Unified Analytics Collaboration and Sharing Best Practices
Learn how to share dashboards, collaborate with your team, and manage permissions in BigPanda Unified Analytics.
Key Concepts
Shared dashboards are the official version everyone sees—make all production changes here
Private dashboards are your personal workspace for testing—changes here won't affect others
Co-Owners have the same permissions as the original owner (edit, share, delete)
Filter settings are personal—each user controls their own filters independently
Always republish after making permission changes to apply them
Understanding User Types
Every user in Unified Analytics has one of two permission levels:
Designers can create, edit, and manage dashboards. Organizations have a limited number of Designer seats.
Viewers can only view dashboards and adjust their own filter settings. They cannot make changes to dashboards. There's no limit on Viewer seats.
Dashboard Co-Ownership
Co-owners have full control over a dashboard, just like the original owner. They can edit, republish, share, and delete the dashboard.
Best practice
Add co-owners to mission-critical dashboards to ensure continuity if someone leaves the team or goes on vacation.
Add a Co-Owner
To add a co-owner to a dashboard:
Open the dashboard in Shared mode (look for the label in the top-right corner).
Click Share > Manage Access.
Add the user or group as a Co-Owner.
Click Republish to apply the changes.
License types
A user's license type always determines what they can do. Even if you give a Viewer "Co-Owner" access, they still can't edit dashboards. Only Designers can make changes.
View ownership
Hover over any dashboard to see who owns it (including all co-owners), when it was created, and when it was last modified.
Working with Folders
To make navigation and management easier, Dashboards can be grouped into folders and subfolders.
Folder Access Rules
The following folder concepts are important to understand:
You can see a folder if you created it or if any dashboard inside it is shared with you
Only the folder creator can add new dashboards to that folder
To move a dashboard into a folder, you must own both the dashboard and the folder
You can create sub-folders to organize dashboards hierarchically
Folder ownership
Hover over any folder to see who owns it, when it was created, and when it was last modified.
Transfer Folder Ownership
Folders cannot be directly transferred. To give someone control:
The original owner must share all dashboards in the folder with the new owner.
The new owner creates a new folder.
The new owner moves the shared dashboards into their new folder.
Folder Ownership When an Owner Leaves
When a folder owner leaves an organization, the following occurs:
Shared dashboards remain accessible to users who had access
The folder becomes read-only—no one can add new dashboards
Dashboard owners can still move their dashboards to other folders they control
Contact BigPanda Support if you need help transferring ownership.
Users and Groups
Users must visit the Analytics tab at least once to be registered in Unified Analytics. They are not automatically created when added to BigPanda. Once registered, each user receives their own unique username, which appears in the sharing dropdowns.
Each organization has one built-in group: ua_all_users_group_<org-name>
This group automatically includes all Designers and Viewers in your organization. You can assign this group View, Edit, or Co-Owner access to share dashboards with everyone at once.
Sharing with a group
To share a dashboard with everyone in your organization, grant access to ua_all_users_group_<org-name>
Filter Settings
Filter settings are always personal, regardless of Shared or Private mode:
Each user controls their own filter selections
Publishing a dashboard does not change anyone else's filter settings
Your filter preferences are saved independently from other users
Troubleshooting
Use the table below to find solutions for common issues related to dashboards:
Issue | Likely Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
Co-owner option is greyed out | User doesn't have a Designer license | Request a Designer license upgrade for the user |
Changes disappeared after refresh | Changes were made in Private mode instead of Shared | Switch to Shared mode and re-apply your changes, then republish |
Filters aren't saving | Filters were set in Private mode | Switch to Shared mode and republish with your desired filters |
Teams can't see a shared dashboard | Dashboard was shared with the wrong user or group | Share with ua_all_users_group_<org> for org-wide access |
User list is empty when sharing | Browser cache or session issue | Refresh the page or clear your browser cache |
Can't find a dashboard you previously had access to | Dashboard was moved to a folder you can’t access | Contact the dashboard owner to request access or ask them to move it |
Changes not taking effect | Forgot to republish after making changes | Click the Republish button to apply your changes |