14.1 Portlet Types

What a portlet is for

A NetSuite dashboard is a page of portlets, and the exam asks which type answers which question. Open Personalize in the upper right, or Personalize Dashboard in the Settings portlet. The Standard Content tab lists what this page can hold, and the Currently Used tab lists what is already there. On a standard tab, most content can appear once. The portlet types table notes the exceptions, and a custom tab may repeat other content. Available KPIs depend on your sign-in role and on enabled features. After you add a portlet, use Set Up in the title-bar menu. The KPI Meter also has a dropdown.

Minimize, refresh, full screen, and export

Portlet controls stay hidden until you move the pointer over the portlet. Click the title bar to minimize it. Over that bar, the pointer changes to crossed arrows. Click the title bar again to show the content. If a portlet is extremely slow to load, the first time it opens NetSuite may show a popup suggesting that you minimize it to speed up dashboard loading. A minimized portlet skips its data when the page is generated. It stays minimized on the next sign-in or refresh until you click the title.

Portlets whose content is calculated from current data include a Refresh icon on the title bar. Refresh reloads that portlet. On the Key Performance Indicators portlet, Refresh updates every KPI, and the icon beside one row updates that KPI only.

Some portlets expand to full screen with the double-arrow icon. Using Portlets names Trend Graph, Report Snapshots, List, Custom Search, Tasks, and Phone Calls. Full screen shows more columns and rows for List, Custom Search, Tasks, and Phone Calls. The portlet types table also describes full screen on the Calendar portlet.

Print and CSV export belong to specific portlets, usually in the same menu as Set Up:

• A KPI Meter can print the chart or download PNG, JPG, PDF, or SVG.
• A Report Snapshot can print the chart or download those same files.
• A KPI Scorecard can export its data to CSV.
• A Trend Graph portlet can export CSV and can print or download the chart.
• A trend-graph popup on the Key Performance Indicators portlet or a KPI Scorecard can export CSV and can print or download the chart.

One metric, a meter, or several KPIs

Each KPI is one summary metric from a report or a saved search for a selected date range. The Key Performance Indicators portlet lists those metrics. Up to eight can be headlines. Headlines are bold, and in a wide column each headline also appears in a trend graph. In a narrow column the headlines stay in the list. The trend-graph icon beside a KPI still opens a popup, and that icon is on by default. The lower panel lists the other KPIs and can be collapsed. Set Up selects standard KPIs or custom KPIs from saved searches, plus comparison and highlighting when a result misses a threshold.

A KPI Meter shows that metric as a graphical meter and includes the currency symbol for a currency value. This portlet type can show up to three graphical meters. Select the KPI from the dropdown. You can choose only KPIs already on that dashboard's Key Performance Indicators portlet, plus Actual vs. Forecast, Actual vs. Quota, and Forecast vs. Quota. Set Up sets date ranges, highlighting, and comparison. A meter can show one date range, a comparison of two ranges, or a flagged threshold. By default it follows the comparison or threshold on the Key Performance Indicators portlet, and a change on either portlet updates the other. You can still keep a threshold on the meter and a period comparison on the KPI list. The meter menu prints or downloads an image.

A KPI Scorecard compares several KPIs. Set Up selects the scorecard and the layout. Comparisons can span date ranges or accounting periods, and a scorecard can include formulas that use KPIs. The menu exports the data to CSV.

My Login Audit

My Login Audit shows sign-in history for the user who is signed in. Set Up can include the previous successful login, the previous failed login, the IP address, and the password expiration date, along with browser, mobile, and web-service details. The successful-login count rises on a role switch, because that switch counts as a login to the new role. Dates and times follow the time zone on the General subtab at Home > Set Preferences. Refresh the portlet after a password change to see the new expiration date. This portlet cannot be added to the Customer Center or the Employee Center. Administrators review every user on the Login Audit Trail. My Login Audit stays with the signed-in user.

Custom Search, Report Snapshots, and Shortcuts

A Custom Search portlet shows rows from a saved search. The Home page can hold up to six. Set Up picks the search, a title, the result count, whether drill-down stays in the portlet, and whether inline editing is on. A side column shows the first four result columns, and the center shows the first nine. Each row has New, Edit, and View links. Full screen shows more columns and rows. This portlet answers which records the search returned.

A Report Snapshots portlet summarizes one standard or custom report as a chart or list and links to the full report. You can add up to ten. Choose a date range and chart type, then use Set Up for layout and chart theme. The menu prints or downloads the chart, and full screen is available. Side-column list text stops at 25 characters, and list amounts round to a whole number. This portlet answers what the report shows at a glance.

A Shortcuts portlet is a list of page links. Set Up reorders them. New Shortcut adds a URL you already know. Otherwise open the page and choose Add to Shortcuts from the More list. Use a shortcut when you need the page and you do not need its data loaded on every dashboard visit.

Which portlet answers which question

Matching the portlet to the job

Overdue receivables as a single figure is a KPI. The same figure against a threshold is a KPI Meter, after that KPI is on the Key Performance Indicators portlet. Receivables, cash, and open invoices compared across periods are a KPI Scorecard. The IP address of your own failed sign-in is My Login Audit. An unassigned-case saved search on the Home page is Custom Search. An income-statement chart with a link to the full report is a Report Snapshot. A link that only opens the customer list is Shortcuts.

Settings holds system-defined setup links. You can move it, and its contents stay fixed. On the Activities page, the Scheduler also stays fixed. Reminders lets Set Up choose reminder types and how many days ahead they appear. A List portlet shows one record type, nine columns in the center and four on a side, and it can use inline editing when the feature and your permission allow it. Quick Search is one filter field plus keywords. Up to five Trend Graph portlets can each chart up to three KPIs over time.