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Getting started with Klips

Welcome to Klips, a cloud-based web app that helps you succeed with data!

This article introduces some Klips fundamentals to get you on the path to data discovery, including:

Why Klips?

Here are just a few of the reasons Klips is the right choice for your analytics:

Klips helps small and mid-sized businesses connect to their data - no matter where it comes from. Klips supports hundreds of services, enabling access to data from cloud applications, local files, email attachments, FTP/SFTP servers, and SQL databases.

Klips is a flexible, powerful solution. Klips has options for all levels of data expertise. Everyone can take advantage of the hundreds of built-in connectors for popular services to quickly connect to and visualize their data as Klips. More advanced users can connect to data by writing custom queries (using our REST/URL connector) or configuring connections to SQL databases. In the data source editor, they can apply functions and formulas to clean and model data for presentation in Klips.

Klips provides fully-customizable dashboards and reports for teams and clients. Real-time dashboard software that includes report automation, dashboard templates, embedding, easy sharing, custom theming, and more. Learn more about setting up Klips for your clients.

What is a Klip?

A Klip is a widget that visualizes your data in a familiar format, such as a chart, table, or gauge. Klips can be displayed and shared as standalone objects or alongside other Klips on dashboards.

Depending on the data you want to visualize, you can quickly add pre-built Klips or build custom Klips.

Your Klips journey

Your Klips journey begins with discovering the data you want to visualize as Klips and on dashboards. Where is it stored? Will you access it from a cloud application, a local file, a cloud file sharing service, an SQL database, or an email attachment?

No matter where your data lives, we’ll help you connect to it and visualize it as Klips. Analyze Klips on their own or add them to dashboards, share with others for collaboration and learning, and monitor trends in your data to help you make timely, effective data-based decisions.

Connecting to data and creating data sources

With Klips, you can access data from cloud applications, files on your computer, cloud file sharing services, SQL databases, and email attachments.

We provide hundreds of built-in connectors for many popular services - get inspired with a peek at our list of integrations. Want to get data from a service that doesn’t yet have a built-in connector? Write custom queries using our REST/URL connector.

When you connect to your data, you bring it into Klipfolio Klips, resulting in a data source. Data sources are the foundation on which Klips are based. Learn more about data sources.

For quick building, use one of our pre-built data sources or build your own custom data source from scratch:

  • Pre-built data sources: Our pre-built data sources include the most commonly sought-after data points. For example, our Facebook “Daily Reach” pre-built data source gets a list of the total number of people, by day, who have seen content from your company's Facebook page (for the last 90 days).

  • Custom data sources: If you need a unique set of data that’s not available in any of our pre-built data sources, you can write your own queries from scratch and create a custom data source. Optionally, model your custom data sources to streamline and simplify them before using them to build Klips. This will make your data easier to understand and manipulate. Learn more about the benefits of modelled data sources.

Watch this video to learn how to connect to your data and create a data source:

Watch this video to learn how to model a data source:

Visualizing your data

Your data is visualized as Klips, like the one shown below. Klips can contain one or many visualizations, providing you with an almost limitless range of options for displaying and communicating your data.

Use one of our pre-built Klips as a starting point or build a custom Klip from the ground up:

  • Pre-built Klips: Available for a multitude of services, designed in collaboration with industry experts and adhering to current best practices and trends, our pre-built Klips help you visualize data quickly. Get inspired with a look at our Klip Gallery.

  • Custom Klips: When our pre-built options don’t quite match your needs, it’s time to do some building of your own! Begin with formatting basics. Optionally, once you’re comfortable, get creative and use the power of functions and formulas in our Klip Editor to build more advanced Klips. Learn more about the Klip Editor. Learn more about writing formulas.

No matter which option you choose, our flexible design features will help you build Klips quickly and communicate your business data effectively.

Tip: Practice building Klips using the sample data included in your Klipfolio account!

Watch this video to learn how to add a pre-built Klip using your own data:

Watch this video to learn how to build a custom Klip using sample data:

Building dashboards

Now that you’ve got some Klips, it’s time to display them on a dashboard, like the one shown below:

Begin with a blank dashboard, then make it your own by giving it a unique name and adding a custom logo. Next, add thematically-related Klips. It’s easy to move and resize Klips on a dashboard - simply drag and drop them to quickly design your dashboard layout. Optionally, set your dashboard to fullscreen to bring greater focus to your message and choose either a light or dark background theme. Not sure where to start? Add one of our curated, pre-built dashboards and connect it to your data. Learn more about building dashboards. Learn how to add a custom dashboard logo. Learn more about pre-built dashboards.

Watch this video to learn how to build a dashboard:

Watch this video to learn how to customize a dashboard:

Sharing Klips and dashboards

Sharing your Klips and dashboards helps keep everyone informed and progressing toward common goals. It also encourages collaboration and discussion, leading to meaningful action.

Klips offers many ways to share:

Watch this video to learn how to share a dashboard:

Monitoring trends

Now that you have some meaningful Klips and dashboards, don’t forget about them! Regularly monitoring your data helps you react to changes and make better decisions.

With the ability to refresh your data sources (at a frequency configured by you) Klips ensures you always have access to up-to-date data. Learn more about data source refresh.

Stay on top of trends by adding indicators to your Klips. They’ll make it easy to spot changes in your data when they occur. Learn more about indicators.

Finding help

Looking for help? We've got it covered! Browse articles in our Knowledge Base, watch videos on our YouTube Channel, and contribute to and ask questions in our Community Forum. If you're stuck, contact our Support Team at support@klipfolio.com. Need some help elevating your dashboard building skills? Sign up for Dedicated Data Hero Services.

Tip: To open Klipfolio Klips Help, click the  question mark in the left navigation sidebar. Here, you'll find links to our YouTube Help videos and the Klips Knowledge Base. You can also contact our Support Team, see what's new in the Product Updates section, and access introductory information on a wide range of topics. If you're looking for more detailed information, type in the search bar to find relevant Knowledge Base articles.

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