[[dashboard]]
= Dashboard

[partintro]
--
A Kibana _dashboard_ displays a collection of visualizations and searches.
You can arrange, resize, and edit the dashboard content and then save the dashboard
so you can share it.

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_example.png[Example dashboard]

--

[[dashboard-getting-started]]
== Building a Dashboard

If you haven't yet indexed data into {es} or created an index pattern, 
you'll be prompted to do so as you follow the steps for creating a dashboard.  
Or, you can use one of the prebuilt sample data sets, available from the 
Kibana home page.

. In the side navigation, click *Dashboard*.
. Click *Create new dashboard.*  
. Click *Add*.

[[adding-visualizations-to-a-dashboard]]
. Use *Add Panels* to add visualizations and saved searches to the dashboard. 
If you have a large number of visualizations, you can filter the lists. 
+
[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_add_visualization.png[Example add visualization to dashboard]

[[saving-dashboards]]
. When you're finished adding and arranging the panels,
go to the menu bar and click *Save*.

. In *Save Dashboard*, enter a dashboard title and optionally a description. 

. To store the time period specified in the time filter, enable *Store time
with dashboard*.

. Click *Save*.

[[loading-a-saved-dashboard]]
To import, export, and delete dashboards, see <<managing-saved-objects>>.

[float]
=== Changing the Color Theme ===

By default, Kibana dashboards use the light color theme. To use the dark color theme:

. Go to the menu bar and click *Edit*. 
. Click *Options* in the menu bar.
. Select *Use dark theme*. 

To set the dark theme as the default, go to *Management > Advanced Settings*. 
Scroll down to *Dashboard* and toggle *Dark Theme* to *On*.

[[customizing-your-dashboard]]
== Arranging Dashboard Elements

The visualizations and searches in a dashboard are stored in panels that you can move,
resize, edit, and delete.  To start editing, click *Edit* in the menu bar.

[[moving-containers]]
* To move a panel, click and hold the panel header and drag to the new location.

[[resizing-containers]]
* To resize a panel, click the resize control on the lower right and drag
to the new dimensions.

[[removing-containers]]
Additional commands for managing the panel and its contents 
are in the gear menu in the upper right.

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_Resize_Menu.png[Example dashboard]

NOTE: Deleting a panel from a
dashboard does *not* delete the saved visualization or search.

[[viewing-detailed-information]]
== Inspecting a Visualization from the Dashboard

Many visualizations allow you to inspect the data and requests behind the 
visualization. 

In the dashboard, expand the visualization's panel menu (or gear menu if in 
*Edit* mode) and select *Inspect*.

The initial view shows the underlying data for the visualization. To view the 
requests that were made for the visualization, choose *Requests* from the *View* 
menu.

The views you'll see depend on the element that you inspect.

[role="screenshot"]
image:images/Dashboard_visualization_data.png[Example of visualization data]



[[sharing-dashboards]]
== Sharing a Dashboard

You can either share a direct link to a Kibana dashboard,
or embed the dashboard in a web page. Users must have Kibana access
to view an embedded dashboard.

[[embedding-dashboards]]

. Open the dashboard you want to share.
. In the menu bar, click *Share*.
. Copy the link you want to share or the iframe you want to embed. You can
share the live dashboard or a static snapshot of the current point in time.

TIP: You can create a link to a dashboard by title by doing this: +
`${domain}/${basepath?}/app/kibana#/dashboards?title=${yourdashboardtitle}`

TIP: When sharing a link to a dashboard snapshot, use the *Short URL*. Snapshot
URLs are long and can be problematic for Internet Explorer and other
tools.  To create a short URL, you must have write access to {kib}.
