When configuring a Metric Insights instance, the recommended approach is to onboard content prior to onboarding Users. To streamline this process, Metric Insights offers a range of tools designed to support this workflow.
Please refer to this article for further details on recommended content onboarding features.
Create Categories and Assign Elements to Them
Categories are used to group content by topic, or by the roles and responsibilities of the users accessing them. An Element cannot be created without being assigned to a Category. It is strongly recommended that content be assigned to a relevant Category to prevent unauthorized access to data.
Once an Element has been created, it can be moved between Categories as needed.
Folders vs Categories
While both Folders and Categories are used to organize content on the Catalog page, they still have some differences:
- Category is content management tool, required for Element creation. They are used to organize and group content (e.g., Reports, Metrics, Datasets) across the platform in a structured hierarchy. Elements and Datasets in Metric Insights are always created within a Category.
- Folder is an optional functionality. They provide personalized organization of content on the Homepage for individual Users or Groups. Folders are unique to each User. Refer to the Understanding Folders article for a more in-depth description of Folders' various functionalities.
For a more detailed comparison, refer to the Understanding Folders vs. Categories article.
Unlike Categories, Folders aren't required in every case. In some scenarios, Folders aren't used at all. In other cases involving a complex Category structure, Categories can be hidden from the Catalog page entirely, with only Folders used to simplify Users' access to content. Folder usage should be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Content Autosync
The Content Auto Synchronization functionality automates the creation of Elements from the BI tool's objects, enabling you to bring all content from an external BI tool into Metric Insights in a single, automated batch.
There are two types of Elements in Metric Insights that can be automatically synchronized with external BI tools: External Reports and External Content.
- External Content is an Element used to display data located on a web page. For more details, refer to the Configure External Content Auto Synchronization article.
- External Reports not only automatically gather and display data stored in an external source, but also allow filters to be applied to that data, enabling flexible customization of its display. For more details, refer to the External Report Auto Synchronization Overview article.
While Autosync functionality streamlines content onboarding, newly created Elements still require additional organization. Best practice is to incorporate content auto-synchronization into a Publishing Workflow, ensuring that new content undergoes proper validation, is accurate, and includes all necessary tags and glossary terms.
Adding Content in Bulk
If you'd prefer not to bring all content from the external BI tool via Autosync, numerous Reports or other content pieces can still be uploaded to Metric Insights in bulk. For more details, refer to the Bulk-Add External Reports and Bulk-Add External Content articles.
After uploading, all Elements must be validated and sorted into appropriate Categories prior to publishing; incorporating them into a Publishing Workflow is recommended.
Check User Access
Once all necessary content has been uploaded, sorted, and verified, confirm that Users have the appropriate access.
For more details on User onboarding, check User Onboarding Best Practices. For more details on granting access to Users, check Security Model Best Practices.