Scheduled Reports

Introduction to Daasity’s scheduled reporting capabilities – a powerful way to automate the delivery of dashboards and reports to your inbox on a regular schedule.e

Scheduling Reports in the Daasity App (In-app)

For users in the Daasity embedded app, scheduling a report or dashboard is done through Daasity’s interface. You can schedule any dashboard or saved Look to be sent out via email. Here are the steps:

1. Open the Scheduling Menu: Navigate to the dashboard you want to schedule. In the top-right corner of the dashboard, click the menu (often this might be a “Copy Dashboard” icon or a “…” menu). In the dropdown, look for an option like “New Schedule” or “Schedule Delivery”. In the current Daasity UI, there is a “Copy (or share) Dashboard” menu that includes New Schedule. Click New Schedule. [Insert screenshot: scheduling dropdown menu with “New Schedule” highlighted]

   • Pro Tip: You can also access scheduling from a central place. In the left-side menu, Daasity has a Schedules section. If you click Schedules > New Schedule, it will prompt you to choose which dashboard or report you want to schedule. This is useful if you’re not already viewing the dashboard.

2. Choose the Dashboard or Report: If you used the side menu method or if the UI prompts you, select which dashboard (or explore/Look) you intend to schedule. If you started from the dashboard itself, it will already be selected. You might see a list or tile of dashboards to pick from if you came through the general “New Schedule” button. [Insert screenshot: “Choose dashboard to schedule” dialog]

3. Set Schedule Parameters: Now, define what you want sent and when. You’ll typically see fields to configure:

   • Schedule Name (optional): Give the schedule a name so you can recognize it later (e.g., “Monday Morning KPI Email”).

   • Recur Frequency: Options like daily, weekly, monthly, etc., plus possibly specific days of week or month. Choose when the report should go out (e.g., every weekday at 8 AM, or every 1st of the month).

   • Time of Day: Select the time you want the email to be sent. Consider your data update schedule – if data refreshes by 7am daily, scheduling the email at 8am ensures the latest data is included.

   • Filters (if applicable): Some scheduling interfaces let you override dashboard filters for the email. For example, if you want to send a last-week snapshot every Monday, you might set the date filter to a relative period like “Last 7 days” or a custom filter. In the embedded Daasity UI, the schedule will usually use whatever filters are currently set on the dashboard unless you specify otherwise.

   [Insert screenshot: scheduling parameters form – showing frequency and timing options]

4. Choose Format and Recipients: Decide on the format of the emailed report and who will receive it.

   • Format: Typically PDF or Image (sometimes called “Visualization”). PDF is recommended for multi-tile dashboards because it will include the entire dashboard nicely formatted as an attachment . The “Visualization” or inline format might embed the chart images in the email body – this can be useful for quick glance, but might not always render perfectly in all email clients, especially for large dashboards. If scheduling a single Look or a data table, you might also have CSV as an option (to send raw data).

   • Recipients: Enter the email addresses of whoever should get the report. You can include people who are not Daasity users (e.g., your agency or a boss). In the Daasity App UI, you typically type an email and click an Add button to add it to the list . Add each recipient one by one. Ensure addresses are correct. There may not be an address book, so it’s manual entry. For multiple recipients, Daasity’s interface requires adding them individually (unlike Looker’s which uses comma-separated addresses – see Enterprise section). [Insert screenshot: adding email recipients and selecting PDF format]

5. Cadence and Duration: If not already specified in parameters, confirm the schedule frequency (for example, every Monday) and if needed set a start and end date. By default, the schedule will start immediately and run indefinitely. If this report is only needed for a period (say for a 3-month campaign), you could set it to end on a certain date.

6. Create/Save the Schedule: Once all fields are filled, click Create or Save Schedule. The schedule will be saved, and you should see it in a list of scheduled deliveries (often under the Schedules section). [Insert screenshot: confirmation of created schedule]

That’s it – the dashboard will now be emailed out per the schedule! The emails will come from a Daasity/Looker email address and typically have the dashboard title in the subject line. It’s good practice to do a quick test: either there may be a “Send Test” button (Looker provides one; Daasity’s interface may allow sending a test email to yourself ) or you can create it and wait for the first scheduled send to verify everything looks as expected.

Scheduling Reports in Looker UI

For Enterprise customers using Looker directly, scheduling is accomplished via Looker’s native scheduling interface, which is slightly different but conceptually similar. Here’s how to schedule in Looker:

1. Open Looker Dashboard & Schedule Menu: Log in to Looker and navigate to the dashboard you want to schedule. In the Looker dashboard, click the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner (this is the Dashboard options menu). In that menu, click “Schedule Delivery” . This opens Looker’s scheduling dialog. [Insert screenshot: Looker dashboard with 3-dot menu and “Schedule” option]

2. Configure Schedule Settings: Looker will present a form with several sections:

   • Title: (Optional) Name your schedule (if you want to distinguish it in the list of schedules).

   • When: Choose the timing (daily/weekly/etc., specific days, time of day, time zone). Looker’s scheduler is flexible – e.g., you can do “every weekday at 9:00 AM PST” or “on the 1st of each month at 6:00 UTC”.

   • Data Options: If your dashboard has filters, you can set custom filter values for the emailed version. By default, it will use the dashboard’s saved default filters. You could, for instance, set a filter to “is in the past 7 days” to always send last week’s data, regardless of what filter you have when saving.

   • Format: Choose output format – common choices are PDF, CSV zip file (for multiple tile data), or image. For dashboards, PDF is usually best. If scheduling a single Look or explore, CSV might be available and appropriate.

   • Additional Options: Looker offers options like whether to include results (for data files), whether to send if there’s no data (you might disable empty sends), and whether to apply any limiting filters. You can also add a custom message in the email body (e.g., “Here is the weekly dashboard. Please review numbers before our Monday meeting.”).

   [Insert screenshot: Looker schedule configuration dialog]

3. Recipients: In Looker’s dialog, you specify recipients by typing their emails into the “Email addresses” field (separated by commas). If a recipient is a Looker user, you can also choose them from a dropdown or type their name. For external addresses, just type the full email. Make sure to separate multiple addresses with commas or semicolons as per the interface hint. Unlike the Daasity embedded UI, Looker allows adding multiple addresses in one go with comma separation.

4. Advanced Options: You can click on Advanced Options for things like:

   • Running the schedule as a specific user (if you want the data to be filtered by user-specific permissions; usually not needed in Daasity context since all data is global to your company).

   • Choosing to zip the files (if sending CSVs or multiple attachments).

   • Setting a datagroup or condition (advanced: e.g., only send when data has been updated).

   • In most cases, you won’t need to tweak these for standard report delivery.

5. Save the Schedule: Once configured, hit Save. The schedule will be active. In Looker, you can manage schedules by going to the user menu -> Schedules or via the Content folder interface, you might see a list of scheduled plans. You can always return to the dashboard’s 3-dot menu -> “All Scheduled Deliveries” to edit or delete the schedule.

A nice thing in Looker’s interface is the ability to send a test email before saving. This option (often a “Send Test” button) will send the report to your own email so you can verify formatting . It’s highly recommended to test, especially if external executives are on the recipient list – you want that PDF to look good!

Delivery Format and Options

Regardless of Growth or Enterprise, you have some common choices to make in scheduling:

• PDF vs Visualization Image: For multi-element dashboards, PDF is the most reliable choice as it preserves the layout across multiple pages if needed. The PDF will show each dashboard tile and the titles, usually one page wide (and multi-page if the dashboard is long vertically). The “Visualization” or image option typically takes a long screenshot of the dashboard and embeds it in the email body. This can be quick to view but sometimes email clients clip large images or they may not load if images are blocked. Use PDF when in doubt, especially for formal reporting.

• CSV Export: If you schedule a Look (table of data) rather than a whole dashboard, you might send it as a CSV attachment. This is useful for sharing raw data with analysts or if an external system needs to ingest it. Note that if your Look has visualization, scheduling it as CSV will send the raw data behind it. If your dashboard has multiple tiles and you want data, Looker can send a zip file containing a CSV for each tile (this is an option in Enterprise scheduling). That’s pretty granular and usually only used if someone needs to pivot or compute outside of Daasity.

• Email Body Message: You can add a custom message in the scheduled email. For example: “Subject: Weekly E-Commerce Performance – Body: Hi team, attached is the weekly performance dashboard. Key callouts: Revenue up 20% WoW, CPC rising on Facebook. – Daasity Dashboard Auto-Email”. This helps recipients know what to look for. In the Growth UI scheduler, there may be a simple field for message or none at all (it might just send a generic email). In Looker’s, there is a field for adding a message which will appear in the email body.

• Timezone Considerations: The schedule will operate on a specific timezone. Make sure the scheduled send time aligns with your timezone or the timezone of your data updates. For example, if your data warehouse updates at 3 AM UTC daily, you might schedule at 4 AM UTC to ensure fresh data. If your recipients are in different timezones, consider that a 6 AM send in Eastern time might hit West Coast recipients at 3 AM their time (but since it’s email, they’ll just see it when they wake up, which might be fine).

• Skipping No-Data Sends: If the report might sometimes be empty (e.g., a daily report for a segment that occasionally has no data), you can often choose to “Do not send if empty.” This prevents confusing blank emails.

Managing and Editing Schedules

After creating a schedule, you might need to modify it or turn it off:

• In the Daasity app, go to the Schedules section (usually in the left menu). There you should see a list of all active scheduled reports you have set up. You can click on one to edit its settings or delete it. For example, you might change the recipient list if someone left the team or pause a schedule if the report is temporarily not needed.

• In Looker (Enterprise), click your user profile icon and choose “My Scheduled Plans” (or “Schedules”). You’ll see all schedules you’ve created (and possibly those for content you have manage access on). You can edit or delete from there. Also, from a specific dashboard’s menu, you can see all schedules related to that dashboard which is handy if multiple people set up schedules on the same dashboard.

• Ownership: Note that schedules are usually owned by the user who created them. If that person leaves the company or loses access, the schedules might stop (or need to be re-assigned). It’s a good idea for critical reports to maybe have a generic account or at least multiple admins know how to recreate them if needed. Daasity support can often transfer schedule ownership if required.

• Email Deliverability: Check spam or filters if people aren’t receiving the reports initially. The emails will come from a system address (something like [email protected] or similar). It may help to have your IT whitelist the sender domain. Also instruct recipients to mark the emails as “important” or move to their main inbox if they use focused inboxes.

• Updating Dashboards vs Schedule: Remember, the schedule sends whatever the dashboard’s current state is at send time. If you make changes to the dashboard (like adding a new tile) or its filters, those will reflect in the next email. You generally do not need to re-do the schedule when the dashboard updates. However, if you rename or move the dashboard, the schedule might need an update to point to the correct content – so try not to break the link. Most often, if you simply edit content, you’re fine.

Using scheduled reports, you ensure that everyone stays informed with the latest data without manual effort. It’s essentially “set it and forget it” for recurring reporting. Many teams set up daily sales digests, weekly marketing summaries, end-of-month performance packs, and more through this feature. It saves time and creates a consistent reporting cadence for your organization.

Use Cases for Scheduled Reports

To wrap up, here are a few common scenarios where scheduling dashboards is especially useful:

• Daily Flash Sales Email: Every morning at 7 AM, send yesterday’s sales dashboard to the executive team. They wake up to key metrics in their inbox – no need to log in.

• Weekly Marketing Summary: Every Monday, send a dashboard that overviews last week’s ad spend, ROAS, new customers, and top campaigns to the marketing and finance teams.

• Monthly Investor Update: On the 1st of each month, automatically deliver a high-level KPI report (perhaps a PDF of a “Company Overview” dashboard) to investors or board members.

• Exception Reporting: Schedule a daily report that only sends if certain conditions are met – for example, a dashboard filtered to “today’s orders with problems” with a condition to only send if count > 0. This requires some custom filter logic, but it’s doable so that people only get an email if something needs attention.

Scheduled reporting in Daasity is a powerful way to make sure insights find the right people at the right time. Just set up the schedule once, and Daasity/Looker will take care of the rest!

[Note:] For detailed reference on scheduling, see Looker’s documentation on Sending and Scheduling Dashboards (applicable to Daasity’s Looker backend), as well as Looker's documentation on Conditional Sharing & Alerts (discusses how to set threshold-based automated reports, triggered by an event in the data.)

If you have any trouble with schedules not sending or needing to set up a large batch of schedules, reach out to Daasity support for assistance.