Your first report in 10 minutes

This walk-through uses one data source and one table. You need a Fresco BI account (sign up) and either a CSV or Excel file, or the address and a read-only user of a database.

1. Connect data (2 minutes)

1. In the left menu, open Data sources and click New connection.
2. Pick a connector. The quickest start is a file: Upload a CSV file or Upload an Excel file.
3. For a database, fill in the form. The setup guide beside the form shows each step; the same guides are in Connect data.
4. For a database, click Test connection, then Save. A file needs no test: you upload it and go on to the next step.

2. Load a Data Table (2 minutes)

From a file. A CSV file becomes one Data Table. For an Excel file, Fresco BI shows its sheets. The first 20 sheets are ticked; you can pick up to 20 at a time. Tick the sheets you need and click Load the picked sheets. Each sheet becomes one Data Table.

From a database.

1. On the data source, click Load tables.
2. Tick the tables you need. Each table becomes one Data Table.
3. Keep the mode Import (a fast copy of the data). See Import or Realtime.
4. Click the load button. It shows how many tables you picked, for example Load 3 tables. The data loads in the background; the status shows when it is ready.

3. Create and publish a data model (2 minutes)

1. After loading, click Create a data model from these data tables, enter a name and click Create data model. You can also start from Data models › New data model and add data tables.
2. With several tables, draw the relationships between them (for example orders.customer_id to customers.id).
3. Add measures if you need them, for example the total of a sales column.
4. Click Publish. If you save a report on a data model that is not published yet, Fresco BI offers Publish both.

To keep the data fresh, set a refresh schedule on the data model. Refresh runs it at once.

4. Build a report (3 minutes)

1. Open Reports and click New report.
2. Enter a report name and pick the data model.
3. Pick or drag fields from the Data pane onto the page. With no visual selected, a measure makes a card and a column makes a table. Pick another type in Visualizations.
4. Add more visuals, filters and slicers. Add pages for different views.
5. Click Save (Ctrl+S). Viewers see what you saved.

5. Share (1 minute)

1. In the report, click Share.
2. Pick a member and the permission:
   • Read: view the report.
   • Build: also use its data to build their own reports.
3. Click Add.

On Free you are the only member, so there is no one to share with yet. On Pro you can add up to 5 people, who only view reports (Read). Enterprise includes 30 users, more on request, and offers Build too. See Plans.

What next

• Connect more sources: Connect data.
• Read a database in your own network: Gateway.