1. Using B2C Service
  2. How to Plan a Basic Custom Report

How to Plan a Basic Custom Report

No matter how simple or complex a custom report is, there are certain guidelines to follow to help you create the report you want.

Since each custom report you create can output different data and include different components, you may want to design your report before you start to create it. This helps determine what steps you need to take to create the report you want. We recommend considering the following questions before you create your report.

  • What audience will view or use the report? This determines which report layout you use since some layouts include charts, titles, and other information. See Apply a Layout to a Dashboard and Apply a Layout to an Output Level.
  • What information do you want the report to return? This determines the fields to include in the report’s output. See Overview of Report Output Columns.
  • What fields do you want to be able to search on when running the report, and what information should be excluded? This determines the report’s fixed and runtime selectable filters. See Overview of Report Filters.
  • Do you want to be able to drill down on any fields to view additional information? This determines if multiple output levels or linked reports need to be configured. See Overview of Report Output Levels and Overview of Linked Reports.
  • How do you want the information that's returned to be ordered? This determines the sorting options that you apply to the report. See How You Change Report Sort Order.
  • Who should have access to run or edit the report? This determines if the report should be made public and what permissions are applied to the report. See Set Report Permissions.
Tip: If an existing report is similar to a report you want to create, you can copy the existing report and then edit the copy to create your new report. To view descriptions of existing reports, you can generate a catalog of reports. See Create a List of Reports. For information about finding reports, see Search for Analytics Items. For information about viewing the contents of a report, see View a Report Definition.