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Getting started

Creating a new Story

  1. Click the Create button in your Yellowfin instance.
  2. Select Story from the list. (If you do not see this option, then ensure that you have the correct role function. Click here to learn more.) 
  3. If this is your first time opening the Story builder, you will be greeted with a welcome message. If you wish to never see this message again, select the Got It! checkbox, otherwise this message continues to appear every time the builder is opened. Click Get Started to begin editing the Story.
  4. You will be navigated to the Story Builder that lets you create a new Story. Click here to learn about the different options of this builder. 

 

Including a title

Give your Story a title. If one is not provided, a default title ("Untitled Story") will be given to your Story.

  1. Click the area that says 'Start your story with a title.' to make it editable. 
  2. Provide a title, and press the Enter key to save it.
  3. You will then be able to see the title in the blue header bar at the top of your Story. 
  4. You can also update your title by performing the same steps.

Note: You can also add or edit the Story title when you publish it. Click here for more details.
 

Story header image

Add any image to be displayed as the Story's header. This will appear at the top of the Story. Although a header image is not mandatory, if one is added, it will also serve as the Story's thumbnail in the Browse page.
Note: Ensure that the image you select, does not exceed the size limit, which is 1200 x 300 px.

  • The width can be a maximum of 1200 px; if your image is larger, then it will be cropped.
  • The height size is fixed as 300 px; if your selected image height is less than 300px, then it will be stretched to fit.

 

Add a new header image

To add one, follow the steps below:

  1. Click on the header image area at the top of your Story.
  2. The Image Manager popup will appear on doing so. Use this to choose an already existing image, or upload a new image using the Add button. 
  3. Note that the header size is fixed in the Story module. If your image size exceeds the limit, the displayed image will be cropped. See the note above for further clarification.

 

Edit or delete an existing header image

If you'd like to replace or delete the header image of your Story, then follow the steps below:

  1. Hover over the header image to bring up its menu.
  2. Click on the edit icon to bring up the Image Manager popup, and choose another image. 
  3. Or click on the delete icon to completely remove the current image.

 
 


Story Users

A user can start building a Story, but will have sole access to view or edit it while it is in draft mode. They can invite other users to contribute to it. The Story creator will be known as the author, and the other users who are invited will be known as collaborators. Not every collaborator will end up contributing to a Story; those who do, will be referred to as editors.
Once a Story is finalized and published, all of its users will be listed. This ensures data governance as Story readers will be able to identify exactly who has contributed to a story, such as data experts, increasing the reader's trust in the Story. If a published Story requires updating, then only the author will be able to put the Story back in draft mode, to allow collaborators to update it. Similarly, only the author will be able to delete a Story. A collaborator can copy a Story, and become the author of the copied version, but will not be able to delete the original Story.
 

Multiple collaborators

Live co-authoring is currently not supported, so in case of multiple collaborators, only one user will be able to edit a Story at a time, including the author. Other collaborators will be able to preview the Story, but only edit it when the current editor closes it. This ensures that changes do not get overwritten. 
A warning appears if a collaborator tries to edit a Story that is already being edited.

 

Add or remove collaborators 

The steps below outline the process of adding or removing collaborators:

  1. Click on the More button, and select the Collaborators option. 
  2. In the new popup, click on the Add Collaborators field, and select a user from the list. Repeat this step to select multiple users. Note: You can only add individual users here, not user groups. 
  3. You may enter an optional message to be sent with the invitation.
  4. Click the Invite button. On doing so, the user will be added as a collaborator. A message will be sent to their timeline to notify them of this.
  5. All current collaborators of the Story will be listed on the left side of the new popup, under the Manage Collaborators list. You can remove a collaborator by clicking on Remove next to their name. Note that contributors who have worked on a Story, cannot be removed. 
  6. Once you are done managing collaborators, simply click on the exit button at the top-right corner. 

 
 


 

Story Content 

Yellowfin gives you the power to include multiple types of content to your Story. This includes text, as well as, reports, images and videos. You can add, edit, or delete content in this builder much like any other word processing tool.

Adding Text to your Story

  1. Simply click on a new line in the Story.
  2. Start typing to enter your text, or you can also paste from your clipboard.
  3. The text will be automatically saved to your Story.
  4. To move on to the next line, press the Enter key.

 

Text formatting

You can format your text by using a formatting menu, as well as with a combination of your keyboard keys. 
 

Icon

Type

Description

Key combination


Heading 1

Converts the entire line of text into a heading.
Note: This heading format will take precedence over bold or italic formatting.

 


Heading 2

Converts the entire line of text into the sub-heading.
Note: This heading format will take precedence over bold or italic formatting.

 


Quote

Converts the entire line of text into a quote.

 


Bold

Makes only the selected text bold.

 


Italic

Makes only the selected text italicized.

 


Link

Converts the selected text into a link.
When this icon is clicked, you will be asked to provide the URL to where the link should redirect to.

 

 

Numbered list

Creates a numbered/ordered list. See below for more details.

1.<space>

 

Bullet point list

Creates a bullet list. See below for more details.

-<space> or *<space>

 

Numbered list

To initiate a numbered list, follow the steps below:

  1. Type 1. in either an empty line, or at the start of existing text, and then press the space key. Note that this will not work if the above key combination is added in the middle of a text.
  2. The text line will be transformed to a numbered list. 
  3. After providing text, press Enter to move to the next numbered item in the list. You can repeat this to add multiple items to this list. 
  4. To end the list, simply press the Enter key once again without providing any text.

  

Bullet point list

The steps to create or edit a bullet point list are the same as above. However, the keyword combination to activate an unordered list could either be the hyphen key and then the space key, or the asterisk key and space.
 

Copying text into your Story

You can copy text from your Story, into another section of the same Story. In doing so, any formatting applied to the copied text will be retained when it is pasted. However, text copied from an external source, will not keep any of its original formatting.
 


Adding a Report to your Story

 You can add Yellowfin reports to your Story. When adding a report, there are 3 types of content that you can add:

  • Live reports
  • Bookmarks (a live report with pre-set filters)
  • Snapshots (a saved copy of report data)

Choosing which report artifact to add, depends on what your Story is about. Consider the following to help you choose:

  • Add a live report when you want to showcase the latest trends. Your report will display the most current data, as it is refreshed each time the Story is viewed.
  • Include a bookmarked report to display results of pre-selected filters. For instance, instead of showing the sales of all the regions, you could limit the report to display only sales of the Asian region.
  • Add a snapshot when you want to include static report data that does not change when the Story is refreshed. Ideal for when you want to point out results of a particular time period.

 
When you add a report artifact, you can choose which item to display for that report:

  • chart or table
  • the entire report canvas
  • or in case of multiple charts, you can choose which of the charts to display (the first one is displayed by default)

Add a report

  1. Click on the plus button at the start of a new line. (Note if you do not see this button, simply click on a new line. The button will appear if no text gets entered.)  
  2. Then select the report icon from the reanimated menu. 
  3. A popup will appear displaying all the reports that you have access to. 
  4. You can filter out relevant reports, snapshots or bookmarks in this popup by typing  the name in the Search bar. Then click on the search icon at the end of the search bar. 
  5. You also have the option of sorting the reports. Click on the Sort By button and select how you want to items to be sorted in this popup. 
  6. You also have the option of viewing the reports as thumbnails or in a list. 
  7. Click on the expand icon over a report's thumbnail, to maximise its image. 
  8. Click on a report thumbnail to select it. (You can select multiple reports to include them to the Story.)
  9. Note that each report will display summarized information, such as the total number of its existing charts, bookmarks and/or snapshots.  (You can click on the snapshot or bookmark icons to view those items for the specific report.) 
  10. To include a snapshot to the story, click on the Snapshot tab at the top-left and then on the thumbnail of a snapshot. 
  11. Similarly, follow the same steps to include one or more bookmark(s).
  12. Note: You can select multiple items to include them into the story at the same time. The order in which they are added to the story will depend on their order of selection.
  13. Once you've made all the selections, click on the Insert to Story button. The selected items will be included in your story.  
  14. Each item will include a caption that can also be edited.  
  15. The default formatting of the snapshot and bookmark captions indicate the artifact type, followed by the report name and ending with the name of the snapshot/bookmark.
  16. You can use the edit menu to change the display of the report artifact. Refer to the section below to learn more.
  17. Note that live reports and bookmarks will be automatically refreshed every time you access the story as their data may be changed. This may affect your story. (Snapshots will not be updated even if the data has changed, since they always remain static.)
  18. You can interact with report artifacts embedded in Stories. Interactions that are supported, include tooltips, drilling, keep/exclude filtering, brushing, annotation, etc.

Report display options

Hover over a report to bring up the report menu. This includes options to let you resize the report's displayed size, choose the report view to display in the story, that is the chart, table, or canvas, or let you view the report in the Report Builder.

Note: If an icon is dark, then that means it is enabled. Whereas, grey means that the functionality is not applied. Click on a greyed out icon to apply that functionality. For example, clicking on the grey 'table' icon will display the report's table.
 

Icon

Description


This resizes the report to a smaller size. You can switch between the small or big size of the report.
Size limit: 400 pixels in width.

 

Increases the displayed size of the report. (Enabled by default.)
Size limit: 700 pixels in width.


Displays only the report chart. In case of multiple charts, a popup will appear indicating the user to select one of the charts to be included. Click here for more details.


Displays the report table. Fits the size, but can be scrolled horizontally and vertically.


Displays the report canvas. (Disabled by default, and only available if the added report has a canvas.)
Note that a canvas cannot be resized in a story. The maximum size that can be displayed in the story is a default fit of 700 x 600 pixels. Bigger canvases will be cropped out. (When resizing the canvas in the Report Builder, pointers will indicate the maximum size that can fit a story.)


Redirects you to the report 'design' page, where you can edit the report and re-publish it. The changes will be reflected in a live report added to the Story. You can also use this to replace the report with a snapshot or bookmark, or add another artifact of the same report to your Story. Learn more here.

 

Replacing Report Artifacts

Report artifacts, such as live reports, snapshots and bookmarks, that have been added to a Story, can be replaced.

  1. Place your cursor over the report artifact to be replaced. Then click on the open report button. You will be taken to the report's design page. 
  2. Now you can replace the artifact with a snapshot, bookmark or report by choosing an existing artifact or creating a new one. 
  3. For example, we want to replace the artifact with an existing snapshot. Click on the Story button in the snapshot panel. 
  4. On doing so, a message will appear that provides you with two options.  
  5. Click on the Replace item in Story button to replace the artifact in the Story with the new one selected here (that is the snapshot).
  6. Or click Add to the end of Story to include this new artifact at the bottom of the Story (without replacing the old one).
  7. You can add multiple artifacts of the same report as well.
  8. Once done, click on the Return to Story button to get back to your draft Story. Note the artifact that you select here can only be included to the same Story. 

 
 

Chart Selection

If your report includes more than one chart, then you have the option of selecting which chart to include.

  1. Hover over a report, and when the menu appears, click on the chart icon. 
  2. In case of multiple charts, a popup will appear. Choose one of the charts that you want to include. Then click Insert to Story.

 

Sharing Hidden Content

If you add a secure report that is inaccessible to all your readers, then that report will be hidden for the user, with a message notifying them of the reason they can't view the report content. See the example below:

 
 


 

Other Story Content

Besides text and reports, you can include additional content such as images, videos and even dividers into a Story.

Adding an image to a Story

  1. Click on the plus button at the start of a new line. (Note if you do not see this button, simply click on a new line. The button will only appear if no text gets entered.)   
  2. Then select the image icon. 
  3. The image manager popup will appear. Use it to choose an existing image by selecting its thumbnail, or add a new image by using the Add button. 
  4. Once added, you can resize the image. See the chart below for the options.
  5. The image will be captioned with its name, which can also be edited or removed.

 

Image resizing options

Icon

Size option

Description

 

Original

Displays the image in its actual size. This option only appears if the original image width is less than 700 pixels.


Fit

Displays the image to fit the Story size, which is 700 pixels (that is, the image width will be stretched to 700 px while maintaining the aspect ratio). The image is displayed in this size by default.


Wide

The maximum size an image can be displayed in. (This option will stretch the width to 900 pixels, while maintaining the aspect ratio.)

Embedding a video to a Story

You can embed Youtube or Vimeo videos in this module. Here's a simple procedure that explains how to do this:

  1. Click on the plus button at the start of a new line. (Note if you do not see this button, simply click on a new line. The button will only appear if no text gets entered.)  
  2. Select the video icon. 
  3. Copy the link from either video platform, and paste it in the area specified. Press the Enter key.
  4. The video will be displayed, and captioned with the link. You can edit or remove this caption. 
  5. To delete the video, simply select it and press the Delete key.

Note: Although the video image will be displayed in a Story while in draft mode, it can only be played when the Story is published.

Adding a divider

Include a divider in your story to display a horizontal line that's used to divide your story content.

  1. Click on the plus button at the start of a new line. (Note if you do not see this button, simply click on a new line. The button will only appear if no text gets entered.)  
  2. Then select the divider icon. 
  3. A horizontal line will appear. 

 
 

Deleting attached content

You can delete an attached content, such as a report, image, video, etc, by selecting the item and pressing the backspace or delete key.
 


 

Publishing your Story

Once your story is ready, you can publish it. This involves activating the Story to make it available to other users besides the collaborators. When publishing, you can choose to make the story publicly accessible to all Yellowfin users, or a specific bunch of users by setting the access rights to the story accordingly.
Once you are ready to publish your story, follow these steps.

  1. Click Publish at the top-right corner of the story builder.
  2. In the new popup, you can enter or edit the story title. (If your story already has a title, the first field will display it; if you change the title, it will be updated in the story as well. If no title is provided, your story will be named 'Untitled Story'.)
  3. Provide a description for the story to assist users with understanding its purpose and content. 
  4. Select a folder and sub folder to save the story into. You will only be able to select folders you have access to. 
  5. Choose a story access setting:
    1. Public: permits all users with folder access to be able to view this story.
    2. Private: the author/collaborator may assign users access to the story. In this case, a new User Access tab will appear, allowing you to add specific users. 
  6. Click the Save button to save and activate the story.   Note: you can save your story as a draft and activate it at a later time, by expanding the drop down button next to Save and choosing Draft. 
  7. Once a Story is published, you can view its author, editors, and collaborators at the bottom of the page. 

 

Story Approval

For utmost security and data governance, you can set up your process so that your Stories will require approval before they're published and made available to the users. This is achieved by saving the Story into a private content folder. Only once a Story is approved, will it get published for readers. Also note that when a Story is pending approval, it can still be viewed and edited by its author and collaborators.
Each content folder only has one approver. If a user group gets assigned to approve Stories, the group member with the least number of tasks gets appointed as the content approver.
Any user with the Approval Admin role function will also be able to approve a story besides the appointed approver.
Approvers can only review the Story without making any changes to it. Following outlines the approval workflow:
 

  1. The author/collaborator publishes the story, selecting a secure folder to save it into. A message will appear on doing so (this only appears if the user saving this Story is not the approver of the folder). Note: Secure folders can be identified with the security icon next to them.     
  2. Enter a message to be sent to the approver with this request, and click the Request Approval button. 
  3. The approver will get a message on their timeline, notifying them of this update.
  4. On accessing this story, they will see it in its Preview mode. If the approver is happy to approve the Story, they will need to click on the Approval Required button. 
  5. This brings up the approval message in the Activity Panel. (Simultaneously, this panel message will also come up if the approver clicks on the Timeline message for the Story.)
  6. Click Approve if the Story is ready to be published. 
  7. Once approved, users with rights to the Story will be able to view it. Approved Stories also include the name of the approver, increasing the reader's trust in the information shared. 
  8. Alternatively, you can reject a story, in which case it will not be published. (Warning: you cannot undo this action, until the Story is updated and requested for approval again.)
    1. In the activity panel, click on the dropdown button and choose Reject.
    2. You must enter a reason for rejecting the Story. Click Submit. 
    3. The Story will then be placed in draft mode. You can repeat the approval process again after updating the Story.

 

Sharing a published Story

Once a Story is published, you will be able to share it. Public Stories can be shared with any user, however if a Story is private then it can only be shared with specific users that are allowed to view it. Learn how to do this below.
Note: To be able to share a published Story, you will need the "Distribute Story" role function. Learn more about this here.
 

  1. Once your story has been published, click on the new Share button in the top right corner.
  2. In the new popup, specify the user to share this story with, and if required, provide an additional message.
  3. Then click on Submit. 
  4. The user will be notified of this with a message on their Timeline.

Editing a published Story

If a published story requires changes, it will need to be viewed in draft or edit mode. Only the story author (or a user with 'Story Admin' role functionality) can put the story back in draft mode, so that collaborators can update it. Note however, that the last published version of the story will still be available for readers, until the updated version is published. 
The steps below demonstrate how draft mode is enabled on a story.

  1. While the story is opened, click More and select Edit. 
  2. Alternatively, click on the menu option of the story thumbnail in the Browse page, and click Edit. Click on the Ok button when the confirmation popup appears.  
  3. The story will change to, or open in, draft mode, allowing you to edit it as normal. Note that while the story is being updated, the latest published version would still be accessible by viewers.
  4. To make the updates visible to other viewers, you must publish the story again. This will replace the story with the latest version.

 

Previewing a Story

You can preview the final outcome of a Story to see what it looks like to the readers at any time. Follow these steps:

  1. While the story is opened, click More and then Preview.  
  2. You will then be able to view the Story in preview mode.
  3. To go back to draft mode, click Edit Story.  

 

Delete a Story

The author is the only user who can delete a Story. This way even if a collaborator copies a Story and becomes the author of the copied version, they will not be able to delete the original Story.
Note that a Story that is currently being edited cannot be deleted. 
The process of deleting a Story is same if the Story is published, or still in draft mode.

  1. Locate the Story that you want to delete in the Browse page.
  2. Click on its menu icon, and select Delete. (This option will only appear if you are the Story's author.) 
  3. A confirmation popup will appear. Click Delete if you are certain you want to delete the Story. 
  4. The Story will be deleted permanently.

 
 



  

 

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