Ready to start truly connecting the dots? When you see real datapoints alongside your timeline of live projects, it paves the way to smarter analysis, prioritizing, decision-making, and communicating. Bring your metrics into Panobi so that you can easily access and reference them in projects, insights, and on your timeline.
There are a few ways to add metrics to your Panobi workspace:
Connect with one of our supported third-party data integrations. This method involves some setup upfront, but afterwards you'll reap the benefits of regularly refreshed data at your fingertips as you analyze the success of your projects.
Don't see your preferred data platform? We're continually adding to our list of supported integrations, so please let us know what you'd like to see!
Push data into Panobi via our SDK or Zapier if your data source is custom or on a currently unsupported platform. We provide the SDK or the ability to connect with Zapier; you set up the cadence of pushing of your metric data into Panobi.
Manually upload a .csv of your metric data. This method requires less initial setup but more ongoing work; you'll need to re-upload files regularly in order to keep your data up-to-date in Panobi.
Connect with one of our supported third-party data integrations
To set up a live metric that stays regularly updated with any available fresh data, you’ll first need to integrate a data source in Settings. Here's our current list of supported integrations:
Google Sheets (doesn't require the use of SQL in setup)
The following instructions for adding a metric apply to all third-party data sources (see the Metrics SDK article for details on adding a metric via a custom data source).
Navigate to Metrics
Click on Metrics in the left navigation, and then click on + Add metric in the top-right corner.
Set up your metric details
Give your metric a title and description, and choose your third-party data source from any data integrations you’ve set up. Now is also a good time to add labels: tags for easier search, as well as the relevant team and any collaborators that work regularly with this metric.
Provide location details for the data you want to connect
After you’ve selected a data source, and depending on which source you select, you’ll need to provide more location information such as warehouse, database, schema, or specific spreadsheet.
Define the metric data
Click Continue to go to the Configuration tab. For the data warehouse integrations, add your SQL query into the window or use the SQL generator feature to let Panobi write it for you. The data will be displayed in the order returned by the query, so consider employing
ORDER BYto ensure your preferred ordering of the returned data. When you're ready, click Run query.Google Sheets will not require a SQL query, but you will still need to make some selections to specify and display the correct information.
🧠 Best practice: For SQL queries, it's helpful and more effective to pre-compute your metrics in a table or otherwise format your data for efficiency.
Finish configuration
Check your data results in the results table. Choose your chart type and any related details.
Note: Only metrics configured as a time series chart will be available on your timeline. This is how you should represent your KPI and OKR-level metrics such as “rate of activation” “new users” or “DAU”. You can also include other metrics you’re tracking, such as any baseline health indicators.
Push data into Panobi via our SDK or Zapier
Don't store your data with one of the platforms we integrate with? You can still push your data into Panobi at regularly scheduled intervals of your choosing.
If your data is stored internally in a custom warehouse, check out our SDK so you can set up a custom connection. Once you've done that, you can add a metric by clicking on Metrics in the left navigation, and then clicking on + Add metric in the top-right corner. Choose "Metrics SDK" as your data source, and then follow the instructions for authorizing the data push from your code.
If you use a data platform that hasn't yet made it to our list of integrations, you can use Zapier as a go-between to push data updates from your third-party platform into Panobi. Authorize the Zapier integration in Panobi, and then click on + Add metric in the top-right corner of the Metrics page. Choose "Zapier" as your metric's data source. Then follow the link to Zapier to set up a Zap between your data and the Panobi metric you've begun setting up.
Manually upload a .csv of your metric data
Uploading a .csv is possibly the quickest and simplest way to see data on your timeline — but please note that you'll need to continue to upload fresh data in order to keep your timeline up to date. Still, it's a great way to get a feel for the magical combination of data and projects over time that you get on your timeline.
Download a .csv of your data
Not all data platforms provide a usable .csv — it's important to make sure the data is cleaned up and readable by Panobi.
Here are some tips:Each row should have the same number of columns
Extraneous cells should be removed (including cells with description or instruction text)
Dates need to be formatted in one of several accepted date formats:
Option 1: MM/DD/YYYY
Option 2: MM/DD/YY
Option 3: MM/DD
Option 4: MM-DD-YYYY
Option 5: MM-DD
Option 6: MM/DD/YYYY 0:00:00
Option 7: M/D/YY
If you run into a file error in step 3, below, we recommend importing the data into a basic spreadsheet to adjust the data in table form. Then export to .csv and try again!
Then navigate to Metrics in Panobi
Click on Metrics in the left navigation, and then click on + Add metric in the top-right corner.
Set up your metric details
Give your metric a title and description. Then either drag and drop your .csv to the dashed-line frame, or click Choose file to browse from files on your computer. Now is also a good time to add labels: tags for easier search, as well as the relevant team and any collaborators that work regularly with this metric.
Tip: Use the header row of your .csv to name your columns of data; this makes your setup process faster and easier on the Panobi side, and the column names will fill in as axis labels on your metric visualization.
Finish configuration
When your file has finished uploading, click Continue and check the results on the Configuration tab. Choose your chart type and any related details.
Note: Only metrics configured as a time series chart will be available on your timeline. This is how you should represent your KPI and OKR-level metrics such as “rate of activation” “new users” or “DAU”. You can also include other metrics you’re tracking, such as any baseline health indicators.
Update your file to keep the data fresh
When you're ready to upload a new .csv, open your metric's detail view in the side panel, and click the three dots menu in the top-right corner. Choose Edit from the dropdown menu. In the Details tab of the metric editor, click the three dots menu to the right of your uploaded .csv. Choose update file and follow the instructions for choosing a new file to upload.
How to cross-reference metrics
After creating your key metrics in Panobi, you can reference them quickly in any project or insight by typing # and then typing to find the metric title.
If you'd like to showcase a live metric in your project or insight, you can embed one by clicking the graph icon in the insight or project description formatting bars. Then simply select the metric you want to display!
For Pro and Enterprise workspaces, look for the Download link on your graphs to quickly export the data to share it in insights, projects or outside of Panobi.
And remember that including information like which team or teams own the metric, the individual collaborators who contributed to the analysis, and any appropriate tags will go a long way to helping someone find this metric in the future!
Suggested next reads: