heavy, needs further manipulation, or needs to be shared outside of the platform. Export reports in CSV, XML, HTML, Excel, or PDF file formats.
- Save
- Maintain the report and all of its current properties. When you Save a new report, you are taken to the report's Properties page. Report columns and queries can be edited later on.
Report columns
Report Columns help you customize how you collect and display data. Columns available in a report are tied to the report type.
With Report Columns, you can:
- Keep the included columns.
- Add new columns by clicking the +Add Column button.
- Delete columns with the X icon.
- Drag and drop columns to reorder them in the report output.
- Use Group to organize data by one of the columns (more on that below).
How you order the columns will affect your data exports. For example, you can see how the columns in the CSV below mirror the above Report Columns setup:
Now, your report data is aggregated exactly the way you want, in the order that you want! From here, you can manipulate your data and upload it to a visualization tool of choice.
Report Columns can be managed before a report is saved or updated through an existing report's Properties tab.
Heads Up!
If you make changes to a report, be sure to Save the report and/or Preview new report results to confirm those changes.
Add Columns
Click +Add Column to browse available columns for your report type. Select the column from the list to add it to your report.
Hit play on the clip below to see this in action:
Group Columns
Grouping a column organizes the data in your report by that column. To "Group" the report by a specific column:
- Click the vertical dot menu next to any report column.
- Click "Group."
- That column will then appear at the top of the list with a line beneath it, signifying it
- To remove a column Grouping, click the vertical dot menu and then "Remove grouping." That column will return to its rightful place in the list.
Watch these steps here:
Report Details
Click the Hide Details checkbox in a report's Properties to hide row details. Only row counts and summary columns will be included in the report output.
Report queries
A report's Query section lets you define the data you want in your report. The type of report you chose will determine the available queries. For example, any type of report that deals with Enrollments will typically have options for User data as well.
Query filters are defined using up to three choices, starting with the type of query follow by some qualifiers, like for how long or a specific audience or content piece.
Filters that act as qualifiers
- a database field (based on report type)
- a filter operator, such as "is", "contains", "does not contain"
- a text, number, status, or date value qualifier (as applicable)
Adding and removing filters
You add more filters to the query by using the blue + sign. To remove a filter, simply click the - button.
- Adding the same column for filtering creates an OR operator in your query and can broaden your search.
- Adding different columns for filtering creates an AND operator in your query and can narrow your search.
About Unions
Click Add Union to include those columns for filtering. Adding a Union joins your initial query with a completely separate query. This can result in large, and complex, results. We recommend working with filters before adding a union.
Think of a Union as a large AND, or an addition, to the other filters. For example, you could create a complex report showing data for two different types of Users for two different time periods:
Click Preview to see the results of an updated Query before saving. Click Save to maintain any updates you make to a Query.
Did this article help?
Let us know by leaving a star rating or review at the top of this article.