Skip to main content

Using Advanced Insights

  • Last updated:
  • Administrators
  • Power Users
Disclaimer: The advanced mode of Insights embeds tools and functionalities from AWS QuickSight. In this article, you will find links to the AWS Quicksight User guide. Some of the QuickSight features are not included in Advanced Insights because they have been deactivated, predefined in your account, or they are managed by Docebo. For this reason, you will find some differences between the features described in the QuickSight User guide and the ones included in Advanced Insights. These differences are detailed in the following chapters.

Introduction

The Insights area of your learning platform allows you to collect data and useful information on the activities taking place on your platform. Insights comes with a number of built-in dashboards. You can also build your own custom dashboards picking visuals from the Visual library according to your needs.

Learn more about Creating and managing custom dashboards.

You can go one step further using Advanced Insights.

Please note! Advanced Insights is only available for custom dashboards. It is not available for the built-in dashboards as those are not editable.

Learn more on DoceboU! Want to learn more about Advanced Insights? Have a look at the dedicated course on DoceboU! Introduction to Advanced Insights (opens in a new tab)

Reasons to use Advanced Insights

Using Advanced Insights can grant you the following benefits: 

  • Build fully customized dashboards: Leverage the power of analytics in a full authoring mode embedded in your platform.
  • Choose your own metrics: Build a specific analysis aligned with your business logic.
  • Create your own visuals: Create visuals from scratch, customizing each detail, from the data to the look and feel.
Warning! Using Advanced Insights requires some expertise in Business Intelligence and Data Analysis.

Important notes about the use of the QuickSights User guide

Some of QuickSight features are not included in Advanced Insights because they have been deactivated, predefined in your account, or they are managed by Docebo. For this reason, you will find some differences between the features described in the QuickSight User guide and the ones  included in Advanced Insights. 

Please disregard any references or dedicated articles in the QuickSight documentation about: 

  • QuickSight console
  • Account / user management
  • Analysis management
  • Data source management
  • Dataset creation and management / data connections
  • Data preparation (except calculated fields)
  • Data refresh / SPICE
  • Publishing dashboards
  • Sharing dashboards or analyses
  • Themes
  • Paginated reports
  • Anomaly detections
  • Alerts
  • Q / Generative BI

Limitations related to AWS QuickSight

Advanced Insights relies on QuickSight and therefore has the same limitations as this solution described in the following sections:

Accessing Advanced Insights

To use the Advanced mode of Insights, follow these steps: 

  • Locate the Insights area in the Navigation menu > Data and analytics (chart icon).
  • Create or access a custom dashboard in edit mode as described in the article Creating and managing custom dashboards. Then go to the Builder tab.
  • Activate the Advanced mode toggle in the bottom left corner of the page. 

You will access all the available QuickSight functionalities embedded in your platform allowing you to build your visuals and your dashboard. 

The page will include one single sheet (with the visuals you have already added to your dashboard, if any). You can also add other sheets to the dashboard following the instruction outlined in this article: Adding sheets (opens in a new tab).

When working with Advanced Insights, we suggest enabling the full-screen mode to maximize the workspace area, making it more comfortable to use all the available tools.

Please note! Advanced Insights is available to Superadmins only. When a Power User is granted permission to create and view dashboards, they cannot access Advanced Insights mode and will not see the corresponding toggle when editing the dashboards they have created.

Using customization panels

When you start editing a dashboard with Advanced Insights, you will see a header allowing you to customize the dashboard.

 

Let’s take a look at the main options:

  • Dataset: Add datasets to your visuals and edit them.
  • Visualization: Add visuals to your dashboard, edit a visual type or the data related to the visual.
  • Filters: Update filters and narrow down data.
  • Parameters: Define the additional fields you want to use. More on the use of additional fields for Advanced Insights
  • Insights: Suggestions of some of the interesting insights you can get from the data
  • Properties: Access and edit the properties of each visual
  • Add a visual: Quickly create a new visual
  • Add text: Add descriptions and other notes

Using datasets

The datasets provided by Docebo cannot be modified, and new datasets cannot be added. However, it is possible to extend the datasets by adding calculated fields.

To select datasets, click on Data in the header to open the panel. Each visual can be linked to only one dataset. The datasets are not listed alphabetically but you can easily look for them using the dedicated search field within the dropdown menu.

Insights currently covers six topics. Each topic works with different datasets that only differ by a few fields: 

  • Certifications
  • Course enrollments and completions
  • ILT attendance
  • Learning plan enrollments
  • Time spent on learning
  • Users
  • Tests

For each topic, Advanced Insights offers a main dataset as well as datasets that capture specific aspects of that topic. For example, if you want to conduct a branch-level analysis on a particular topic, a dedicated dataset is provided for that purpose. This is especially common for resources where multiple values are assigned to a single record. You will find below a list of the different types of datasets available: 

  • Main dataset: For each topic, you will find a main dataset. This is the dataset you should use by default unless you need to analyze, filter, or display results by branch, by group or another item. A main dataset is available for each topic covered by Advanced Insights.
  • Dataset showing results by branch: Use this dataset if you need to analyze, filter or display results by branch. The first 9 levels of the branch hierarchy are included and separated by level. This is a version of the main dataset where the results for each user are expanded to reflect their assignment to multiple branches (of different levels). A dataset by branch is available for each topic covered by Advanced Insights.
  • Data showing results by group: Use this dataset if you need to analyze, filter, or display results by group. This is a version of the main dataset where the results for each user are expanded to reflect their assignment to multiple groups. A dataset by group is available for each topic covered by Advanced Insights.
  • Dataset showing results by instructor: Use this dataset if you need to analyze, filter, or display results by instructor. This is a version of the main ILT dataset with the attendances in ILT sessions expanded to reflect the instructors of the sessions. This dataset is only available for the ILT topic. 

Please note.  We strongly recommend against adding datasets to dashboards—even those available through the Add new dataset option—as doing so can cause loading and performance issues.

Download the Advanced Insights dataset fields and description file for more details on all the available fields (PDF, 316KB).

Using additional fields as a visual field of filter

Please note! At the moment, five User additional fields and five Course additional fields can be used per dashboard. The additional field parameters are only available for the Course enrollments main dataset. The use of additional fields will soon be extended to all datasets and the number of available additional fields will increase.

The user additional fields and course additional fields you have set on your platform can be used when editing a dashboard with Advanced Insights. To use an additional field, follow the steps below: 

  • Start editing your dashboard with the Advanced Insights mode
  • Click on Data in the header and select Parameters
  • In the Parameters section that opens, look for one of these parameters:
    • CustomUserAdditionalField1
    • CustomUserAdditionalField2
    • CustomCourseAdditionalField1
    • CustomCourseAdditionalField2
  • Click on the ellipsis menu next to the parameter name and select Edit parameter

Please note! For each of the parameters listed above, you will see one version named [parameter name]_value and another one named [parameter name]_translation. This second version simply gives you the user additional field label that you selected. The parameter to use is [parameter name]_value.

For example: if you have defined the first User additional field, you will have to select user_additional_field_1_value in the dataset field list. The other available field user_additional_field_1_translation will include the User additional field label that you have selected.

Once you start editing the parameter, follow these guidelines:

  • Do not edit the Name field.
  • Edit the CustomAdditionalFieldLanguage field, to add the label of the additional field you want to use. Please note: The value you enter here must precisely match the label of the additional field set on your platform (respecting the case).
  • If your additional field label is not set in English on the platform, you must edit the Static default value field to set it to the language used.  

After completing these steps, you can use Additional fields for your visuals. 

For example, if you have defined the first user additional field, select user_additional_field_1_value in the dataset field list by clicking on the field name. 

If no value for this additional field has been defined for a specific user, the corresponding cell will show a null value. 

If you want to use this field to filter the visual or the whole dashboard, follow the steps outlined in the Using filters chapter of this document. Edit the filter and select Custom filter from the Filter type drop-down menu. You can choose to include or exclude multiple values from your filter using the Filter condition drop-down and entering one value per line. When you are done editing your filter, click on Apply.

The steps described here should be applied for each dashboard, which means that the additional fields used can be different for every dashboard.

Adding a visual

To add a visual to your dashboard, you can use the Visual library as described in the article Creating and managing custom dashboards. 

When using Advanced Insights, you can edit any visual or create one from scratch. 

Read the following articles to learn how to create and use visuals: 

Managing visuals’ fields

Read the following articles to find out how to manage the visuals’ fields: 

Using filters

When creating or editing a dashboard with Advanced Insights, you can set predefined filters. Filters can be applied to a single visual, the entire sheet, or the entire dashboard. Follow these steps to add and configure predefined filters:

  • Click on Filters in the header
  • In the Filters panel that opens, click on Add and select a field. You can use the search bar to find the field you are looking for.
  • The filter is added to your list of predefined filters. Click on the ellipsis menu next to the filter’s name and select Edit.
  • Set the filter type, condition, and value and click on Apply.

Once you have set predefined filters following the steps outlined above, and you have added them to a visual or a dashboard, these filters will be available to Insights’ users. Users can use them to filter a visual or a dashboard but they cannot modify them. 

Example: If you have created a visual using the Course enrollments dataset and including the Course filter, then this filter will be available to users when viewing the visual.  

Please note! Date filters require an extra step to be available to users. When editing the filter, after having set the filter type and conditions, you need to map the filter to the relevant parameters. Enable the checkbox Use parameters and set a start date and an end date.

Date filters are:

  • Course enrollment date
  • Course completion date
  • Certification issue date
  • Certification expiration date
  • Event date
  • Learning plan enrollment date
  • Learning start date
  • User registration date

Read the following articles to learn more about filters: 

Customizing the format of a visual

Read the following articles to learn how you can customize the format of a visual:

Using calculated fields

Calculated fields allow you to prepare and refine data within a dataset for improved visualization. In the Data panel, you can either create a new calculated field by clicking the + CALCULATED FIELD button or modify an existing one through the ellipsis menu (⋮ -> Edit calculated field).

Please note that calculated fields are specific to the current dashboard, meaning if you want to use the same field in another dashboard, you’ll need to recreate it there.

Read the following articles to learn how to use calculated fields

Here are some examples of calculated fields:

  •  
    •  

      • Full user name:

        concat({user_firstname}, " ", {user_lastname}, " (", toString({user_id}), ")")

      • Is there an expiration date for the certification:

        isNotNull({user_certification_expire_date_dt})

      • Counter to calculate the overdue rate (course enrollment datasets):

        sumIf(1, {enrollment_is_overdue} = 1) / sum(1)

      • Pre-calculate the completion rate at the user level, impacted by filters selected in the dashboard (course enrollment datasets)

        ifelse((sumOver(ifelse({user_enrollment_status}='Completed',1,0),[{user_userid}],PRE_AGG)/countOver(count,
        [{user_userid}],PRE_AGG)) < 1, 0 ,1)

      • Pre-calculate the completion rate at the user level, indifferent to filters selected in the dashboard (course enrollment datasets)

        ifelse((sumOver(ifelse({user_enrollment_status}='Completed',1,0),[{user_userid}],PRE_FILTER)/countOver(count,
        [{user_userid}],PRE_FILTER)) < 1, 0 ,1)

      • Calculate the average number of course enrollments by user  (overall, indifferent to dashboard filters) on the dimensions of a visual  (course enrollment datasets)
        First you define a calculated field ‘Enrollment Count by User’

        distinctCountOver({course_id},[{user_id}],PRE_FILTER)

        Then you create the second calculated field :

        avg({Enrollment Count by User},[{user_id},${visualDimensions}])

      • Rename a dimension with custom labels  (course enrollment datasets)

        switch(
        toLower({user_enrollment_status}),
        'to begin', 'Enrolled',
        'waiting list', 'Waiting User',
        'in overbooking', 'Overbooking',
        'to confirm', 'Enrollement to Confirm',
        'in progress', 'In Progress', 
        'suspended', 'Suspended',
        'completed', 'Completed',
        'Uknown')

      • Classify first access to completion time in different ranges (course enrollment datasets):

        ifelse(
    {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} < 15,
            "n < 15min",
            ifelse(
                {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} >= 15 and {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} < 30,
                "15min < n < 30min",
                ifelse(
                    {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} >= 30 and {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} < 60,
                    "30min < n < 60min",
                    ifelse(
                        {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} >= 60 and {firstaccess_to_completion_diff} < 120,
                        "60min < n < 120min",
                        "120min < n"
                    )
                )
            )
        )

Please note! Some calculated fields have been predefined by Docebo in relation to the Visual library. You can edit these predefined calculated fields but this will also alter the behavior of the related visuals if you use them in the dashboard. Any changes in these predefined calculated fields will only impact visuals within the dashboard where the changes were made.

Adding interactivity (optional)

This is an advanced feature that is not needed for a basic use of Advanced Insights. Read the following articles if you want to learn more about adding interactivity to your dashboard. 

AI features (optional)

This is an advanced feature that is not needed for a basic use of Advanced Insights. Read the following articles to learn more about using AI features in your dashboard.