Introduction

The Adaptive Switcher enables effortless switching between different views of data, allowing for easy exploration and analysis. For example, users can easily transition from viewing sales performance by individual employees to identifying top-selling products and revenue-generating products.

Achieve huge gains in performance and user experience with the Adaptive Switcher Sisense add-on. This innovative tool provides the capability to switch dimensions and measures of widgets on-the-fly, giving users the power to explore their data and reconfigure widgets in real-time.

Designed for non-dashboard designers, the Adaptive Switcher increases the ability to explore data without replicating widgets over and over again, leading to a significant reduction in the number of widgets required on your dashboard. Say goodbye to slow loading times and scrolling and searching, with RAPID BI's Sisense Adaptive Switcher.

By utilizing the Adaptive Switcher, users can do more with less space, as it eliminates the need for multiple widgets to display similar information. Instead of having two separate widgets for sales by team and sales by employee, users can simply switch between the two views with one widget.

The widget design panel offers a wealth of customization options. You have full control over aspects such as colour, padding, alignment, font size, and even the option to hide the heading if desired. This add-on is widely utilized in Sisense, and the customization options have been developed based on customer feedback and requests to give you enhanced control of your dashboard appearance.

You can also provide a list of widget ID’s to either include or exclude from being modified when a user makes a selection with the Adaptive Switcher.

Getting Started

Before Installing this Add-on, please make sure you've installed and configured the RAPID Plugin Manager.

Download the latest RAPID BI Plugins from the Members Area.

More information can be found here: https://www.rapidbi.com.au/members/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/getting-started

Installation

1. Download the plugin

2. Extract the zip file to `\Plugins` folder in Sisense (File Manager can be accessed via. Admin > Server & Hardware > System Management > File Manager (top right hand corner))

3. Ensure that the RAPID Plugins Manager has also been installed and enabled in the addons page.

4. After rebuild, the plugin should be accessible through the advanced widget editor. You will need to refresh your browser.

How to use

Adding Widget to Dashboard

1. On a dashboard, select the + Widget button in the top right hand corner

2. When the New Widget Prompt appears, select Advanced Configuration in the bottom left hand corner.

3. When the Widget Editor appears, select the widget type in the top left hand corner and select the RAPID Switcher plugin.

Widget Overview

Below is an image outlining the key areas of the initial Widget Editor view.

1. Items Panel

This panel can contain either Dimensions OR Measures, but not both.

The designer can add items that their end users can use to switch between existing items widgets on the dashboard.

We can also add formulas as items in this panel.

The Switcher relies on the items title to know what widget items to switch out on the dashboard.

e.g. A widget on the dashboard contains 'CountryName' in it's default state. Because 'CountryName' is included in the Adaptive Switcher items, when we select 'TeamManager' above, the widgets item will switch from CountryName to TeamManager.

2. Widget Preview

This panel previews what the Adaptive Switcher will look like on the dashboard. It is affected by the styling changes the designer makes on the design panel.

3. Design Panel

This panel allows configuration of the Adaptive Switcher.

It allows the designer to change styling settings, header details and configure advanced functionality (such as selecting specific widgets to target or ignore).

Adding Items to Widgets

To add fields to the switcher widget, navigate to the left items panel and select the 'Add +' option. This will bring up a selection box with the fields available to choose from. 

Select your required field such as 'CountryName', 'Region' and 'TeamManager' in the above example, this will add the items to the widget. 

To add this widget to your dashboard, click apply in the top left.

Switching between Items on Widgets

To switch between items on the switcher widget, the user can navigate to where the switcher is located and click on the down arrow or anywhere on the grey area below. This will bring up the selection panel where you can choose which values you would like displayed on your dashboard or associated widget by switching them in.

Design Options

The switcher comes with many design options available. To implement these design options, click on the pencil icon above the switcher widget.

Once in the widget editor view, navigate to the right hand panel and click on the 'design' header. This header gives four options, general styling, header styling, dropdown styling and advanced. 

Within the general styling, you can adjust:

• Switcher Type - Select the type of switcher, dropdown being the default option. 
• Widget header - shown or hidden, which can be seen in the top left 'Dashboard Switcher'
• Dropdown header - shown or hidden, which can be seen as the white on blue ground 'Switcher' above the dropdown.
• Rounded Corners - The slider can be adjusted for more or less rounded corners - The below filter has roundest corners applied. 
• Padding - Users can select how much padding space they would like around their widget on the top, left, right and bottom
• Width - Adjust how much space the widget takes up in it's tile. The below widget is set to 50%, meaning it will take up half the assigned tile space.
• Alignment - Align the widget to the left, center or right of the assigned tile.

Within the header styling, you can adjust:

• The header title
• Heading background colour to match your other widgets/dashboard.
• Heading text colour
• Font Size - Small, Medium or Large
• Alignment - Left, Center or Right.

Within the switcher styling, you can adjust:

• Switcher Placeholder Title - which has been changed to 'Dashboard Switcher' on the below filter
• A range of colour options to match your widgets/dashboard - Placeholder, background, detail, font, selected and border.
• Dropdown Mode - Box option or check - below shows an example of box.
• Show Select All - Gives the option for users to select all available variables in the switcher. 
• Switcher Sort Order - Sorts filter options to ascending or descending order A-Z or Z-A, or none.
• Alignment - Designers can change the alignment of their dropdown title to left, center or right.

Within the switcher functionality, you can adjust:

• Switcher List Type: Select from including OR excluding variables in the switcher list. 
• Select Widget ID: To apply to an individual widget/s, rather than the entire dashboard click on the 'Select the widget ID' option. Below you will be prompted to choose a widget ID for the switcher to apply to. To make applying to widgets easier, give each widget on your dashboards an easily recognisable name. 

There is also the standard Sisense design options available below the RAPID BI design options.