This is step 3 of Report Generator. You connect each placeholder in the PowerPoint template to an element on the dashboard. The link is the element ID, written as ${element ID}.
Required role: Report Creator
Step 1. Find the element ID on the dashboard
Every dashboard element (chart, table, control, image, text) has an ID. It is shown under the element.
To avoid typos, copy the ID: click the ID under the element, or the ‘copy’ icon in the element menu.
You can rename elements. Good IDs make templates easier to maintain:
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Give every element on a tab a different ID. If two elements share an ID, the report uses only one of them.
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Use Latin letters, numbers, dashes or underscores, for example
Q1_Awareness. -
Use one naming pattern for the whole dashboard.
Capital letters, accents and quotes are ignored when IDs are matched: ${q1_awareness} finds Q1_Awareness.
See the video below for step-by-step instructions:
Step 2. Put the ID into the template
Always write the ID inside a dollar sign and curly brackets: ${element ID}. An ID without ${ } is ignored.
|
PowerPoint shape |
Where to put |
What you get |
|---|---|---|
|
Chart |
Right-click the chart → View Alt Text → type the ID in the box. |
The chart with dashboard data, in the template's design. |
|
Table |
Alt Text of the table (as for charts). |
The table with dashboard data. |
|
Picture (logo, image) |
Alt Text of the picture. Use the ID of the image element on the dashboard. |
The image for the selected control option. |
|
Text box, whole text |
Alt Text of the text box. |
The whole text is replaced by the element's content. |
|
Text box, inside a sentence |
Type the ID in the text itself, for example:
|
Each ID is replaced by its value. The rest of the text and its formatting stay. |
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One element can feed several placeholders, on the same slide or on different slides.
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The element must be on the same dashboard tab as the report. Elements on other tabs are not found.
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In text, a control shows its selected options, separated by commas. A chart or table shows its content as text. Use this for questions, sample sizes or significance notes.
Use our best practices to choose the right PowerPoint shape for each dashboard element.
Example: add a sample-size table as text
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Copy the ID of the sample-size table on the dashboard (see build a custom dashboard).
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In PowerPoint, add a text box where the text should appear and type the ID as ${ID}.
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Set the font, size and color you want.
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Copy the text box to all slides that need it.
The image below shows the first slide of a downloaded report, with the sample-size table in the bottom-left corner.
Next step
Upload the template to the dashboard and download your first report.
Something doesn't appear? See troubleshooting.