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Add link buttons to your dashboards

By Tim Aston posted Mon January 25, 2021 02:49 PM

  

Now avaible on the Accelerator Catalogue is a dashboard widget extension to add URL-based web link buttons to your dashboards.  You can access it here: For Cognos Analytis 11.2.0 and above or For Cognos Analytics 11.1.7

The widget itself is simple to use.  In this article I'll give you some tips to help you get the most out of it.  You will need to have at least Cognos Analytics 11.1.7 FP2 installed to make use of it.

FEBRUARY 3rd, 2021 UPDATE: A new version has been posted with some enhancements!  If you've installed the previous version, please head over to the Accelerator Catalogue and download the the latest.

MARCH 9th 2021 UPDATE: Another new version has been posted with support for opening reports, dashboards and changing tabs.  If you've installed the previous version, please update it with the latest from the Accelerator Catalogue.

Getting Started

First of all, you need to find the widget.  After the extensin has been installed (and you may need to logout/log back in) you will see Link Widget available in the Custom Widgets panel when  you're editing a dashboard.   Like this:



Just click on Link Widget and it will get added to the current tab of your dashboard.  Like any dashboard widget, you can resize it and move it around.  The default link type is URL.  It won't look like much until you open the Properties panel and fill in the Link to field.  Just type a URL (including the https://) into this field, and now you've got a working link on your dashboard!  The link will open in a new browser tab/window, unless you deselect the Open in new window toggle.



HINT: When your dashboard is in Edit mode (sometimes called Authoring mode) the link will not be clickable and will look dimmed.  This is so that you can easily resize and reposition it on the canvas.  Once you switch out of Edit mode (sometimes called Consumption mode), the link will be active. 

Customizations

Let's start making the link look a little fancier.  The most obvious thing is to customize the text that shows, rather that just having the raw URL displayed.  That's what the Label field is for.  You still just have a plain-looking text link, which may be completely appropriate in many use cases.  But if you'd like to quickly make it look spiffier, use the Styles drop-down property to choose from one of the available built-in styles.  For example, to make it a blue rectangular button that matches the IBM Carbon X theme of Cognos, select Primary as the style.  Here's what the other built-in styles look like:



But if the none of these built-in styles are exactly right for you, don't worry because you can make the links look however you want them to look using the Custom CSS field.  You use this field to apply any CSS you want to to the widget.  For example, let's say you wanted to keep the basic style, but you wanted the text to be bigger and also to be purple.  Just enter the following text into the Custom CSS field:
font-size: 24px; color: purple



You can also add custom styling to any of the built-in styles.  For example, you can use the Primary style, but make the text centered, and the background red:
justify-content: center; background-color: red; padding: 0;


Those are simple example, but the sky is the limit.  Switch back to None as your style and get as creative as you like with the Custom CSS and have it match up with the rest of your dashboard:
color: white; border-radius: 15px; background: linear-gradient(0deg, rgba(34,193,195,1) 0%, rgba(253,187,45,1) 100%); border: 3px solid #2c7a75; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35) 0px 5px 15px;



Opening Dashboards and Reports, and Changing Tabs

You can do more than just open web pages.  You can also open other Cognos dashboards and reports!  This will work just like if you opened the asset manually, and you'll be able to use the switcher to move back and forth between your other assets including the original dashboard.

To link to a dashboard or report, simply change the Link type and then use the ID of the asset into the Link to field.   You can still apply all the same label and styling options to these kinds of links.



The ID can be found by opening up the properties of the report or dashboard from the content navigation, and then looking at its advanced properties.  Simply copy the ID field from here to the Link to field in the Link dashboard widget.



Having links that change tabs is even easier.  Just select Tab Index in the Link Type field, and enter the index number of the tab you want the link to switch to.  The index starts at 0.  So if you have a button that you want to have switch to the 3rd tab on your dashboard, use an index value of 2.


We hope you enjoy this dashboard widget and please post examples of how you're using it to our community discussions!



#CognosAnalyticswithWatson
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Comments

Wed April 27, 2022 10:37 AM

Thank you, Tim!

Wed April 27, 2022 10:00 AM

Thanks for pointing this out @Hiren Vashi, I have updated the links.​​

Tue April 26, 2022 02:40 PM

Hi @Tim Aston,​ I think the link listed above to the Web Link extension does not work.

Wed May 12, 2021 04:00 PM

Tim,
Posting an update here to help others that may experience the same. We were able to use this extension by deleting the Tab Widget extension, uploading the Web Link extension, and then reuploading the Tab Widget extension. For whatever reason the issue is avoided by ensuring they are uploaded in that order.

We are now noticing that the Web Link extension cannot be copied/pasted or pinned. We've opened another case to track this issue: TS005640293

Fri May 07, 2021 01:09 PM

Hey Tim, 

We are experiencing the same issue described by others but we are already on FP2. Found that there appears to be a conflict between this extension and the Tab Widget extension as we cannot have both in our environment at the same time or the Link Widget does not work.

We opened a case: TS005603065

Let us know if this is something that can be resolved - possibly just a simple id issue in the spec.json?

Thanks

Tue March 09, 2021 10:59 AM

Hi Kiran.  This extension requires Cognos 11.1.7 FP2 to run, and unfortunately you won't be able to use it with Cognos 11.0.8.  Hopefully you'll be able to update to 11.1.7 FP2 soon, it has a great many amazing new features and performance improvements, and it is a long-term support release so you'll be able to stay on it for a long time.

Tue March 09, 2021 12:03 AM

Hi Tim,
I am using version 11.0.8 of Cognos Analytics. Is there a way this functionality i.e., adding weblink buttons to dashboards can be achieved?.
The feature available is the 'webpage' widget which simply allows us to display a web page by specifying the URL without any button option.

Fri February 05, 2021 11:09 AM

Sorry to read that some of you are having issues with the widget.  It seems that it only works with 11.1.7 FP2 right now.  I am investigating why that is and will hopefully have a fix soon!

Fri February 05, 2021 01:01 AM

I have the same problem as Sanjay.  I cannot see the properties of the widget once it is on the dashboard.  I am using Chrome. We are running a distributed environment.  I have admin rights on Cognos.

All my users including myself can use the tab widget without any problems.

Thu February 04, 2021 10:47 PM

I added this widget into my dashboard but i am not able to edit, there is no Property panel to add the link. I am using 11.1.7 version.Tried on Chrome/FF. I cannot seem to ,make it work. Any tips?

Wed February 03, 2021 10:48 AM

Great suggestion @Filip De Decker!  Grab the latest version, it now has an option for exactly this.​

Wed January 27, 2021 07:06 AM

I was looking for a solution to integrate serveral dashoard in one portal. A kind of homepage-dashboard where you can start navigating to other dashboard, and go back. I think this extension can be the solution. Is there a possibility to open the linked dashboard in the same window ?