What dashboard viewers see
This page walks through a published dashboard from the viewer's side: the screens before the board opens, where shared dashboards are listed, and what a viewer can do on the board. Use it to check what your audience will meet, or to answer a viewer's question. To control who can open a board, see Publishing and sharing dashboards.
Viewers see the published version of a board, never your draft. To check it yourself, use Preview in the library or View in the Share panel.
Opening a password-protected dashboard
A board shared as Anyone with the link and password opens on an unlock screen:
- Heading: "This dashboard is password protected"
- "Enter the password the owner shared with you to view this dashboard."
- A password field with Show / Hide
- View dashboard
What can go wrong:
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "Wrong password" | The password doesn't match. Ask the owner for the current one; it may have been changed |
| "Too many attempts, try again in a few minutes" | Too many wrong tries in a row. Wait, then try again |
| "Couldn't unlock the dashboard. Try again." | Something else failed. Try again |
Opening a dashboard that needs sign-in
A board shared as Sign-in required asks a signed-out visitor to sign in: "Sign in to view this dashboard", "This dashboard is shared with specific people. Sign in to view it." and a Sign in button.
After signing in, someone without access sees "You don't have access to this dashboard" and "Ask the person who shared it with you to share it again." They may be signed in with a different account from the one you invited. The account menu has Use a different account (see below).
When a dashboard isn't available
If the board was unpublished or the link is wrong, viewers see "This dashboard isn't available" and "This dashboard may have been unpublished, or the link may be incorrect." A board that goes offline while open reads "This dashboard is no longer available." Republishing brings the same link back.
Shared with you: the list of dashboards shared with a viewer
Signed-in viewers find every dashboard and collection shared with them under Shared with you in the left sidebar. For people who can only view (and on the dashboards-only address), the same page is called Your dashboards.
The page shows:
- Your collections: cards for collections shared with you
- Dashboards: each with "Shared by" and the sharer's name, then "updated 2 hours ago", and a New badge on ones you haven't opened
- A Search dashboards box, once there are more than a few items
- Sort: Recently updated or Name (A–Z)
With nothing shared yet, it reads "Nothing shared with you yet" and "Dashboards others share with you show up here."
A Made by me tab lists charts you saved from the AI Agent (available on Enterprise plans). Each one shows "Only you" or "Shared with 3 people", with Share and Ask about this. If you lose access to the data behind one, it reads "No longer available" with Request access.
The viewer board bar
A signed-in viewer sees a slim bar at the top of a shared board:
- A back link to Shared with you (or Your dashboards)
- The board's title. When more than one board is shared with you, click it to Switch dashboard. The menu marks unopened boards New, and adds a search box when the list is long. No match reads "No dashboards match "pipeline"".
- An account chip, "Signed in as you@example.com", with Your dashboards, Use a different account and Sign out
When the board uses row-level security, the account menu adds: "You see only the rows shared with you. Other people may see different numbers." Two viewers can see different totals on the same board. That's expected. See Row-level security.
Using filters on a published dashboard
Filters sit in a Filters sidebar beside the board. Viewers can:
- Change any filter. Each one affects the charts it's set to cover, on this page or every page
- See active filter values as pills above the board, and clear them all with Clear all
- Hide the sidebar with Collapse filters. In the top-tabs layout, a round Show filters button brings it back and shows how many filters are active
On a phone, the sidebar becomes a drawer. Open it from the Filters button in the header and close it with Close filters (×) or by tapping outside it.
Filters a viewer sets don't change the board for anyone else. For the filter types and how authors set them up, see Dashboard filters.
Clicking a chart: filter, drill down, see the rows
On charts where the author turned them on, clicking a bar, slice or point opens a menu with up to three actions:
- Filter the board to 2025: every chart the filter covers changes to that value
- Drill into quarter in 2025: only this chart redraws one level down, for example from year to quarter. A breadcrumb leads back up
- See the rows behind 2025: opens a list of the records next to the board
Who can use which:
- Drill down works for every viewer, including public links and embeds
- See the rows is for signed-in viewers only, and shows up to 500 rows. It isn't offered on public or password links
- Row-level security applies to both
The author chooses which actions each chart offers in its Readers can settings. See Editing a chart for the switches, the columns readers see, and the messages viewers get.
Pages, Q&A and Explore
Viewers move between pages with the board's page navigation. See Multi-page navigation.
If the author turned on viewer Q&A, viewers can ask questions on the board's Q&A page. Signed-in viewers can also use the Explore page, unless the board uses row-level security. See Explore and Q&A.
Reading a dashboard on a phone
A published board opened on a phone uses the phone layout, with the Filters drawer described above.
When an editor opens their own board link on a phone, Mammoth shows a read view instead of the editor. It shows the board as readers see it, built from the draft, and you can't edit there. The bar has:
- Back to dashboards
- The title, with Live or Draft
- A Sample data tag if the board is on sample data
- Share, which opens the same Share panel as on a computer
For a deck held upright, the view suggests "Slides read best sideways." with Present, which plays the deck full screen.
When a dashboard is embedded in another site
The board inside a host page
An embedded board renders inside the host page and, with the auto-height script, grows to fit. Readers don't sign in. What they see depends on the embed's settings: the whole board, one page or one chart, in the theme the author chose.
If the embed can't show, readers see one of these:
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| "This report isn't available." / "It was unpublished, or the link was revoked." | The board was unpublished, or this site was removed |
| "This dashboard could not be loaded." / "Try again in a moment." | A temporary failure |
| "This session has ended." / "Reload the page to continue." | The viewer's session ran out. Reloading starts a new one |
| "This embed needs a newer viewer." | The page holds an old snippet. Reload the page that holds it |
| "This report isn't available right now." / "Check back shortly, or ask whoever added it to this page." | A setup problem on the host site, such as a wrong key or token. The exact reason goes to the host page, not the reader |
If the page can't run scripts, the snippet shows a plain block with the board's title and link. For public boards without row-level security, it includes the headline numbers.
The share link framed in another site
The share link is for opening in a browser, not for framing. If someone puts the plain share link (not an embed snippet) in a frame on another site, readers see "This dashboard can't be shown inside another site." with Open in Mammoth, which opens the board in its own tab. To show a board inside a page, use the Embed tab. See Embedding.
Related pages
- Publishing and sharing dashboards
- Dashboard audience and engagement: what viewers read and ask
- Dashboard filters
- Editing a chart