Managing Dashboards

Dashboards are where operational data becomes decision-making context. In Rootly, dashboards allow you to transform raw incident data into structured, visual insights across teams, services, severities, time periods, and operational layers. Whether you’re tracking executive-level reliability metrics or drilling into team-level performance, dashboards give you flexible control over how performance is measured and communicated. You can access dashboards by navigating to Metrics.

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Overview

Every dashboard in Rootly is defined by three core dimensions:

1. Ownership — who controls it
2. Permissions — who can modify or manage it
3. Visibility — who can access it internally or publicly

Understanding these dimensions helps you design dashboards intentionally, not just visually but operationally.

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Dashboard Ownership and Visibility

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Ownership Types

Dashboards are owned either by an organization or by an individual user.

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Personal Dashboards

Personal dashboards are owned by an individual user. They are ideal for:

• Exploratory analysis
• Personal reporting workflows
• Temporary or experimental views
• Individual operational tracking

By default:

• You are the Manager
• No one else has access unless you explicitly share it

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Organization Dashboards

Organization dashboards are shared at the organizational level and are best suited for standardized reporting across teams. They are appropriate when:

• Multiple teams rely on the same metrics
• Dashboards support recurring reporting, such as weekly reviews or executive updates
• Standardized views are required across departments

Organization dashboards can be shared broadly across your Rootly account.

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Public Dashboards

Any dashboard, whether Personal or Organization, can optionally be made Public. When public access is enabled:

• A view-only link is generated
• Authentication is not required
• External stakeholders can access the dashboard data

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Creating a Dashboard

To create a new dashboard:

1. Navigate to Metrics
2. Click + Create Dashboard
3. Configure the dashboard settings
4. Save your dashboard

Dashboards are designed to provide sensible defaults while still supporting deeper customization when needed.

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Configuration Options

When creating a dashboard, you can define:

• Name
• Description
• Icon
• Color theme
• Date range
• Period grouping
• Auto-refresh behavior

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Default Values

If you create a dashboard without customizing every field, Rootly applies the following defaults:

• Icon: 📊
• Date range: Last 30 Days
• Period: Day
• Auto-refresh: Disabled
• Color: Randomly selected from the supported palette

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Period Grouping

Metrics can be grouped by:

• Day
• Week
• Month
• Quarter
• Year

Choosing the right grouping affects how trends are interpreted. For example:

• Day is useful for short-term incident spikes
• Month or Quarter is better for leadership-level trend reporting

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Personalizing Dashboard Views

Each user can personalize how they view a dashboard without affecting anyone else. You can adjust:

• Date range
• Period grouping
• Team filters
• Service filters

These preferences are saved per user, per dashboard.

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Sharing and Permissions

To share a dashboard:

1. Open the dashboard
2. Click Share
3. Assign permission levels to users or teams

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Permission Levels

Permissions are hierarchical:

• Viewer
  • Can view data only
• Editor
  • Can view and modify panels
  • Inherits Viewer permissions
• Manager
  • Can view, edit, share, and delete
  • Inherits Editor permissions

A dashboard must always have at least one Manager. You cannot remove or downgrade the last Manager until another Manager has been assigned.

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Setting a Default Dashboard

You can designate one dashboard as your default. This dashboard will automatically open when you navigate to Metrics. To set a default dashboard:

1. Open the dashboard
2. Click ⋯
3. Select Set default

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Duplicating Dashboards

Duplicating a dashboard is useful when you want to:

• Create team-specific variants
• Compare different time periods
• Test new panel configurations without changing the original

To duplicate a dashboard:

1. Open the dashboard
2. Click ⋯
3. Select Duplicate

Duplicated dashboards:

• Include all panels and dashboard configuration
• Are created as Personal dashboards
• Do not inherit sharing permissions
• Are automatically renamed to Copy of [original name] - YYYY-MM-DD

For example: Copy of Overview - 2025-03-16

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Exporting Dashboards and Panels

Dashboards and panels can be exported for reporting and distribution outside of Rootly.

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Entire Dashboard

You can export the full dashboard as:

• PDF

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Individual Panels

From a panel’s More (⋯) menu, you can export:

• CSV
• JSON
• PDF
• PNG (chart panels only)
• JPG (chart panels only)

These export options help teams share insights while preserving the original data and visual context.

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Auto-Refresh Behavior

Dashboards support auto-refresh, but dashboard data is still cached.

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Deleting Dashboards

To delete a dashboard:

1. Navigate to Metrics
2. Open the dashboard’s ⋯ menu
3. Select Delete

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Best Practices

Well-designed dashboards improve operational clarity, not just reporting.

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Separate Strategic and Tactical Dashboards

Use different dashboards for different purposes.

• Tactical dashboards usually use short date ranges and higher granularity
• Strategic dashboards usually use monthly or quarterly grouping for trends

Avoid mixing both use cases into a single dashboard.

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Limit Panel Density

Too many panels reduce clarity. Instead:

• Create multiple focused dashboards
• Duplicate and specialize dashboards for different audiences
• Use descriptive naming conventions

For example:

• 🚨 Critical Incidents — Last 30 Days
• 📈 Reliability Trends — Quarterly

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Use Organization Dashboards for Standardization

If a dashboard is referenced in:

• Weekly reviews
• Executive reporting
• Post-incident retrospectives

It should likely be an Organization dashboard.

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Configure Public Links Intentionally

Public dashboards are powerful, but they should be shared carefully. Before sharing externally:

• Confirm no sensitive data is exposed
• Verify the intended filters and time ranges
• Review the dashboard as an external viewer would see it

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Frequently Asked Questions

Dashboards are most effective when they reflect how your organization thinks about reliability. Design them intentionally, share them responsibly, and revisit them as your operational needs evolve.