Collections
A collection is a set of dashboards you share as one. Everyone it's shared with sees every dashboard in it, including ones you add later. This page is for dashboard editors who send the same group of dashboards to the same people, such as a monthly board pack or a client's reports.
A collection is a sharing unit, not a folder. A dashboard can sit in several collections at once, and removing it from one doesn't move or delete it.
Who can manage collections
Collections belong to one project. Project Admins and Project Editors of that project create and manage its collections, the same people who edit its dashboards. A collection can only hold dashboards from its own project ("A collection can only hold dashboards from its own project.").
People a collection is shared with only view it. They don't need a project role.
The collections shelf
Open Dashboards in the left sidebar. The Collections shelf is on the left of the library. It lists the collections in projects you edit, with All dashboards at the top and Not in a collection below the list. Each collection shows how many dashboards it holds.
Click Hide collections to close the shelf, and Show collections to open it again. With no collections yet, the shelf reads "Group dashboards you share with the same people, then share them as one."
Click a collection to open it. The list shows only its dashboards, in viewer order, under the collection header.
Create a collection
- On the Collections shelf, click New collection (or New when the shelf is narrow).
- Enter a Name, for example "Q3 Board Pack". Up to 120 characters.
- Optionally enter a Description. Viewers see it. Up to 2,000 characters.
- If you edit more than one project, pick the Project. The collection can only hold dashboards from that project.
- Click Create.
You see "Collection created". You can also start a collection from dashboards you already picked: in Add to collection, click New collection with this dashboard. The dialog then says how many will be added ("3 dashboards will be added") and the project is fixed to theirs.
Add dashboards
You have four ways to add dashboards:
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| A dashboard's row | ⋯ → Add to collection…, then pick the collection |
| Several rows | Tick the rows, then click Add to collection in the bar. See Managing dashboards |
| The collection header | Click Add dashboards, tick the dashboards from the project, then click Add 3 (the button counts what you ticked) |
| The shelf | Drag a dashboard's row onto a collection ("Drop to add") |
In Add to collection, you only see collections in the dashboard's project ("Collections in Finance"). A collection the dashboard is already in shows Already in.
When you add a draft, Mammoth publishes it first. The dialog says "1 is a draft and will be published first." and the button reads Publish & add. If a draft can't be published, it isn't added ("1 draft couldn't be published, so it wasn't added."). In a collection that isn't shared yet, drafts stay drafts until you share it.
If the collection is already shared, the dialog says how many people will see the dashboard and offers a checkbox, Email the 4 people about it. It's off by default. Tick it to send them an email about the new dashboard.
If the dashboard is already in other shared collections, the dialog warns you: changes to it reach those people too.
Remove a dashboard
Open the dashboard's ⋯ menu and click Remove from collection. Confirm in "Remove from Q3 Board Pack?". People who see it only through this collection lose access. Anyone it was shared with directly keeps it. The dashboard itself stays in the library.
Share a collection
- Open the collection and click Share in its header. The dialog is titled with the collection's name, for example "Share Q3 Board Pack".
- Type email addresses, separated by commas. You can also pick an email group when one matches what you type.
- Click Invite.
Each person gets one email listing every dashboard in the collection, and sees whatever you add later. You see "Shared with 3 people".
| Situation | What the dialog shows |
|---|---|
| Every dashboard is a draft | "Inviting publishes the 3 dashboards here." |
| Some dashboards are drafts | A checkbox, Publish the 2 drafts here so they can see them |
| The collection is empty | "This collection is empty. Add a published dashboard to share it." |
| An address is mistyped | The dialog asks you to check it: it doesn't look like an email address |
| Someone is already in the project | They already edit these dashboards, so they aren't added as viewers |
| Someone already has it | "Already shared: pat@example.com" |
Under People, each person shows Pending or Active, and who shared with them. To take someone off, click Remove and confirm "Remove this person?". They lose access that came only through this collection. Dashboards shared with them directly stay.
The header shows how many people it's shared with, and how many are pending ("12 people · 3 pending"), or "Not shared yet".
Email updates for a collection
The Share dialog also has the Email updates section, which emails everyone the collection is shared with its headline numbers on new data or on a schedule. See Email updates for dashboards and collections.
Set the viewer order and short names
Click Set order in the collection header. It appears once the collection has two or more dashboards. The dialog is titled "Set the order".
- Drag a dashboard, or use the arrow keys, to reorder. Viewers see the first one on top.
- Type a Short name (optional) to replace the dashboard's title for these viewers only. Up to 40 characters.
Save to see "Order saved". The library list shows the collection's dashboards in this order ("In viewer order").
Copy viewer link and Preview as viewer
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Preview as viewer | Opens the collection in a new tab as viewers see it. It appears once at least one dashboard in it is published. |
| Copy viewer link | In the header's ⋯ menu. Copies the collection's viewer link ("Viewer link copied"). |
The link only opens for people the collection is shared with and for its editors. Anyone else sees "This group of dashboards isn't shared with you".
What viewers see
Viewers find the collection under Shared with you (or Your dashboards), in the Groups of dashboards list. It opens with its dashboards as tabs, in the order you set, with your short names. Drafts are hidden from them: in the library, a draft in an open collection shows "Draft · viewers can't see it". If nothing is published yet, viewers see "The dashboards in this group will appear here once they're published." See What viewers see.
Collection activity
Once the collection is shared, the header shows how many people opened it, for example "9 of 13 opened it in the last 30 days". Click it to open Activity for the last 30 days:
- People: a line such as "9 of 13 opened it in the last 30 days", then each person with when they last opened it, or "Never opened". Pending people are marked "pending". With no one yet, it reads "This collection isn't shared with anyone yet."
- Dashboards: each dashboard with its views and people, for example "38 views · 7 people".
Data refresh: let viewers upload new data
Data refresh lets the people a collection is shared with update its dashboards by uploading a file. It runs through an automation in the collection's project that has a source folder and destination datasets, such as a Data Consolidation automation.
Turn it on
- In the collection header, open ⋯ → Data refresh….
- Pick the Automation. Only automations in the collection's own project are listed. With none, the dialog says "No automations in this project yet."
- Click Save. You see "Data refresh updated".
The header then shows Data refresh. To stop it, open the same dialog and click Turn off data refresh.
| Message | Why |
|---|---|
| "The selected automation has no source folder" | The automation has nowhere to receive files |
| "The selected automation has no destination datasets" | The automation doesn't write to a dataset |
| "A collection can only refresh from an automation in its own project." | The automation is in another project |
What viewers do
Viewers see Refresh data above the dashboards. It opens "Refresh data: Upload new files · Mammoth validates and appends automatically".
- Drop CSV or XLSX files, or browse for them. You can upload several at once.
- Format validation checks each file against the automation's datasets.
- Matching files are appended. When the run finishes, viewers see "Dashboards updated: Your dashboards now reflect the latest data".
Open Column templates and click Download for a CSV with just the required headers, to start from. A file Mammoth can't read shows "Unsupported format", with Delete file.
Rename or delete a collection
Both are in the header's ⋯ menu.
- Rename and description opens "Rename collection". Change the Name or Description and click Save.
- Delete collection asks "Delete Q3 Board Pack?". People lose access that came only through this collection ("3 people lose access that came only through this collection. The dashboards stay."). Dashboards shared with them directly stay, and no dashboard is deleted. You see "Collection deleted".
Limits
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Collection name | 120 characters |
| Description | 2,000 characters |
| Short name for a dashboard | 40 characters |
| Emails in one invite | 200 |
| Projects per collection | 1 |
Related articles
- Managing dashboards: the library, filters and bulk add
- Publishing and sharing dashboards: share a single dashboard
- Email updates for dashboards and collections
- What viewers see