Creating simple reports - locations

This is a powerful tool, so you should think about what report you want to create before you start.

Let’s stop a second and think about why we’re creating this report.

We want to generate a file that will show us all of the areas and locations in the learning platform and what attributes have been created to assign specific content across the business. Then we can review who is, or is not, getting the content they need based on where they work (rather than the job that they do and/or something that is specific to individuals).

So let’s create that list, and in the process we’ll introduce the concepts of adding data fields to your report, adding a filter, and then exporting and analysing a report.

Press Create, give it a name and then press Create Report:

… which is why it’s a good idea to have some idea of what report you’d like to create before you start.

You’ll see that the columns are grouped under people, locations, and courses.

We want to get a list of locations, so flip the sliders to the right for Location Parents, Location Name and Location Attributes:

See the report building already!

The order that you flip the sliders is the order that they appear in your report. Don’t worry if you change your mind, use the 3 dots on any column to make changes:

We don’t want to see all of the location names, so now’s a great time to show you how the filters work.

Each time you filter your report, you get a filter for free, allowing you to report on active people. You can change it or remove it, of course, but this also gives you an idea of how to use filters.

But first, a little context … Using the Organisation Structure [Link to 145], you can see that we are going to reduce our list of locations to only those locations that sit within “Deli (South West)”. This is the name of one of the areas in our fictional learning platform, Rise and Dine.

The important visual clue is that it is not a location where people are placed – you can tell this because there is no location pin icon next to it. This is significant because it tells us that we’re going to have to filter by searching within the Location Parents field:

Back to our report. Press Filters, Add Filter, open the Column selector, scroll down to the Location section and pick Location Parents:

Now we need to refine our filter so that we only bring back the Location Parents that we actually want - and they’re called “Deli (South West)” which is great because we can paste this as text!

Pick Include if Text Contains, copy and paste “Deli (South West)” (or type it in, it’s your choice) into the Include items box and press Save:

We now have our report, filtered to just the 5 locations we need, and we’re now ready to Export our report:

You can read more about exporting reports here. Our ultimate goal is to create a file that can be opened with your preferred spreadsheet tool. You really can’t break stuff like this, so sometimes it’s great just to press something and see what happens, be bold, give it a go! (Okay, perhaps a little caution if what you’re pressing looks like a bin and translates as “Delete”!).

Before you go, here’s a thought to ponder on… You’ve just seen how to create a location-based report, filtered on a particular part of your organisation structure, that shows you which location attributes have been applied - enabling specific content to be delivered to everyone in those locations.

So why doesn’t our fictional Plymouth location have the “Fresh Food” attribute? Is this merely an admin oversight? Is the Plymouth deli under-performing with fresh food sales as a result? Could the simple act of assigning this location attribute in just a few seconds improve that location’s performance overnight?

That’s the power of Report Builder! Giving you the right data at the right time to make the right decisions for your business.

If you’re ready for another scenario then this guide's for you.