1. How to generate reports via the Advanced Search panel in Kanbanize?
The Advanced Search panel in Kanbanize is a very powerful tool that helps users to generate different types of reports. Sometimes, the right information is a combination of tasks that match a pattern. The panel allows you to narrow down your search in order to get the data in which you are interested in.
1.1 To open the Advanced Search panel, use the magnifying glass located on the Board header (2).
Note: the most common scenario is to quickly search for a card - type a keyword or a card ID in the Advanced Search field (the magnifying glass) on the top left side of your screen -> click on Search or press the Enter key and the system will display the matching results in a table view.
The advanced functionality of the panel enables you to refine your search criteria and to configure your results to show/hide the required fields from the cards in your report.
2. How to refine your search?
Use the Refine search criteria link (Image 1) to the left to open up the "Refine search criteria" panel (Image 2) that displays the account properties as pills.
Image 1
The "Refine search criteria" (Image 2) panel contains:
2.1 Regular fields including:
- Card’s properties: Card ID, Title, Description, Assignee, Deadline, Priority, Color, Size, Tags, Extlink, Type, Watched, Attachments, Comments, Links, Cycle time, Created at, Reporter
- Project and Board tabs– Project, Board, Section, Column, Lane
- Time-related actions - First Date Moved to, Last Date Moved to, First Blocked Date, Last Blocked Date, Times Moved to, Worklog Update Date
- Others - Blocked state, Block time, Block Count, Block reason, Parent Card, Child Cards, Relative Cards, Position in Cell, Total Subtasks Count, Subtask status, Subtask Progress, Child Cards Progress, Finished Subtasks Count, Unfinished Subtasks Count.
You can select the following units for the time - related fields: Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds
2.2 Custom Fields – you can filter and configure your search, based on the custom fields that you have created and added to the corresponding boards in your projects.
Image 2
2.3 Example: Let's assume that you want to get all cards that are assigned to a given user “username” in your account-> select the pill: "Assignee" and click on Add.
On the left side of the panel, you can narrow down your search. Define the assignee name from the dropdown list and click on " Search" -> the system will generate a report with all cards assigned to this user.
In case that you want to get cards for more than one users → select “or” and add the second name from the dropdown list.
Click on Search and the system will generate a report with all cards that belong to the users you have selected.
The report contains the following default properties for every card: Card ID, Title, Assignee, Deadline, Priority, Color, Column name.
Note: If a search outcome leads to showing too many cards, sort them out by clicking on the title of any of the properties. Sorting the cards IDs would mean that chronologically the newest tasks should be at the top.
3. How to configure your results?
3.1 To configure your report, i.e. to show/hide properties, which are relevant to your particular search → select the "Configure results" button at the upper right side of the panel.
3.2 This opens up the properties’ panel, where you can select what data to get out of the system and extend the information in the report table. You can also deselect fields, which you do not want to be present.
For example: (see, Image 3) The pills numbered from 1 to 6 are the default properties in the report, but the system allows you to deselect them or/and change their order.
The other three parameters – Cycle time (7), Reporter (9) and Last Modified (8) are selected to extend the initial report. They are numbered in the sequence they will appear on the extended report. Every additional tab is represented by a new column in the report table.
Click on Apply changes to see these parameters reflected in the report.
Image 3
Each additional pill will be reflected in the report as a new column:
3.3 Using the visualization options (Image 4), you can choose to visualize the data from your search in a bar graph or as a pie chart and slice it by certain criteria. You can even display your results in a Kanban view mode -> use the last option.
Note: with the help of the Kanban view mode, you can easily get an idea about the progress of a project and your work distribution in the three main Kanban sections: Requested, In Progress, Done.
Image 4
4. How to manage your search stream?
Now, go to the bottom left corner of the panel and use the "Options" button to configure your search stream.
The following options are available:
- Include archived cards - allow the search to show cards that have been archived.
- Include subtasks – search in the title of the subtasks and show the matching ones in the result table.
- Separate custom fields – in case you have one custom field assigned to multiple boards, show the values in separate columns for each of the boards.
- Exclude search criteria from the results - by default, the criteria that you search by will be included in the results table. Select this option to disable this behavior.
5. How to save an advanced search filter?
Once you group together the information you need and generate a report, the system allows you to Save the report in order to generate it (load it) easier and faster next time.
All saved filters are stored in the system (use the Load option) and you can easily re-open the updated version just by clicking on the report name.
5.1 When the report is generated ->click on Save at the bottom left corner of your window -> Save New Filter.
5.2 Type the report name in the "Filter name" text box in order to easily recognize it, as you can store more than one filters. Fill in your filter description (this is optional).
5.3 The panel allows you to share this filter as a public one – tick off "Share this filter as pulic", in case you want to make the results of your public filter available to everyone, including people who are not registered Kanbanize users.
5.4 Once you Save the filter -> you will get a unique link. You can share it with Kanbanize users and non-registered users.
5.5 All Saved filters are stored in the system. To see and reactivate them, click on Load at the bottom left corner of the panel.
Note: There is an alternative way to create a unique link to your customized report.
To create a link and make it interactive, please click on the “Share” button at the bottom of the report. To share the link, you first must Save the filter and give it a name.
Important: The Advanced Search Panel allows you to pin your Filter as a widget directly on your dashboard and have а quick access to important information at the entry point of your account.
Click on the Pin icon to open the "Save and pin widget" panel ->to pin the Filter as a widget, you need to save it first.
6. How to export your search results?
You can export your data in an excel file where the outcome fields are aligned to match your excel columns. Use the download icon at the bottom right corner and save the link to get your data in an Excel file.
