TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Collaborate’s Report Building Engine is a powerful tool that allows you to extract any information that is entered into the system in a way that is easy to read and understand. It can save you hours or even days compared to if you had to manually count the statistics you are seeking. Since its reporting abilities are very robust it does take some practice and experience to get the hang of building reports quickly, easily, and error-free the first time.

This portion of the document is meant to give you an overview of the basic skills needed to begin building reports. With the information here and some practice, you should be able to build just about any report you need on your own! However, fear not ~ the Collaborate Team is here to assist you if/when you get stuck or need assistance. If you are having difficulties, please contact us via Collaborate’s Help > Submit Support Request link to submit a ticket.

Establishing the Report's Framework

To create a new report, click the Create Report link located on the left side of the Reports Page. You will be taken through the process of establishing the Report’s framework. Later, you can further edit and customize the report to suit your needs. Below you will see and read more information about each step.

Basic Settings

Report Name

Enter the name of the report with a good naming convention in mind. The name should instantly give the User a basic idea of whether it is a report unrelated to the specific information they need at the moment or if it might be exactly what they are seeking. For example: Is the report used for a specific funder’s report?~then put the name of the funder in the report. Does the report return a list of Clients where a specific field is still unanswered?~then make the Report’s name something along the lines of, “Clients where the __ is not specified.” When your list of reports gets large (if it’s not already) this will make it MUCH easier to find the report you need at the moment.


Information to base report on

This field tells the system from what perspective you want to base the report. In other words, answering the question, “What am I mostly going to have in this report?” For 99.5% of the time, you will leave this set to its default Case Data. Other options include Activities ~ for situations where the report you are going to build is looking at Activities. There are also options for Tasks, Alerts, and User Recent Activity.


Notes to Display At Top of Report

The title of this field describes itself perfectly. It is recommended to always add a description for other Users (and yourself later down the road!) to describe, in a few sentences, what the report is designed to do, what are the default filters, etc., etc. As mentioned in the Report Name section above, it is MUCH easier to locate your report if you have a useful description to go along with your title.


Report Permissions

Networks Allowed to Access Report

This question only applies to multi-network implementations. Select which network(s) should have access to the report. Note that this also sets which network(s’) fields you can add to the report. If you set up a report to be utilized by multiple networks (aka, checking multiple boxes here) it is recommended to only utilize fields in the report that are shared across all the networks you select here. If a field is unique to a network, it will return empty values for cases from another network.


Can All Sites within the network access this report?

If you select Yes here, the report will appear under the Network Reports tab on the Reports page and will be accessible to all sites within the network. This is the recommended setting for a report that would likely be beneficial and used by all the sites within the network.

If you select No here, the report will appear under the Site Reports tab and will only be available to those sites selected in the Network Sites Allowed to Access Report checkbox list. This is the recommended setting if the report is a “one-off” that is unique for only your site or certain sites. If other sites likely will not utilize the report then definitely select No.


Network Sites Allowed to Access Report

This checkbox list will appear if you selected No for the question, Can All Sites within the network access the report? If you intended to see this list then, most likely, you will only select the site(s) to which YOU have access. If another site within the network requests to have access to the report because it would benefit them also (but still not helpful for the entire network) you can place a checkbox next to their site’s name so they can access the report also.


Roles Allowed to View This Report

Select the appropriate roles that you wish to answer the question, “Users with the ___ Role should be able to view this report.” Note that the Role’s settings must also allow viewing of reports for the user to be able to view the particular report.


Roles Allowed to Edit/Delete This Report

Select the appropriate roles that you wish to answer the question, “Users with the ___ Role should be able to edit or delete this report.” Note that the Role’s settings must also allow viewing of reports for the user to be able to view the particular report.

NOTE: Be sure to select your role for both of the above options to ensure that you will later have the ability to view, edit, and delete the report.


Add Columns

Select the fields that you need in your report by placing a checkbox next to the field’s name (a). The list of fields itself is often referred to as the Reports Library. If your report were a spreadsheet, this is the page where you specify what you want as your column headers. Note that fields are arranged into categories such as Case Favorites, Service Favorites, Allegations, Associated Relationships, etc., etc. To easily search for fields, press Control + F (Or Command + F if on a Mac) and your browser’s search feature will appear. Simply enter the name or part of the name of the field you are seeking and the field will be highlighted on the page. Once you are finished selecting the fields, click the Continue button (b).


Regardless of the report, you are building, it is always recommended to add the following fields:

  • Case ID#
  • Case Invalid
  • Case Type
  • Intake Date (...with a filter applied)
  • Row Count

If your report includes services information, it is recommended to add the field mentioned above and also the following:

  • Appointment Status
  • Elaborate Service
  • Service Date (...with a filter applied)
  • Service Performed
  • Simple Service

Note that the above bullet list is used so often that it is referenced in the Quick Reference article for easy reference. Beyond the basic recommended fields listed above, only select the fields that are necessary for your report. Adding additional and unnecessary fields can (and usually does) lead to problems when trying to easily get accurate numbers.

Initial Filters

The Report Filter page in the initial creation process allows you to set the initial filters for the report. Assuming you selected at least Case ID, Case Invalid, and Intake Date as fields, you should see the fields in the example above (and possibly more depending on which fields you selected). By default, you can see that the Case Invalid filter is set to False / Is No. The Intake Date’s filter, by default, is set to Previous Month. If you need to change the settings for a filter’s initial settings, click the pencil next to the appropriate filter (a). If you know your report will need a filter based upon a field that you selected on the previous screen but it is not visible on the list here, you can add it by clicking the Select a column for new filter (b), selecting the field from the list and then clicking Add Filter (c). If needed, you can adjust the filters for by clicking the pencil (a). Filters are discussed in more detail in the Working with Filters section of this document. This step in the report creation process is meant to only get the very basic filters such as Intake Date, Case Type, Service Date. Click the Next button to continue.


Next Steps

See the article Report Edit Mode Layout to continue the process of creating a dynamic report.

See Also: