Metrics and preview

Open Insight widgets, select a widget, open Metrics, then select a metric. A metric is one number from a published report. Edits to the name, description, student visibility and metric settings stay unsaved. Adding, removing, showing, hiding and reordering metrics also wait for Save changes. A bar shows the unsaved change count with Discard and Save changes. Select Save changes to apply the edits. Discard asks “Discard unsaved changes?” Select Keep editing to continue, or Discard to restore the saved settings. Leaving with unsaved changes asks first; reloading or closing the page also prompts you.

If “Your changes could not be saved. Keep this page open and try again.” appears with the unsaved changes bar still showing, the page keeps all edits and the change count. Keep the page open and select Save changes again. If “Your changes were saved, but the page could not refresh. Reload to see them.” appears, the edits were saved and only the page refresh failed. Reload the page to see the saved settings. Changes are saved together, so a failed save does not save only some edits.

Source report

Choose Source report. It must be published and have an OrgUnitId column. If the editor warns that its datasets are empty inside a course, choose a report built from course data. If the report is unavailable, ask for access; see Roles and permissions.

The editor does not accept a report that picks rows at random as a metric: This report picks random rows, so its numbers would change every time. Remove the random part to use it in a widget.

Metric name and {s}

Enter Metric name. Inactive student{s} becomes “Inactive student” for 1 and “Inactive students” otherwise.

Calculation

Choose Count of matching rows, Average of column, Sum of column, Minimum of column, Maximum of column, or Percentage of total. For a column calculation, select Column. For the Class list course visits template’s inactive indicator, choose Sum of column and Inactive. Counting rows counts all students.

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Records included

Choose Each viewer’s own records or Everyone in the course. The first needs OrgUnitId and UserId in the report output; the second needs OrgUnitId. Report filters still apply. An unsupported choice is disabled with its reason. If the editor cannot confirm reach yet, wait for columns to load or ask for source report access.

Under Who can see this metric, every eligible row shows Show, including the Teaching assistants row. Use it to hide a metric from an eligible role or show it again. The status reads Shown, Hidden here, Blocked by role, or Blocked by launch. Audience can only hide a metric; it cannot widen what a role or launch allows. See Roles and permissions.

Student names on details

Show student names to instructors is a per-metric control, off by default. See Names on widget details before changing it.

Show, hide and reorder metrics

Use the switch on a metric row to show or hide it without deleting it. Drag its handle to change the order. Select Add metric for another number, or Remove metric to delete one.

Parameters and alerts

If the source report has parameters, set their values under Instructor controls. See Alerts and controls for course controls and alerts.

In Search for a preview course, enter a synced course name or ID and select a result. Every word must appear in the name, in any order. Courses using the widget appear first. Deleted or recycled courses are excluded after sync. A spinner appears inside the search box while searching. Previous matches, counts and load controls stay hidden until the search finishes. Results show the number of matches loaded and the total; select Load more to fetch the next matches when available. If none appear, check the last sync.

If “Starting a query machine. This can take a minute.” appears, the page keeps waiting and loads the courses on its own; no action is needed.

Workspace tabs are Metrics, Audience, Courses and Place in Brightspace. Metrics has the ordered metric list, settings form and Live preview. Choose Instructor or Student in Live preview. Instructor uses your signed-in viewer; Student uses only your own records and has no details link. Preview shows saved changes and updates after Save changes. While edits are unsaved, it says “Preview shows saved changes.” On a phone, select Preview to open it. Use Open details preview for Instructor details.

Audience

Open Audience to review Who can see this widget. Its three rows are People in the courses it is placed in, Narrowed by report sharing, and Course numbers follow the role. The first row has a course count that opens Courses. Its Instructor role setting appears only after the role settings finish loading successfully; while checking or after a failure, the card says so instead. For the access rules behind these rows, see How access works and Roles and permissions.

The student visibility switch appears once below the card. See Roles and permissions for the student viewing rules. The metric-by-viewer table shows Course, Own, Hidden or Off as baselines; report sharing can narrow a baseline for individual people. Select a metric name to edit its Whose numbers section. The footnote says Roles come from Brightspace launches. Instructors and Teaching assistants are treated the same. Any accompanying count of people whose role is unknown is a limit on that estimate.

A metric hidden by report sharing shows Hidden by your report access in place of a number, with no alert or details link. It is a restriction placeholder, not a zero. Report share row limits do not set widget numbers; widget records follow the metric and course rules, while report column and personal column restrictions can still narrow what is shown. See How access works.

Select Save changes to apply Audience edits. Courses shows course usage and settings; Place in Brightspace supplies placement steps and copy controls. For navigation and editor access, see Roles and permissions.