Overview
A dashboard's Filter dropdown lists two kinds of saved filters. Organization filters are built into the Dashboard Template and shared with everyone who gets the dashboard. Personal filters are saved by each User on a dashboard and only they see them.
This article explains how the two differ, which one opens by default, and how to keep viewers on your Organization filters. For step-by-step instructions, see How to set up Dashboard Templates (Organization filters) and How to use the Dashboard (Personal filters).
At a glance |
|
Who can do this | Organization filters: Super Users, or a Role with Dashboard Templates › Manage. Personal filters: anyone who can view the dashboard, unless the template limits filters. |
Where | The Filter dropdown at the top of a dashboard, or of a template in Dashboard Templates |
Works on | Backend (web) |
Availability | All organizations |
💡 Why this matters: Organization filters give everyone the same starting views; Personal filters let each person keep the view they use every day. Knowing which is which avoids "the dashboard looks different for me" questions.
Organization and Personal filters compared
| Organization filter | Personal filter |
Who creates it | Super Users or a Role with Dashboard Templates › Manage, in the template editor | Anyone viewing the dashboard, with the + in the Filter dropdown |
Who sees it | Everyone the template is shared with | Only the User who created it |
Who can change it | Template editors, by editing the template | Its owner: Save Filter, Edit preset filter, Delete Filter |
Default | The template can make one the default for everyone | Each User can star one as their Default Filter |
Listed under | Organization in the Filter dropdown | Personal in the Filter dropdown |
Viewers can select an Organization filter and change widgets on screen, but they can't save those changes to it. To keep them, they click + to save the current view as a new Personal filter.
What a dashboard filter stores
A filter of either kind stores the settings of every widget on the dashboard — Checklists, Locations, time range and custom titles — and the time zone chosen at the top of the dashboard. It can also limit the Locations offered in the Location Switcher (Limited locations/groups in Location Switcher).
A Personal filter keeps its own copy of these settings, so later edits to the template's Organization filters don't change it. A widget added to the template after a Personal filter was saved shows its default settings in that filter until the User changes it and clicks Save Filter. Deleting the template deletes the Personal filters on it.
Which dashboard filter opens by default
When a User opens a dashboard, Mobaro selects:
their Personal filter starred as Default Filter, if they have one;
otherwise the template's default Organization filter, if the template has one;
otherwise no filter, showing each widget's default settings.
Each User can have one Personal default per dashboard; starring another filter replaces it. The star only appears on Personal filters, so to open on an Organization filter's view, a User saves a Personal copy and stars that.
Keep viewers on Organization filters
In the template's Configure Dashboard panel, tick Limit available filters to those defined in this template. Viewers then switch between your Organization filters only: the + in the Filter dropdown, Clear Filter, Bulk filtering and the widgets' own filter controls are hidden. See How to set up Dashboard Templates.
⚠️ Heads-up: Personal filters that viewers saved before you ticked the setting stay in their Filter dropdown under Personal, and a starred one still opens by default.
Filters and data access
🛑 Critical: A filter decides what a widget is set to show, not what a viewer may see. Each viewer only sees data for the Locations they have access to. An Organization filter built by a Super User can look complete to you but show empty or partial widgets to viewers without access to those Locations. Check the dashboard with a viewer's account before you rely on it for readiness or compliance.
To keep a dashboard away from people who can't use it, share it only with the right Users or User Groups in Limited recipients to. See Dashboard Templates — building, sharing, and scaling.
Examples
Shared time ranges: a leadership template has the Organization filters Today, Week to date and Month to date, with Today as the default. Every leader opens on today and switches with one click.
Personal scope: a maintenance manager who covers half the rides selects the Organization filter, narrows the widgets to their Locations, saves it with + as the Personal filter My side, and stars it.
Best practices
Keep Organization filters to a handful of well-named views that most viewers need; let people save Personal filters for the rest.
When many people save the same Personal filter, add it as an Organization filter instead.
Tell viewers before you rename or delete an Organization filter they rely on.
Don't rely on the template default for anything critical: each User's Personal default overrides it, unless you limit filters to the template.
Frequently asked questions
How do I save my filter settings so I don't have to filter every time?
Save them as a Personal filter with the + in the Filter dropdown, then click the star (Default Filter) so the dashboard opens with it. See How to use the Dashboard.
When I save the dashboard template, my filters reset. Why?
Widget settings are only kept inside a filter. In the template editor, select or create a filter first, then set the widgets and save. See How to set up Dashboard Templates.
How do I change the filters for everyone, or stop people changing them?
Edit the template's Organization filters and save — everyone gets the change. To stop viewers creating their own filters, tick Limit available filters to those defined in this template in Configure Dashboard.
Can I limit a filter to certain people?
No. Every Organization filter is available to everyone the template is shared with. Build a separate template for that group and share it through Limited recipients to.
Others see different numbers than I do on the same dashboard. How do I make it the same for everyone?
Make sure everyone uses the same filter: set it as the template's default Organization filter, and limit filters to the template if needed. Differences that remain come from Location access — each viewer only sees their own Locations.