Getting Started with Zoola™

The primary function of Zoola™ is to foster quick analysis and presentation of your Moodle or Totara data by creating interactive reports and dashboards. Several pre-templated reports are supplied with Zoola, but the true power of the program lies in creating customized reports and dashboards from scratch.

This section will offer an introduction to the fundamental processes of Lambda Zoola™: running reports, creating dashboards, and building your own reports from data sources.

Running a Report
Zoola™ makes it easy to run reports. When you run a report, it opens in the interactive Report Viewer.

With the Viewer, you can personalize and refine the displayed report data. If the report has input controls, you can run the report with one set of data and then another. Using the report scheduler, you can run reports repeatedly and unattended during off hours or at other times.

To seamlessly run a report from the Home page, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the View List link in the Reports block. The Repository opens, displaying a list of saved Reports in Zoola™.
2. To run a report from the Repository list, right-click it and select one of the Run options from the context-menu. The Interactive Report Viewer opens.
3. Use the Interactive Report Viewer to edit the input controls and visualizations for your report. For more information, see the Reports Section.
4. Hover over the Export icon  and select an output format.

Running a Dashboard
An Zoola™ dashboard displays several reports in a single, integrated view. A dashboard can include input controls for choosing the data displayed in one or more frames, and custom frames that point to URLs for other content. By combining different types of related content, you can create appealing, data-rich dashboards that quickly convey trends.

To seamlessly run a Dashboard from the Home page, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the View List link in the Dashboards The Repository opens, displaying a list of saved Dashboards in Zoola™.
2. To run a Dashboard from the Repository list, right-click it and select one of the Run options from the context menu.

To edit a Dashboard from the Home page, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the View List link in the Dashboards The Repository opens, displaying a list of saved Dashboards in Zoola™.
2. To edit a Dashboard from the Repository list, right-click it and select Open in Designer from the context menu. The Dashboard Designer
3. Use the Dashboard Designer to customize and manage the specified Dashboard. For more information, see the Dashboards Section, or click the Tutorial link in the Dashboards block for a walkthrough of the Dashboard Designer.

Building Your Own Report
To build your own reports in Zoola™, you must have completed the following steps:

1. Define a Data Source
2. Design/Select a Domain
3. Create/Select an Ad Hoc View

Design/Select a Domain

A Domain is a metadata layer that provides a business view of the data drawn from a data source. A Domain allows you to control how data is presented, so that you can limit the access to data based on security permissions. A Domain defined in Zoola™ can be used to create reports, Ad Hoc views, and Domain topics.

If you wish to use a predesigned Domain, move on to the Next Step. If you wish to edit an existing Domain, select it in the repository, right-click it, and select Edit from the context menu.

To design a Domain, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the Create button in the Domain block.
2. On the Add New Domain page, enter a Name, Resource ID, Description, Location, and Data source.
3. Under the Domain Design option, click the Create with Domain Designer The Domain Designer opens.
4. Use the Domain Designer to specify Tables, Derived Tables, Joins, Calculated Fields, Pre-Filters, and Display options.
5. Click the OK button to save your design and exit the Domain Designer.
6. On the Add New Domain page, click the Submit button to save your Domain in the Repository.

Ad Hoc Views
Once you have specified a Domain, you can begin creating an Ad Hoc view in the Ad Hoc Editor. 

The Ad Hoc Editor is the interactive designer for creating and editing an Ad Hoc view, in which you can explore and analyze the data from your Domain. Ad Hoc views are used to create the content for reports and dashboards. The three types of Ad Hoc views you can create in Zoola™ are Tables, Crosstabs, and Charts.

To open or edit an existing Ad Hoc view, select it in the Repository, right-click it, and select Open from the context-menu.

To use an existing Ad Hoc view to create a report, select it in the Repository, right-click it, and select Create Report from the context menu.

To create a new Ad Hoc view from a Domain, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the Create button in the Ad Hoc View The Select Data wizard opens.
2. In the Select Data wizard, select the Domain from which you wish to build an Ad Hoc view and click the Choose Data The Data Chooser page opens.
3. Use the Fields tab of the Data Chooser to select the data fields you wish to visualize in your Ad Hoc view by moving them from the Source panel to the Selected Fields panel through the directional buttons.
4. You can use the Pre-Filters tab to create filters that limit the data available in the Ad Hoc editor. 
5. You can use the Display tab to change the display names of fields, as well as the order and list types. 
6. If you wish, you can save the current data as a Topic by clicking the Save as Topic To open the data in the Ad Hoc Editor, click the OK button at the bottom of the Data Chooser page.
7. In the toolbar of the New Ad Hoc View panel, select one of Table, Chart, or Crosstab.
8. Drag fields and measures from the Domain Selection panel to the Columns/Groups/Rows boxes in the New Ad Hoc View panel to begin visualizing your data:

• Tables: You can drag qualitative field data into either the Columns or Groups Quantitative measures data can only be visualized as columns.
• Charts: You can drag both fields and measures into either the Columns or Rows box, depending on how you wish to interpret your data.
• Crosstabs: You can drag both fields and measures into either the Columns or Rows box, depending on how you wish to interpret your data.

9. You can further refine the visualizations of the specified data through the Ad Hoc Editor features, depending on the type of visualization you have selected:

• Tables: You can sort, summarize, edit, or filter column data by right-clicking a column and selecting an option from the context menu. You can also select the level of data shown by clicking the Details button  .
• Charts: You can select or deselect chart data by clicking into the legend below the chart. You can also click the Details button  to access a list of chart types and chart formats.
• Crosstabs: You can sort, summarize, edit, filter, or alter the groupings of any column or row by right-clicking a column or row and selecting an option from the context-menu.

10. Click the Display button  to toggle between Design and Display modes. Display mode allows you to see your Ad Hoc view as it would appear to an end-user.
11. Hover over the Save icon  to either save your Ad Hoc view, or save it and open it in the Report Creator.

Generating a Report
Reports are creating using Ad Hoc views, and can be exported to a wide variety of finished-product files, including PowerPoint and PDF. 

You can generate a report from an existing Ad Hoc view by selecting it in the Repository, right-clicking it, and selecting Create Report from the context menu.

You can also select to open an Ad Hoc view in the Report Creator from the Save options in the Ad Hoc Editor.

To create a report from the Home page, complete the following steps:

1. From the Home page, click the Create button in the Reports The Create Report wizard opens.
2. In the Create Report wizard, specify the Ad Hoc view from which to generate your report.
3. Below the Generate Report with option, select either Default Report Template or Custom Report Template (and then click the Browse button to identify the custom template).
4. Click the OK button to run the Report Creator.
5. If your Report has input controls, you can see and edit them by clicking the Options button  in the Report Creator.
6. To export your report, hover over the Export icon  and select an output format.