How do I configure and manage report templates in Webtrends?
Answer
For products: Webtrends Log Analyzer Advanced 8.x Webtrends Log Analyzer 8.x Webtrends Reporting Center 6.x Webtrends Reporting Center 5.x
Last modified: 1/1/2011
Introduction: In earlier releases of Webtrends, a profile could only be assigned a single report template. The drawback of this option is that in order to have different views of log file data, it is necessary to create multiple profiles. As an example, for the same log file data, one area of the company may wish to see Marketing-related statistics, whereas, another area of your company may wish to see technical statistics. With earlier releases, to achieve this, it is necessary to create a profile and assign a marketing report template and another profile, accessing the exact same log file data, but a different technical report template is assigned. Overall this would create extra overhead on the server, both for analysis and for storage.
What is a report template? A report template specifies the appearance of your reports. A report template defines the look and content of the report, including the colors, tables, graphs, and language used. You can start with a blank template or Webtrends provides a set of report templates which you can modify to create new ones.
How do I configure and manage report templates? 1. Report templates are created and manipulated through the Templates link on the AdminConsole. Click the link to access the Report Templates dialog.
2. Templates can be created for both web traffic profiles and streaming media profiles. For Template Type, select to what type of profile this template will be assigned. Choose either Web or Stream.
3. Next, a list of predefined templates is displayed. You have the option to Add a new template to this list, Edit an existing template, or Delete an existing template. For this instruction, click Add and continue to the next dialog.
4. Choose whether you wish to create a new template starting with a Blank Template, or create a new template based on an Existing Template. If you choose Existing Template, highlight the template you wish to use and click Next to continue to the next dialog.
5. The report template settings are divided into two tabs, Content and Language/Style. By default, the Content tab is selected. Let's review this portion first. The left side of the tab displays the folder hierarchy for the template and the right side is where you manage the following items.
Folder Name. - Use this text box to specify the name of your folders. They are used in the report table of contents.
Check boxes and edit tools - Select the check boxes for the items to be modified, then click Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, or the Move arrows to apply those functions to the selected items. You can also select and deselect all of the current check boxes at once.
New Folder - Use this to add a folder to the folder listed in the Folder Name text box.
Add Reports - Use this to add predefined dashboards and reports to the currently selected folder. After selecting the Add Reports icon, you will then be able to check all report content you wish to include in your report template. This includes a predefined dashboard. Click Add Items once you have completed your selection of report content.
Add Dashboard - Use this to add dashboard items and external links to the currently selected folder. Dashboards appear in reports as summary items that you can click to get more information.
6. Click the Language/Style tab. Use this tab to specify how your reports will look including color, format, and language.
7. Select from the list of Style Sheets. You may click the Style Preview button to preview your selection.
8. Choose from the Default Language list. You may choose either English, French, German, or Spanish. If desired, users can change the language when viewing reports.
9. For Word Wrap, select whether to wrap long strings of text or cut them off. Wrapping text will provide a more complete story while trimming long strings makes for a shorter and cleaner report.
10. Select whether to include Report Graphs in the report. IF the length of your reports is an issue, this can help to reduce their size.
11. Select the check box to include Help Cards in reports that use this template. Help cards explain the tables of the report and describe how to use the information in the report. The information in the Help cards is relative to the data being shown in the report.
12. Select how the numbers in the report are aligned.
13. Click Save Template once completed.
14. Click Close to exit the Report Templates dialog.
To apply a report template to a profile, follow these steps. 1. From the AdminConsole, highlight a profile and click Edit.
2. Select the Report Templates tab.
3. Move the templates listed under Templates Available to the list of Templates Selected to apply templates to your profile.
4. Click OK.
5. Run the profile analysis.
6. When you are ready to view the report, highlight the profile and click View Reports.
7. You may change the template being viewed. In the upper right corner choose from the Templates list.
