Which widget form should I use?

You can use our powerful Analytics tools to gather, display, and work on the wide variety of data found in Borealis. Based on your goals and on what you want to do with this data, it can be displayed in various ways and filtered based on several criteria.

To be able to create widgets with relevant data, it is essential to use the right form from the the start when creating a new Widget in Borealis. Once the widget is created it can be modified in endless ways to meet your needs; however you cannot change the form itself.

With so many options, the first question to ask when creating a widget is: “Which form should I use?”

When you begin the widget creation process, you can use the drop-down list to explore the different options.

Depending on the relationships and information you want to display in your widgets, you may need to tryout a few forms first to verify whether they display the info you need. If you’re having trouble finding the right form, contact our support team at helpdesk@boreal-is.com.

The following strategies can help you choose the right form and approach.

Phrase Your Need as a Question

For example you could ask the following:

• What communications have we had with Canadian mayors in the last month?
  • The Communications form could provide you with that information:
    
    • Stakeholder Engagement - Engagements- Communications
  • However, depending on the secondary information you are looking to have in your widget,  you could also use the Individuals or Organisations form:
    • Stakeholder Engagement- Stakeholders - Individuals
    • Stakeholder Engagement- Stakeholders - Organisations
• Which stakeholders filed a grievance in the last year?
  • You should use the Grievances form:
    • Stakeholder Engagement- Engagement - Grievances
• Who was the last person on my team to have a communication with this stakeholder?
  • The Communications form will use a calculated value to tell you.
    • Stakeholder Engagement - Engagements- Communications
• Who are the stakeholders in this city?
  • The best form varies based on whether your stakeholders are organisations, individuals, or households.
    • Stakeholder Engagement - Stakeholders - Individuals
    • Stakeholder Engagement - Stakeholders - Organisations
    • Stakeholder Engagement - Stakeholders - Households

Use a Form That Matches Where the Information is In Borealis

When you are unsure of which form contains the information you want to display, you can use the location of the information in Borealis as a reference. 

For example, if the information is in the Individual section of the application, you can assume that the form you will need is a Stakeholder Engagement form, likely the Stakeholder Engagement - Stakeholders - Individuals.

If you are trying to put an emphasis on a specific type of data, you should also verify whether there is a more specialized form that contains the information you want to display. You can open a record with the information you want to display such as an individual, and refer to the left hand record menu of the record to find where the information is located. If you are looking to display information related to the menu, you could use a form with that name such as Stakeholder Engagement - Engagements - Grievances if you are looking to display information on several grievances.

Verify the Information You Want is Available Before Adding Filters.

After you have selected a form, make sure that the information you want in your widget is available in the Columns drop-down lists. If the information is not in the drop-down list, you should look at other forms.

Avoid an All-Inclusive Solution

It can be tempting to forego the first steps of narrowing down what you want your results to be and simply select a form that includes everything such as:

• Stakeholder Engagement - All Stakeholders
• Stakeholder Engagement - All Engagements

This approach can be a double-edged sword. If you do not set your filters properly and, for example, search for communications with a given stakeholders, your results will also include all the complaints, issues, commitments, etc. involving that stakeholder.

Get Help

You can reach out to our Borealis experts to set up the widgets and reports you need. Contact our support team at helpdesk@boreal-is.com or click the “Need help?” button at the bottom of the screen.