Explore all enhancements included in Self-Service BI Version 25.2, including new visuals, formatting tools, layout controls, dashboard features, scheduling improvements, advanced metric functions, filtering capabilities, and updates across tables, pivot tables, maps, alerts, and more.
📌 Note: All capabilities described in this article become available after upgrading to Version 25.2.
Choose a Dashboard Layout
Self-Service BI now supports a choice between Free-Form Layout and Responsive Layout for full control over dashboard design.
Free-Form Layout
Free-Form Layout gives you precise control over the sizing and placement of every visual. You can position visuals anywhere on the canvas and resize them without grid restrictions. Changes you make are saved directly to the dashboard.
Responsive Layout
Responsive Layout organizes visuals in a flexible grid optimized for desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Key characteristics of Responsive Layout include:
Visuals are arranged in rows and columns. Up to four visuals can be shown per row.
When you add a fifth visual, it starts a new row automatically.
When rearranging visuals, Self-Service BI places new visuals in the first row with fewer than three visuals.
Visual interactions include pointer changes, snap indicators, and resizing guides
Responsive Layout Interaction Indicators
Each pointer or marker indicates an allowed action:
Pointer / Indicator | Description |
Move / Swap Handle | Appears when hovering over a visual header or drag handle on minimally sized visuals. Select to grab and drag the visual. |
Grab Handle | Select to drag and move or swap the visual. |
Resize Handle | Select to resize a visual vertically or horizontally within the row or column. |
Row Resize Pointer | Hover over the top or bottom of a row and drag to make the row taller or shorter. Stacked visuals resize proportionally. |
Column Resize Pointer | Hover over the left or right side of a column and drag to resize the entire column. |
No-Action Indicator | Shows that you cannot move, swap, or resize the visual at this location. |
Swap Indicator | Drop to swap the dragged visual with the one currently hovered over. |
Insert Indicator | A solid blue line shows where the new visual will be inserted. Drop the visual when the blue line matches the desired position. |
Change the Layout
Open your dashboard and click the Dashboard Layout button on the dashboard toolbar.
Select Free-Form Layout or Responsive Layout, then save your changes.
Share Dashboards Easily
Sharing dashboards is now simplified. When you share a dashboard, Self-Service BI automatically shares all underlying visuals and sources.
Share or Revoke Dashboard Access
You can manage who has permission to view, comment on, edit, or delete a dashboard from the Dashboard Permissions window.
How to Open Permissions
Go to the Library.
In the Permissions column, select Manage Permissions for the dashboard.
Revoke Access
In the Dashboard Permissions window, find the user or group.
Select the trash bin icon to remove all their permissions.
Add a User or Group
Select Add.
Search for the user or group you want to add.
Select them to include them in the permissions list.
Assign Permission Levels
Check or uncheck the boxes for Read, Comment, Write, and Delete to set the access level.
The system uses a most permissive model, meaning the highest permission level applies if the user is in multiple groups.
📌 Note: Control access to this feature by enabling or disabling Share Dashboard in Dashboard Interactivity Settings.
Add Rich Text Snippets
Rich Text Snippets allow you to annotate dashboards with formatted text, images, lists, or external links.
Add and Format a Rich Text Snippet
Add a Rich Text Snippet to your dashboard.
Open the Widget Settings sidebar to update the display name, description, and header settings.
Choose a title and a text type such as Body, Heading 1, or Heading 2.
Add lists, images, or links.
Select Edit to collapse formatting controls and save the snippet.
Export the snippet as PDF or PNG if needed.
Use the Updated Context Menu
The radial menu has been replaced with a more accessible context menu available on all visual types.
Open Context Menu Options
Right-click a visual to open the context menu.
Select Settings to open the visual sidebar.
Select Remove to delete visuals.
📌 Note: Removal is now supported for Time fields as well.
Apply Conditional Formatting to Pivot Tables
Pivot Table visuals now support configurable conditional formatting based on any rule you define.
Define Conditional Formatting
Select the Conditional Formatting icon in the sidebar.
Select Add Rule to open the rule editor.
Select the add icon (+) under Select When To Apply Formatting to define conditions.
Select Continue, then choose the formatting to apply.
Add formatting using the + button in the Formatting section.
Remove formatting using the delete icon (–).
Add multiple rules, then drag and drop to reorder them.
Select Apply to update the visual.
Adjust KPI Chart Label Positions
You can now control label alignment within KPI Chart visuals.
Update Label Position
Open the Settings sidebar, and expand Position.
Rename labels and choose a placement option.
Format Dates and Numbers on Table Visuals
Format dates and numbers at the visual level without affecting underlying data sources.
Format a Selected Field
Open a table visual.
Select the menu next to a column heading, and select Format “field name”.
Choose a date or number format. and select Apply to update the visual, or Reset to restore the source format.
Save the visual or dashboard.
Schedule Reports From Dashboards
The Schedule Report button is now available on all existing dashboards by default.
📌 Note: Enable or disable report scheduling in Dashboard Interactivity Settings.
Conditional Formatting Options for Tables
You can now format Table visuals by adding color and text formats based on conditional rules.
For setup steps, see Conditional Formatting Options for Pivot Tables.
Raw Data Table Sorting
You can multi-sort columns in a raw data table.
Select each column in turn to enable sorting by multiple columns.
Sort by a Single Column
Click the column heading once to sort in ascending order.
Click twice to sort in descending order.
Click three times to return to the original order.
👉 Remember: Save the dashboard to retain the sort order.
Sort by Multiple Columns (Multi-Sort)
Sort the first column (ascending or descending).
Sort your next column.
A number 2 appears in the heading, meaning it is the second level of the sort.
The table sorts first by the initial column, then by the second column.
Continue adding more sorted columns.
Column heading numbers increase (3, 4, 5…) to show the sort order.
Change the Multi-Sort Order
Select a column that is already part of the multi-sort.
When you sort it again, it becomes the last column in the sort sequence.
SSBI automatically renumbers the other columns.
Clear Sorting
Hover over a column heading, select More (⋯), then choose one:
Reset “field name” sorting – clears sorting for that single column.
Reset other sortings – clears sorting for all columns except the one selected.
Reset all sorting – clears all sorting from all columns.
👉 Save the dashboard or visual to keep the new order.
Add Waterfall Visuals
Waterfall visuals show how starting values change through sequences of positive and negative impacts.
Use Visual Gallery Enhancements
The Visual Gallery now includes advanced filtering and search options.
New capabilities include:
Favorites.
Ownership and shared status filters.
A Favorites column.
A Data Source column.
Control Visual Interactivity Parameters
Use dashboard interactivity settings to define how users can add new or existing visuals to a dashboard.
Use the Updated Report Scheduler
The scheduler interface is streamlined. The Send to me toggle is replaced with a recipient field automatically populated with your information.
Cumulative Sum Option for Visuals
You can now enable Cumulative Sum on two visual types:
Line Trend: Multiple Metric.
Bars.
When Cumulative Sum is turned on:
The visual adds each previous value to the next value.
The tooltip shows both the original value and the cumulative value for the selected data points.
Restrictions for Bar Visuals
The Cumulative Sum option is only available when:
The data is grouped by a Time field, and
Enable Subgroup is turned off.
Add Subtotals to Pivot Tables
You can now display metric subtotals on rows or columns.
Enable Show Metric Subtotals from the Settings sidebar.
Create and Manage Alerts
Alerts notify you and other users when a metric reaches a specific threshold.
You can define:
The alert condition.
The schedule for checking the condition.
How notifications are delivered when the condition is met.
Supported Visual Types
Alerts can be created on the following visuals:
Arc Gauge, Bars, Bars: Multiple Metrics, Donut, KPI, Line Trend: Multiple Metrics, Pie
Create an Alert
You can create an alert in two ways:
Option 1: From the Dashboard Toolbar
Select Manage Alerts.
Then click Create Alert.
Option 2: From the Visual Menu
Open the visual menu (⋮).
Select Create Alert.
⚠️ Important:
You must be logged in as a user who belongs to a group with Create Alerts privilege.
If this is a new dashboard, save the dashboard first before opening the Manage Alerts option.
Add Widget Descriptions
Use Widget Comment widgets to add multiple descriptions, links, and formatted text to your dashboard.
Add URLs and Images to Table Visuals
Table visuals now support links and images inside table columns.
To format a field as a URL or image:
Open the column menu.
Select Format Job Id as URL.
How It Works
URL link → Opens the destination URL in a new browser tab.
Image link → Displays the image directly inside the table cell.
You can set the image height and image width as needed.
To remove the URL or image.
Simply select None in the Format as URL work area.
Content Tags for Visuals, Sorting, Filtering
You can now add tags to visuals and dashboards.
Tags allow you to:
Filter dashboards and visuals by tag.
View only specifically tagged items.
View items with no tags to help you organize content.
Use the Manage Tags area to apply or filter tags.
Multi-Grouping for Box Plot Visuals
Box plot visuals now support both:
Groups, and
Subgroups
This allows you to expand the level of detail shown in your box plot visual.
Sunburst Visuals
Sunburst is a new visual type used to display hierarchical data in a circular layout.
Supports up to three levels of hierarchy.
The top level appears in the center.
Secondary and tertiary levels appear in circles further from the center.
This visual is ideal for showing how data breaks down across multiple layers in a single chart.
Other Bucket Grouping Options
A new feature, Show Other, lets you show or hide grouped data that is normally hidden when limiting your data.
How It Works
When your visual reaches its Limit, remaining values can be grouped into a single “Other” slice or category.
Example: If you sort data into 20 counties with a Limit of 10, the top 10 appear individually, and the remaining 10 counties are grouped into Other.
Where to Enable
You can enable or disable Show Other from:
The Sort & Limit sidebar.
The context menu of the data point.
Supported visuals include: Bar, Donut, Pie, Packed Bubbles, Scatter Plot, Tree Map, Heatmap.
Improved Analytical Capabilities for Custom Metrics
This release includes major enhancements for building custom metrics.
New Features and Functions
Time conversion functions
Multiple string manipulation functions
New aggregate functions, including:
Median, Variance, Standard Deviation.
CASE expressions.
Arithmetic functions: POWER, MOD, SQRT, and more.
FIRST and LAST values.
These enhancements greatly expand the types of calculations you can perform.
Expanded Map Visual Functionality
Several improvements have been made for map visuals.
New Settings
Start Zoom and Max Zoom settings are now available for all map visuals.
Show Coordinates in Tooltip is displayed by default when hovering over map markers.
You can disable this in the Settings sidebar.
Improved Map Center Definition
You can now define the map's starting center using:
Start Latitude.
Start Longitude.
Combined with Start Zoom, this makes it easier to set a precise initial view for map visuals.
Cloudmade for Map Visuals
Cloudmade tile support is no longer available. It has been removed from all map visuals.
When you upgrade to this release (or any later release):
Any existing map visuals that use Cloudmade as the tile provider are automatically migrated to OpenStreetMap.
View Dependent Objects Before Deletion
Self-Service BI now displays dependent objects when deleting dashboards, visuals, or links.
Export Data in XLSX Format
Export both visual data and raw data to Excel format.
Export Dashboards to XLSX
Export dashboards into Excel, with each visual automatically placed into its own worksheet tab.
Send Scheduled Dashboard Reports in XLSX Format
Scheduled reports now support XLSX delivery and can be sent on any schedule you define.
Apply Conditional Formatting to KPI Visuals
KPI visuals support rule-based formatting for backgrounds, labels, and arrows. Existing color settings are migrated automatically.
Use Commenter Access
A new Commenter role allows users to create, edit, format, and delete their own comments.
Search by Description
Search dashboards and visuals using their description text. Items with descriptions display an info icon.
Use Pivot Table Improvements
New options include:
Autosize All Columns for automatic width adjustment.
Span Duplicate Rows to group repeating values.
Use Table Visual Improvements
Table improvements include:
Add custom metrics or derived fields directly from the column editor.
Enable Show Distinct Rows to display unique records only.
Use Dashboard View Mode
Viewer users automatically see dashboards in View mode. Owners and Editors can switch between Edit and View mode at any time.
Local Visuals
Vincere SSBI now supports two types of visuals:
Local visuals.
Visual Gallery visuals.
What Are Local Visuals?
Local visuals exist only on the dashboard where they are created.
They are not stored in the Visual Gallery by default.
After creating a local visual, you can optionally add it to the Visual Gallery for reuse in other dashboards.
Local visuals follow the dashboard’s permission set—no additional privileges are required to create them.
Convert a Visual Gallery Visual to a Local Visual
You can convert a Visual Gallery visual to a local copy so you can:
Edit.
Tweak.
Experiment.
…without affecting the original version stored in the Visual Gallery or used on other dashboards.
How to Convert
Open the visual menu (⋮).
Select Convert to Local.
This creates an independent local version of the visual.
Schedule Reports for Non-SSBI Users
You can now send scheduled dashboard reports to recipients who do not have Self-Service BI accounts.
Control Label Positions for Bar and Combo Charts
Choose horizontal, vertical, or diagonal label positioning. For Bars visuals, labels may appear inside or outside the bars.
Use New Reporting Frequencies
New scheduling options include:
Days (multiple days per week).
Periodically (specific days and months).
Enable Data Zoom Scroll Options
Many visuals now support vertical or horizontal scrolling, including:
Line Trend: Attribute Value Charts and Multiple Metric Charts, Bar Charts, Box Plot, Combo Chart, Donut, Floating Bubbles, Heat Map, Pie, Waterfall.
Changes to rulers reset scroll settings.
Manage Filter Snippets
Filter snippets allow you to filter data across multiple visuals on a dashboard using the same data source.
You can:
Adjust and save filter selections (Attribute, Number, Time).
Highlight data across multiple visuals.
Link several filter snippets together for flexible filtering.
Resize and reposition snippet widgets.
How to Add a Filter Snippet to a Dashboard
Select Add Filter Snippet from the dashboard icon bar.
Open the filter snippet menu (⋮) and select Settings.
Use the sidebar to adjust Data Settings, Filter Snippet Settings, or Widget Settings.
To add values from a source and field already used on your dashboard:
Open Data Settings in the filter sidebar.
Select a Source and Field.
Select Apply to add them to the filter snippet.
To connect visuals:
Open the menu (⋮) and select Connect Widgets.
Add visuals to the filter snippet so they respond to the filter.
The Connect Widgets work area opens.
Select Add Widget, then choose:
A Widget Name.
An available Field.
Repeat to add more widgets..
Select a widget to remove it if needed.
Select Apply to connect all selected widgets.
If all available widgets are added, the work area closes automatically.
Save the dashboard.
Removed Features
Visual Info Sidebar Menu Update: The
Default Titlefield has been removed from the Info sidebar menu.Visual Gallery Updates: The
Usagecolumn has been removed.Scheduled Reports: The “Send to me” toggle is removed.
It is replaced with a field for adding report recipients, pre-filled with the current user’s details.KPI Visuals: Legends have been removed from KPI visual types.
💡 Best Practices
Save dashboards frequently to retain layout, sorting, and formatting changes.
Add tags to organize dashboards and visuals for easy filtering.
Use local visuals for testing new designs before publishing to the Visual Gallery.
Use View Mode to verify Viewer-level access before sharing a dashboard.
Test conditional formatting rules thoroughly to ensure correct display across all data ranges.
🤔 FAQs
Q1: Can I switch between Free-Form and Responsive Layouts without rebuilding the dashboard?
Answer: Yes. You can switch layouts at any time, and Self-Service BI adjusts your content according to the layout rules.
Q2: Do Rich Text Snippets affect the performance of a dashboard?
Answer: No. Snippets are lightweight and designed for annotations and documentation.
Q3: Can I send scheduled reports to external recipients?
Answer: Yes. You can now send scheduled dashboard reports to non-SSBI users.
Q4: Do formatting changes to table fields affect the underlying data source?
Answer: No. Field formatting applies only to the table visual.
Q5: Can I reuse local visuals in multiple dashboards?
Answer: Yes. Add a local visual to the Visual Gallery to reuse it elsewhere.