Content in Looker can take the form of either aLook, which is a saved snapshot of the data that results from a query, or adashboard, which is a collection of tiles that show visualized query results.

All navigation occurs within themain navigation menu. To open or hide the menu, click theMain menu iconmenu.

You can alsosearch for content and navigate to contentdirectly from your homepage.

Using the main navigation menu

You can navigate to saved content from the main navigation menu. Depending on yourpermissions, the main navigation menu may include the following options:

• Create button: Depending on your permissions, lets you create the following items:

  • Dashboards: You must have thesave_content permission to see this option.
  • Boards.
  • LookML models: You must have thedevelop permission to see this option.
  • Connections: You must have themanage_project_connections permission to see this option.
  Note: If your permissions don't allow you to create dashboards, models, or connections, you won't see theCreate button. You will be able to create boards through theBoards section of the main navigation menu.

• Explore: Opens theExplore panel, from which you can search for, select, and view Explores.

• Develop: Opens theDevelop panel, from which you can access LookML projects and develop in LookML.

• Admin: Opens theAdmin panel, from which you canadminister Looker.

• Home: Shows your homepage, if your Looker admin has enabled the prebuilt homepage or another homepage option. If your admin has set a board as your homepage, the name of the board appears instead of the textHome.

• Overview: Shows the organization-wide default homepage, if your admin has configured a different default homepage for you or a group that you belong to. If your admin has set a board as your organization-wide homepage, the name of the board appears instead ofOverview.

• Recently Viewed: Lists your most recently viewed Looks and user-defined dashboards.

• Favorites: Shows a list of Looks or dashboards that you'vemarked as favorites.

• Boards: Listsboards that you have created or added to your list of boards.

• Folders: Lists folders that you have access to, including the following folders:

  • All folders, a top-level directory with entry points to additional folders
  • Your personal folder
  • Yourdefault folder, if you have configured one
  • People, which contains all the personal folders for other users that you have access to
  Note: If a Looker admin has enabled theDefault Private Personal Folders option on your Looker instance and you are not a Looker admin yourself, you won't see other users' personal folders in thePeople folder unless you have specifically been given access. See theSettings documentation page for more information on this option.
  • Shared folders, which contains folders, Looks, and user-created dashboards that are typically used company-wide or within departments
  • LookML dashboards, a folder that contains dashboards that developers have created using LookML

Navigating to content in folders

In Looker, content is saved intofolders. A folder can include Looks, dashboards, or even subfolders. You can only see folders that you haveaccess to view.

Within a folder, dashboards and Looks are listed under theDashboards andLooks headings. Folders display the following information and options for Looks and dashboards:

• Checkbox: Select the checkbox to move, delete, or copy an item. When you select an item, Looker displays buttons for the actions that you can take.
• Tile, description, and metadata: Includes a visual preview of the dashboard or Look. If a description was added to the dashboard or Look, the description is displayed under the dashboard or Look title. Metadata, or information about how many views the dashboard or Look has and who created it, is also displayed under the title.
• Certification badge: Ifcontent certification is enabled on your instance, you will see a green certified content badge next to the titles of certified dashboards and Looks. You can hover over the badge to view the certifier's name, the certification date and time, and any notes that were saved by the certifier.
• Favorite iconfavorite: Click the favorite icon to add or remove the Look or the dashboard from your favorites.
• Dashboard or Look three-dot menumore_horiz: Provides options for configuring the content and for delivering its data.

Looks have the following additional information and options:

• Last Updated column: Shows when the Look was last edited.
• Explore From Here: A link toexplore from that Look.
• Model column: Shows the name of themodel that is associated with the Look.

Dashboards and Looks may also display the following information, depending on their settings:

• On dashboard icon: For Looks, the presence of theOn dashboard dial icon indicates that the Look is used in a dashboard. Hold the pointer over over the icon to see the list of dashboards. If the Look isn't used in a dashboard, it won't have a dashboard icon.
• Calendar iconcalendar_month: The presence of the calendar icon indicates that the Look or the dashboard is scheduled for content delivery. Click the icon to open the content'sSchedule dialog, where you can see and edit the content's delivery options. Clicking the calendar icon for a dashboard opens the legacy Scheduler.

Sorting lists of content

You can sort lists of subfolders, Looks, and dashboards within folders in the following ways:

• By using theSort by drop-down menu in section headers to select a sort option. Sort options include the content name, the date content wasadded to your list of favorites, or, ifcontent certification is enabled on your instance, which content has been certified.
• By using theOrder ascending arrowexpand_less and descending arrowexpand_more at the top of the section headers to change the sort order of the content by name.

You can also sort Looks and dashboards by name by clicking theName column header. Click the header multiple times to switch between ascending and descending sort order.

Using list view and grid view

Folders display dashboards and Looks using thumbnails that give you a preview of their appearance—without revealing the actual data. You can switch between two views within a folder:

• List view (default): Dashboards and Looks are shown in a detailed list.
• Grid view: Dashboards and Looks are shown as thumbnails. Hold the pointer over over a thumbnail to see the following details:
  • Description and metadata
  • Checkbox for selecting the item to copy, move, or move to trash
  • On dashboard icon (for Looks)
  • Favorites iconfavorite
  • Three-dot options menumore_horiz

Click theShow items in a grid icongrid_view to switch to grid view. Click theShow items in a list icon to switch back to list view.

Navigating to content on boards

Boards let you organize existing dashboards and Looks without changing their locations in folders.

To view a board and its contents, you must have at least theViewaccess level for that board. If you have theManage Access, Edit access level, you canmake changes to the board, such as adding and removing content.

Finding a board

You can find boards in several ways:

• Search: Use thesearch input box to find boards by name.

• Main navigation menu:

  • TheBoards section lists boards that you have created or that you have added to your list of boards.
  • Click theCreate or find a board iconadd, and then selectBrowse all boards. Looker displays theFind boards at your organization window, which lists all boards that you have created or that you can access.

  You can filter to show only boards that you have created or added, and you can sort the list of boards by name, creator, creation date, or popularity.

Viewing the content on a board

Boards are organized into sections that users with theManage Access, Edit access level can create and arrange.

When you navigate to a board, you'll see any Looks or dashboards that have beenadded to that board and that you have access to view. The content that you can see on a board depends on the following factors:

• Youraccess level for the board
• Youraccess levels for the folders in which the Looks and dashboards are stored
• Youraccess to the model that the Look or dashboard is based on

To open the information section of a board, click theBoard Information iconinfo. The information section of a board displays the following information:

• About this board: The number of people who haveadded the board.
• Description: Board contributors can add a description that contains text and Markdown links to a board. If a description has been added to the board, that description is displayed in this section.
• Created: Displays information about who created the board and when the board was created.
• Contributors: Lists the number of contributors in parentheses. Beneath theContributors heading is a list of contributors. A board's contributors include the creator of the board and users who havemade changes to the board.

Searching for saved content

As an alternative to browsing folders, you can use specific words or phrases to search your Looker instance for saved content.

To perform a search, follow these steps:

1. Place your cursor in thesearchStart typing to search search input box in the application header. If the application window is narrow, the input box will be replaced by aSearch icon.

2. Enter your search term.

   Note: The search functionality does not support queries that include special characters, such as the forward slash (/). Using these characters may result in an error.

3. You'll see a list of search results that includes folders, boards, Looks, dashboards, and other content to which you have access.

4. Select a search result to view that content.

There are three types of search experiences:

• Improved search:

  • Includes improved ranking that automatically includes both curated and non-curated results without your needing to choose which result set you want to see. This is why theCurated Search switch is not available when improved search is enabled.
  • Faster search results. To increase search performance, improved search does not return LookML files. You can still search for LookML files within a LookML project.
  Note: Improved search is automatically enabled on instances that are hosted by Looker in a Kubernetes environment.

• Legacy search: If improved search is not enabled on your instance, you will see Looker's legacy search.

• Curated search:

  • When theCurated Search feature is enabled, search results will include content from shared folders, your personal folder, and boards. Content that is saved in other users' personal folders will be included in the results only if such content is also pinned to a board. The search results will exclude content that exists only in the personal folders of other users.
  • To include content from other users' personal folders, turn off theCurated Search switch in the search results dialog box.
  Note: Curated search does not apply toclosed systems.

Viewing content on your homepage

To navigate to your homepage, select the Looker logo in the header, or selectHome from the main navigation menu. If your Looker admin has set aboard or a different Looker page (such asFavorites) as your homepage, the name of the board or the page will appear instead ofHome.

Depending on the settings that your admin has specified, you might see one of the following when you navigate to your homepage or log in to Looker:

• Prebuilt Looker homepage: If your admin has chosen the prebuilt Looker homepage option, your homepage displays visually representative thumbnails for dashboards and Looks. Content is organized on this page in the following sections:

  • ARecently Viewed tab shows content that has been most recently viewed. TheFilter by group drop-down menu in this tab filters the recently viewed content in the following ways:

    • Viewed by you: Shows content that you have recently viewed.
    • If your Looker admin hasconfigured multiple groups, you can select a group from the drop-down list to show the most viewed content for that group.

    Clicking theSee all link next to the drop-down list takes you to theRecently Viewed page.

  • Favorites shows the Looks or dashboards that you have marked as favorites by clicking theirAdd to favorites heart icons, which you can do from your homepage as well as on the folder or page that you want to favorite.

  Note: On Looker (Google Cloud core) instances, you may see the following sections in addition to theRecently Viewed andFavorites tabs:
  • ASample Dashboards section, which displayssample dashboards from the sample LookML project. This section no longer appears if you dismiss it by clicking theDismissclose icon.
  • TheBigQuery Connection section is visible if you have themanage_project_connections Looker permission and the default BigQuery connection for the instance hasn't been set up already. This section no longer appears if you dismiss it by clicking theDismissclose icon.
  • Discover sidebar appears on your personalized homepage if your Looker admin has set the prebuilt Looker homepage as your homepage and you haven't previously closed it. This sidebar contains links to documentation that can help you get started using Looker and modeling with LookML. To close it, click theCloseclose icon in the sidebar. Closing theDiscover sidebar reveals the announcement sidebar, if your admin has set it up. To re-open theDiscover sidebar, click theHelp iconlive_help in the header and select theDiscover option.
  • Announcement sidebar appears on your personalized homepage if your Looker admin has set the prebuilt Looker homepage as your homepage andadded content to the sidebar. The sidebar may include text, links, and images from your admin. You can hold the pointer over over the sidebar to see additional information and links, if your admin has included them.

• A Looker page: Your admin may set your homepage to another page within Looker. For example, if your homepage has been set to theFavorites orRecently Viewed page, you will see that page when you log in to Looker. TheHome option in the main navigation menu will also be replaced by a reference to that page.

• A folder: Your admin may have set your homepage to the Shared folder or to another folder in your organization. For example, if your homepage has been set to theShared folders folder, you will see theYour organization's folders page when you log in to Looker.

• A board: If your admin has set aboard as your homepage, the name of the board appears in the main navigation menu.

• A Markdown page (or another URL within Looker): An admin may set the homepage to point to a URL-based folder, boards, or another page in Looker, such as aMarkdown file or a specific dashboard.

  If your admin has set your homepage to a URL other than a folder or board, you can navigate to your homepage by selecting the Looker icon in the header of the application.

Next steps

You now know how to find existing dashboards and Looks that were created by someone else. Next, learn how toview and use dashboards.