Creating Custom Dashboards

As you know, Dashboards are a great way for you to present your profitability, cashflow and analysis data in an attractive graphical way to showcase your information in a snapshot.

Accessing Boards

Go to Analysis > Boards to access available pre-built Dashboards, ones you have created and saved (My Boards) or create your own Custom Dashboards.

Your Dashboards will be divided into 4 segments. The segments labelled Profitability, Cashflow and Analysis are the default Dashboards provided by Castaway to help you target your analysis to specific  common areas of a Project. The fourth segment, called My Boards is where you go to access any Custom Dashboards you have created and saved.

Create your own Custom Dashboard

To begin creating your own Custom Dashboard, click on the Custom Dashboard button.

A Custom Dashboard Builder modal will appear, providing you options to create your board. The first thing you need to do is to give your Dashboard a name. 

Note: You will not be able to proceed with building your Dashboard without entering a Dashboard name. This is a mandatory step.

You are then provided with two options:

• Start from a Prebuilt Dashboard, OR
• Build your Own

Start from a Pre-built Dashboard

A Pre-built Dashboard is a Dashboard that has already been considered and prepared for you by Castaway. It’s a great way for you to quickly pull together a set of boards which you can modify as appropriate to highlight trends in Profitability, Cashflow or Analysis. This can come in handy when you are pressed for time and need some reliable and relevant graphics, in a timely manner, to represent your Project financials.

To generate a pre-built Dashboard ready to modify:

1. Click on Custom Dashboard
2. Enter a Dashboard Name
3. Stay on the Start from a Prebuilt tab
4. Review your pre-built options and select the one most relevant to you and your Project
5. Click on Start Building to generate the Dashboard

After generating your Dashboard, you'll be taken to the Board Builder where you can review, customise and edit your board. If one or more of the boards presented is not what you require, you can always remove them and add your own. We have provided you with the tools to tell your Project story the way you want to. 

Once you're happy with the changes you've made (if any), click on Save & Present to immediately enter Presentation Mode, or just click Save to return to your main Board workspace.

Custom Build your Own Dashboard

Castaway offers you the flexibility to build your own Dashboard from scratch. You have access to tools which enable you to tailor the information you present to your audience.

This can be useful if you are an advisor with multiple clients requiring different outputs or when you are tasked with reporting to several stakeholders with different interests. 

To begin building your own custom dashboard:

1. Click on Custom Dashboard
2. Enter a Dashboard Name
3. Navigate to the Build Your Own tab
4. Select a board layout
5. Click on Start Building to generate the Dashboard

Add Board Widgets

Widgets are blocks of data you can place on your Dashboard to display your report.

Castaway offers 3 types of widgets to choose from:

1. Graph: A graph widget allows you to represent your financial information as graphs and charts. You can choose to use one of Castaway's inbuilt graph widgets or to build your own. If you want to build your own graph, you'll need to select the style of graph you need to display your data. Castaway offers many graph styles, including column graphs, bar charts, stacked spline waves, and pie charts.
2. Image: You can include a range of different images in your work. Image types supported by Castaway include the following extensions: *.JPEG, *.PNG, *.GIF, *.BMP, and *.SVG. Adding an image allows you to include your organisation or client logo in your Dashboards or Storyboards. You may also want to include photos, screenshots, stock images etc. to provide more context to the story you're trying to communicate.
3. Text: A text widget gives you the space to add your own commentary to the graphs or images you choose to include in your dashboard. The text widget can be used to add disclaimers and statements, analysis, more insights to the data, highlight specific areas to review, or to even insert assumptions so that your audience can understand where the trends are coming from.

To add a Block Widget:

1. Click or drag the Block Widget to your board
2. Select the Widget type
3. Modify or create the block as you choose

Remove or Clear Widget

Castaway offers you the option to either remove the Block Widget completely or clear the Block Widget from your previous selection. By clearing the Block Widget, you will essentially be deleting any data in the block while keeping the position of the block on your dashboard.

To exercise either option, click on the 3-dot box at the top-right of the block widget and select either Remove or Clear Widget.

Reposition or Resize a Widget

After adding a Widget to your board, you may want to rearrange or adjust the Widgets to make your board appear more attractive. 

To reposition the Widget, just click to select the specific Widget, then drag and move it to your new position. 

To resize the Widget, click to select the widget, navigate to any of the size markers and click and drag to adjust the size of the Widget.

Save your Dashboard

Once you've organised your board and you are happy to proceed, click Save to save your progress so far, or Save & Present to save your work and immediately enter Presentation mode to review your completed dashboard.