Duration 04:12 | Contains audio

This video shows you the main features of customizing a Metrics report now available in IBM Connections 4.0.

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Table 1: Welcome

Step	Audio	Onscreen action
1.1	The Metrics tool in IBM Connections includes different ways to customize metrics reports.	The Welcome screen displays. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2012.
1.2	You can generate reports that best suit your needs by changing the report dimension options.	Show screen of a report in which users are grouped by Is Manager attribute, instead of Role in default installation.
1.3	You can also disable some report date ranges to reduce the time it takes to generate reports for communities.	Show screen of a report for a community. In the date range drop list, only Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks and Last quarter are displayed. Last 12 months and All years are disabled.
1.4	Additionally, a very active Connections environment could have massive amounts of usage data collected, so being able to create your own custom reports with the Metrics tool is essential.	Show screen of a custom report titled Trend of visiting numbers in different applications.

Table 2. Customizing report dimensions

Step	Audio	Onscreen action
2.1	In Metrics reports, people are grouped by dimensions, which are mapped to user attributes. Metrics reports support up to three different dimensions: Geography, Department and Role.	Show screen of built-in dimensions: Geography, Department, and Role.
2.2	You can change dimensions by mapping them to other user attributes. You should do this right after the installation has completed. Otherwise you may get incorrect values in reports.	Show screen of a report in which users are grouped by Is Manager attribute, instead of Role in default installation.
2.3	First choose the user attributes you are interested in. In this example, we change the Role dimension to the attribute that indicates whether a person is a manager.	Show the list of available attributes retrieved through Profiles Administrative API.
2.4	Edit the metrics-config.xml file, find the built-in mapping for the Role dimension, and change the value of profilesName.	Show updated metrics-config.xml file. Highlight the dimension attribute3 whose value is changed from com.ibm.snx_profiles.base.title to com.ibm.snx_profiles.base.isManager.
2.5	Next, give a meaningful name for the changed dimension. You can do this by leveraging the product string customization functionality provided by IBM Connections.	Show customized product string file. Highlight the key-value pair of METRICS.FILTER.DIMENSION.OPTIONS.ATTRIBUTE3=Is Manager.
2.6	Save all your changes and restart the server. The updated dimensions will be available after the next daily automatic refresh. You will see that people are now grouped by whether or not they are a manager.	Show screen of a report in which users are grouped by Is Manager attribute, instead of Role in default installation.

Disabling date ranges for Communities Metrics reports

Table 3. Disabling date ranges for Communities Metrics reports

Step	Audio	Onscreen action
3.1	By default, there are five date ranges available for Communities Metrics reports: Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, Last quarter, Last 12 months and All years. You may disable one or more of them to reduce the time it takes to generate reports for communities.	Show screen of built in date ranges: Last 7 days, Last 4 weeks, Last quarter, Last 12 months, and All years.
3.2	Edit the metrics-config.xml file, and change the value of Last 12 months and All years to false to disable the two date ranges.	Show updated metrics-config.xml file. Highlight that the date ranges of Last 12 months and All years are disabled.
3.3	Save all your changes and restart the server. Disabled date range options are no longer displayed.	Show screen of new date range options. The disabled date ranges are no longer displayed.

Adding a custom report

Table 4. Adding a custom report

Step	Audio	Onscreen action
4.1	You can also make your own reports and have them displayed in the Metrics application.	Show screen of a custom report in Metrics. The custom report is about the trend of the number of visits for several applications in last 4 weeks.
4.2	For example, you can create your own report that displays with Global Metrics. First make your report using Cognos Report Studio, and verify that the report works properly. Note the newly created report's URL so you can include it in the reports-config.xml file.	Show the new custom report in Cognos Report Studio. Highlight the report and then show how to find and copy the URL.
4.3	Edit the reports-config.xml file. Add an entry for your custom report. You can include your new report with the built-in reports. The id of your report entry should be unique.	Show updated reports-config.xml file. Highlight the new added report entry.
4.4	Now add a meaningful title for your report by adding a new key-value pair in the product string file.	Show customized product string file. Highlight the key-value pair of METRICS.NAVIGATION.TREND_OF_VISITING_NUMBER.NAME=Trend of visiting numbers.
4.5	Refresh the Metrics application and the custom report is displayed in the navigation tree with built in reports.	Show the newly added custom report "Trend of visiting numbers" in Metrics application's navigation tree with built in reports.
4.6	You can also make a new category to include your new report.	Show updated reports-config.xml file. Highlight the new added category entry and the new added report entry under it. Click View less detail.
4.7	Refresh the Metrics application and the custom report is displayed in the navigation tree under a category.	Show the newly added custom report Trend of visiting numbers in Metrics application's navigation tree. The report is in category named "Trend".
4.8	Additionally, you can change the title of a built in report.	Show updated reports-config.xml file. Highlight the changed title value of a built in report.
4.9	Refresh the Metrics application to see the new title.	Show the screen of built in report People, which is now named Visitor.

Conclusion

Table 5. Conclusion

Step	Audio	Onscreen action
5.1	Now you are ready to create custom reports that meet your needs using the Metrics tool in IBM Connections.	The Closing screen displays.
5.2	For more information on how to customize Metrics, see the product documentation in the Connections wiki.	Display the link to product wiki.