Bookmarks, buttons and navigation
1. Bookmarks, buttons and navigation
In this video, we will look at three methods we can use to enhance navigation in Power BI: bookmarks, buttons and the navigator.2. Navigation and stories
Stories benefit from having structure. In a dashboard, we build structure in how we lay out individual visuals. With a report, we handle this with navigation. Having some kind of structured navigation helps us tell the story of our data more effectively. We give people a starting point, introduce them to the concepts they need to know about, and gradually offer them the chance to delve into what they find interesting. Let's look at some ways we can do this in Power BI.3. Bookmarks
The first method we will look at is bookmarks. Bookmarks are a way of capturing a pre-defined state in Power BI. On the right, we can see examples of several bookmarks. Think about the bookmarks in your browser. Like browser bookmarks, Power BI bookmarks give you a convenient way to navigate to interesting pages. Unlike browser bookmarks, however, Power BI bookmarks can retain state.4. Bookmarks and state
Power BI is capable of saving a lot of information with a bookmark. It can take you to a specific page. It can set the filters and slicers on a page, which is quite useful if you have complicated slicers you'd like to simplify. If you have a particular visual selected for cross-filtering, a bookmark can track that. It can also keep track of the sort order on specific visuals. In the prior video, we learned about drillthrough operations, and Power BI can track the current drill location. And it can also save information regarding which objects are visible, so you can even use bookmarks to hide and show report elements.5. The bookmark navigator
We can access the bookmark navigator from the View ribbon menu in Power BI. This feature allows us to add bookmarks, select specific bookmarks to pop to that state of the report, and view the bookmarks as a slideshow. We can also modify and remove bookmarks, or group them together in ways that make sense to users.6. Buttons
Buttons are another mechanism for navigation that we will review in this lesson. Buttons allow you to perform actions on pages. For example, in the prior video, making a report capable of drillthrough automatically introduced a back button on our report page, allowing users to navigate back up to the previously selected page. Speaking of drillthrough, we can use a button to perform our drillthrough action instead of making users right-click on an element in a visual. Another thing you can do with buttons is to navigate to a different page. Unlike drillthrough, we are not sending any filter values to the new page, but this can be convenient for a table of contents or navigation menu. We can also allow users to select a specific bookmark by clicking a button. Finally, we can send users off to a separate URL. This might be helpful for more detailed explanations or to links to source data.7. Navigator
Power BI now has a built-in navigator feature that enables you to create a navigation experience in a few clicks. These navigators can help save the time and effort of building and managing your navigation experience. When selecting either option, Power BI will automatically create a navigation based on your selection. You can then customize the visibility in the format pane. With Page navigator, it automatically syncs with your report pages. Therefore titles will match the page display name, the order of the navigation will be based on what you define, the selected button will be for the current page, and it'll automatically update as you update.8. Let's practice!
Let's go to an exercise so you can apply the knowledge you've learned in this video.Create Your Free Account
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