As we move into the second half of the year, our team at Explo continues to innovate and refine our platform to ensure you can deliver the best possible experience to your end-users. This August, we're thrilled to announce three significant updates that will empower you to create even more dynamic and insightful dashboards. Whether you're looking to offer more interactivity, ensure transparency in your data management, or gain real-time insights into potential issues, our latest features have you covered. Let's dive into what's new this month.

1. Introducing the Slider Component: A New Level of Interactivity

In today's data-driven world, providing end-users with the tools to explore data dynamically is crucial. That's why we're excited to introduce the Slider Component—a powerful new feature that allows users to select a range of numbers directly within your Explo dashboards.

What is the Slider Component?

The Slider Component is a versatile UI element that lets users filter data by selecting a specific range of values. Whether you’re displaying financial data, time series information, or any metric that benefits from range selection, the Slider Component offers a seamless and intuitive way for users to interact with your dashboards.

Key Benefits:

• Enhanced User Experience: The Slider Component allows end-users to engage more deeply with the data. By adjusting the slider, users can instantly see how different ranges affect the displayed information, enabling them to uncover insights quickly and easily.
• Customization: The Slider Component is highly customizable, allowing you to set minimum and maximum values, define step intervals, and even choose specific formats (e.g., currency, percentage) to match the data type.
• Real-Time Feedback: As users adjust the slider, the dashboard updates in real-time, providing immediate visual feedback and ensuring that users can make data-driven decisions on the fly.

Use Cases:

• Financial Reporting: Allow users to filter financial data within a specific range, such as revenue between $100,000 and $500,000, to analyze trends and patterns.
• Time Series Analysis: Enable users to select a date range to focus on a particular period within your time series data, perfect for exploring seasonal trends or specific events.
• Sales Performance: Users can filter sales data to view performance metrics for a particular range, such as the number of units sold between 1,000 and 10,000.

With the Slider Component, your dashboards become more than just static displays—they transform into interactive tools that help users engage with your data in meaningful ways.

2. Version Control: Track, Compare, and Understand Dashboard Changes

Data management is all about transparency, accuracy, and control. In fast-paced environments where dashboards are continually evolving, it's vital to know exactly what changes have been made, who made them, and how those changes impact your data. Enter Version Control—a robust new feature that brings clarity and confidence to your dashboard management process.

What is Version Control?

Version Control in Explo allows you to track all changes made to a dashboard over time. With this feature, you can view the complete history of modifications, compare different versions side-by-side, and understand the impact of these changes through detailed SQL comparisons.

Key Benefits:

• Complete Transparency: Version Control gives you a comprehensive log of all changes made to your dashboards, including who made the changes and when. This ensures full accountability and makes it easier to track the evolution of your dashboards.
• SQL Comparison: With the Compare Previous Version button, you can see exactly how your data queries have changed between versions. This feature highlights the differences in the SQL code, helping you understand the impact of these changes on your datasets.
• Data Integrity: By viewing version differences, you can quickly identify any changes that may have affected the accuracy or integrity of your data. This is particularly useful when rolling back to a previous version or troubleshooting issues that may have arisen from recent changes.

Use Cases:

• Change Management: Easily track and review changes made to your dashboards, ensuring that all modifications are documented and understood by your team.
• Auditing: Provide auditors or stakeholders with a clear history of changes, making it easier to demonstrate compliance with data governance policies.
• Collaboration: When multiple team members are working on the same dashboard, Version Control helps ensure that everyone is on the same page, reducing the risk of conflicting changes or misunderstandings.

Version Control is your safeguard against unwanted surprises in your dashboards. By providing a clear view of how your data and queries evolve, this feature empowers you to maintain the highest standards of data integrity and accuracy.

3. JavaScript Events for Errors: Proactive Monitoring for Seamless Operations

No one likes surprises—especially when it comes to potential issues in a production environment. That’s why we’ve introduced JavaScript (JS) Events for Errors—a new feature designed to keep you informed and in control, even when something goes wrong.

What are JS Events for Errors?

JS Events for Errors are events that are fired when an error occurs on an embedded Explo dashboard. Whether it's a data loading issue, a broken widget, or any other problem, these events provide real-time feedback, allowing you to address issues before they impact your users.

Key Benefits:

• Real-Time Alerts: As soon as an error occurs, an event will be fired, enabling you to take immediate action. This reduces downtime and helps ensure that your dashboards continue to operate smoothly.
• Proactive Problem-Solving: With JS Events for Errors, you can catch issues early and fix them before they become major problems. This proactive approach helps maintain the reliability and performance of your dashboards.
• Operational Transparency: These error notifications help you stay informed about the health of your dashboards, ensuring that you’re never in the dark about potential issues.

Use Cases:

• Production Monitoring: Keep a close eye on your production dashboards, ensuring that any issues are promptly identified and addressed.
• Error Debugging: Use the error notifications to quickly pinpoint the source of a problem, streamlining the debugging process and minimizing disruption.
• User Experience: By resolving errors before they affect your end-users, you can maintain a high-quality user experience and avoid negative feedback.

JS Events for Errors put you in the driver's seat when it comes to maintaining the health of your dashboards. By providing real-time notifications, this feature ensures that you’re always aware of potential issues and can take action before they escalate.

At Explo, we’re committed to providing you with the tools you need to create exceptional data experiences. Our product updates are designed to enhance the interactivity, transparency, and reliability of your dashboards, empowering you to deliver even greater value to your end-users.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to enhance Explo and empower you to deliver the best possible data experiences. Happy dashboarding!

‍