How to use Power BI reports
Power BI is a tool for visualising data from multiple sources and highlighting trends and patterns in the data. The data is presented in report visuals, which display the data in different ways. Visuals include charts, tables, maps, cards and slicers.
Power BI reports are designed to be interactive. Users can click on visuals to highlight the data they're interested in or to change the content and see different sections or categories of the data. Users can hover their mouse over a visual to see pop up content with further information for detail or context.
Navigation
Most reports will have more than one page and users can navigate through a report by using the page navigation at the bottom of the report, in the middle of the report footer. Clicking on the page navigation will bring up a list of page names. Most reports will also have a home page with navigation buttons.
Some reports will have labelled buttons in the footer or header of the page to move from one page to the next or to return to the home page (or start) of the report.
Filtering
A filter allows the report user to display a subset of data, for example, a particular data category, a time period or a specific geography. Filters can be applied to whole reports, report pages and visuals in different ways.
- Slicers give a report user easy access to the most relevant filters or those that are needed to make the report work. They also display the current filter state so that its easy to see what filters have been applied. Sometimes slicers are synced across a whole report and sometimes they apply to individuals pages or individual visuals.
- Interaction between visuals can also be used to filter. Clicking on a value in a table visual or a part of a chart visual can, sometimes, change the content of other visuals in the page. Click again to unfilter.
By clicking on the filter icon in the visual header, users can see a full list of the filters that have been applied to that visual.
Tooltips
Tooltips provide extra detail and context to Power BI visuals. Tooltips are available on most chart visuals by default. Custom tooltips are also available on card visuals.
To view tooltips, hover the mouse over each element of the visual and wait for the tooltip to appear.
On cards, hover the mouse over the main callout value to see the tooltip.
Sort
Report users can change the sort order of a data column in a table or matrix visual. Sorting a data column helps you to see the highest and lowest values in that column or to organise the data more logically for you. The easiest way to change the sort order is to click on the column header. A small black arrow beneath the column name will show the sort order of the column, ascending or descending. Click again to change the sort order to the opposite direction.
Table visuals can be sorted by more than one table column. Start by clicking on the first column header (to sort that column) and then hold down shift and left-click on the second column header. Click again to change the sort order to the opposite direction.
To change the way chart visuals are sorted, use the options in the visual header, including changing the chart axis used for sorting or reversing the sort order.
Visual Header
Each visual (table, chart, map or other type of visual) on a Power BI report has a set of header icons that pop up when you hover over the top of the visual. Click on the visual first to bring the visual header to the front, so that individual icons are easier to click.
The header icons give extra information or options for user interaction including help text, drill down, export, applied filters. The specific features available on each visual will depend on the type of visual, the data being displayed and which features the report author has enabled.
Drill Mode
To use drill mode, a visual must have a hierarchy, with at least two levels of data category or labelling. When available, the drill mode options appear in the visual header. The options include:
- drill up to display the upper level of the hierarchy, closing all expanded levels to exit drill mode;
- drill mode to click on a data point and expand just that point;
- go to the next level in the hierarchy to display all the data in the next level of the hierarchy down; and
- expand all down one level in the hierarchy to open up the hierarchy and display all data to the next level.
Help Tooltip
Some visuals will have their own help tooltip in the visual header, to give more detail about the data being displayed.
Focus Mode
For users who want to study a particular visual in detail, focus mode displays the visual on its own at larger scale. Note, any changes already applied, such as drill mode, will be retained in focus mode.
More Options
Some visuals will include an ellipsis in the visual header, which opens more options to interact including:
- sharing the visual using a link;
- exporting data from a visual, to Excel or CSV format;
- other options for sorting.
Reset
Clicking on the reset button will remove any user interactions and changes to the report data and return all visuals to their original state. If the reset button is unavailable, refresh the report page to reset the report.
Further information
If you have a problem using a particular report or need more help, please contact the Corporate Intelligence Team at IntelAnalytics@liverpool.gov.u