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Working with Perspectives

Intermediate 15 minutes Auto-generated screenshots

Overview

Perspectives save your entire dashboard layout -- which views are open, how they are arranged, and what filters are applied. This tutorial covers creating custom perspectives, managing views within them, and sharing perspectives with your organization.

For a tour of the built-in perspectives, see Getting Started.

Prerequisites

Understanding the Workspace

Workspace vs. Perspective Tabs

The left pane has two modes:

Mode Behavior
Workspace (first tab) Your personal default layout. Any changes you make here are automatically saved.
Perspective tabs (below Workspace) Read-only previews organized by category. Clicking a perspective tab shows its layout, but changes are not saved to your default.

Info

To adopt a perspective as your default layout, select it from the perspective dropdown in the toolbar -- not from the left pane.

What a Perspective Captures

A perspective stores:

  • View arrangement -- which views are open and where they are positioned
  • View sizes -- how space is divided between views
  • Tab groups -- which views are grouped into tabbed containers
  • Active tabs -- which tab is selected in each group
  • Filters -- search, visibility, and limit settings per view
  • Global filters -- cloud, account, and region filters from the toolbar

Adding Views to Your Layout

Use the hamburger menu (☰) in the toolbar to add views:

  1. Click the ☰ menu in the toolbar
  2. Browse views organized by category (Formations, Compute, Storage, Admin, etc.)
  3. Click a view to add it to your current layout as a new tab

Screenshot: 01-add-view

The menu only shows views available to you -- views you own, views shared with you, or views included in shared perspectives.

Info

Not everyone sees the same views. When a perspective is shared, all views inside it are automatically shared with the recipients. Contact your organization administrator if a view you need is not available.

Working with View Controls

Each view has built-in controls for interacting with its content.

Filtering

Type in the filter bar at the top of any view and press Enter to search. The filter searches across all visible properties -- labels, descriptions, types, and more.

Screenshot: 02-filter-bar

Table and Card Modes

Switch between Table mode (detailed rows with sortable columns) and Card mode (visual tiles with key information):

  • Use the mode toggle in the view toolbar
  • Table mode is best for scanning many items
  • Card mode is best for visual identification

Screenshot: 03-table-card-mode

Context Menus

Right-click any artifact to see available actions:

  • Launch, Stop, Terminate -- lifecycle actions for formations and sessions
  • Share -- share with users, groups, or organizations
  • Update -- modify properties
  • Delete -- remove the artifact
  • Add To Bookmarks -- pin for quick access

Screenshot: 04-context-menu

Arranging Views

Customize your layout by moving, splitting, and resizing views:

  1. Drag a view tab to rearrange its position
  2. Drop a tab on an edge of another view to split the area horizontally or vertically
  3. Drop a tab on the center of another view to create a tabbed group
  4. Resize views by dragging the borders between them
  5. Maximize a view by double-clicking its tab; double-click again to restore

Screenshot: 05-arrange-views

Changes made in the Workspace tab are automatically saved. Changes in perspective preview tabs are not.

Creating a Perspective

Once you have your views arranged, save the layout as a named perspective:

Step 1: Save

  1. Click the Save As button in the toolbar
  2. Enter a descriptive name for your perspective
  3. Click Save

Screenshot: 06-save-dialog

Tip

Use descriptive names that reflect the workflow: "Development", "Cost Monitoring", "Admin Tasks", "Compliance Review".

Step 2: Assign to a Category (Optional)

Place your perspective in a category so it appears in the correct section of the left pane:

  1. Right-click the perspective → Update
  2. Set the Folder Name to the category (e.g., "COMPUTE", "ADMIN", "DASHBOARDS")
  3. Set the Perspective Index to control its position within the category
  4. Configure display options:
  5. Side Menu Visible -- show/hide the left pane by default
  6. In Top Menu -- include in the toolbar perspective list
  7. Filters Bar Visible -- show/hide filter bars by default
  8. Show Details on Hover -- enable hover tooltips
  9. Auto Zoom -- auto-scale view contents
  10. Sync Mode -- synchronization behavior
  11. View Mode -- default card or table mode

Managing Perspectives

Update

To update the layout of an existing perspective:

  1. Modify your current layout in the Workspace
  2. Click Save to update the current perspective

To modify perspective properties:

  1. Right-click the perspective → Update
  2. Change properties: folder name, index, display options

Share

Share your perspective with others so they see the same layout and views:

  1. Right-click the perspective → Share
  2. Choose recipients: Users, Groups, or Organizations
  3. Set access level
  4. Confirm

When a perspective is shared, all views inside it are automatically shared with the recipients. This is how organization administrators control which views are available to their users.

Delete

  1. Right-click the perspective → Delete
  2. Confirm deletion

Warning

Deleting a perspective removes it for all users it was shared with.

Organization Perspectives

Organization managers can:

  • Set a Default Perspective -- enforce a default for all users so new members start with a curated workspace
  • Share Perspectives -- distribute perspectives to the organization
  • Assign Categories -- organize perspectives into meaningful folders
  • Control Index -- order perspectives within categories for logical navigation

Best Practices

Organization

  • Create perspectives for each role or workflow
  • Use descriptive names that reflect the perspective's purpose
  • Assign perspectives to the appropriate category via folder name
  • Set perspective index for logical ordering within categories

Sharing

  • Test perspectives before sharing with the organization
  • Set a default perspective for new users to provide a guided onboarding experience
  • Keep shared perspectives stable -- frequent changes affect all users

Views

  • Use the filter bar to narrow results before scanning
  • Switch to Table mode for dense data, Card mode for visual browsing
  • Right-click artifacts for all available actions
  • Bookmark frequently used artifacts for quick access across perspectives

Next Steps