Configure TaskRay Public Dashboard

Do you need to share project progress with someone who isn't on TaskRay or even Salesforce? If that's the case, then we've got just the right feature for you. 

Using Salesforce Sites, it is possible to provide read-only access to external stakeholders for designated projects. By setting this up, you will have the ability to generate a unique URL that can then be shared with any external stakeholder to provide read-only access to parts of TaskRay. The link will allow external stakeholders to view project progress without having to log in to Salesforce.

While initial setup for Salesforce Sites requires a System Administrator, selecting the projects for sharing can be done by any user who has access to the project. However, if you would like to add an extra level of security around the ability to share projects using Public Dashboard, you can use validation rules to do so. Out of the box, TaskRay comes with an inactive validation rule on the TaskRay Project object to restrict enabling public dashboard access to the project owner, which you can turn on at any time if necessary.

Configuration Overview

This article will outline all the steps to configure this feature using our out-of-the-box Public Dashboard utility in Tools and Settings that allows to set up certain parts of the feature in a matter of a few clicks.

Below are the high-level steps for configuring and using this feature:

1. Register Salesforce Site Domain (through Setup)
2. Create New Salesforce Site (through Setup)
3. Complete Public Dashboard Setup Utility (through TaskRay Tools and Settings); the utility will configure the following:
   • Populate TaskRay Global Settings with relevant Site information
   • Assign a TaskRay Permission Set and License to the Site Guest User
   • Create Sharing Rules on the TaskRay Objects for the Site Guest User
   • Add Fields to Project (through Setup)
   • Optional Configurations

Additionally, there are a few optional configurations that might apply to your specific use case. Once the feature is fully configured, you could further customize it by editing field permissions, defining the default columns visible in the link, designating certain tasks as internal only, or enabling a validation rule to restrict the ability to share projects. Details on the optional configurations can be found in this article: TaskRay Public Dashboard Additional Settings.

Step 1: Register Salesforce Site Domain [Admin]

The first thing that you will need to do for setting up Salesforce Sites is register a Salesforce domain. If you have already done this, you can skip to the next section of this article.

1. From Setup, navigate to:
   • Lightning: User Interface | Sites and Domains | Sites.
   • Classic: Build | Develop | Sites.
2. In the box at the bottom of the page, enter a domain name and click on Check Availability. If it is not available, enter a new domain name.
3. If it is available, select the I have read and accepted the Salesforce Sites Terms of Use checkbox.
4. Click on Register My Salesforce Site Domain.

Step 2: Create New Salesforce Site [Admin]

After your domain is deployed, the next thing that you need to do is create a new site for sharing TaskRay projects.

1. If you are not already on that page: from Setup, navigate to:
   • Lightning: User Interface | Sites and Domains | Sites.
   • Classic: Build | Develop | Sites.
2. In the Sites section at the bottom of the page, click New.
3. Enter a Site Label (i.e. "TaskRay Public Dashboard").
4. The Site Name should automatically generate based on the label that you enter.
5. [Optional] Enter a Site Description.
6. If necessary, change the Site Contact.
7. Enter Default Web Address (i.e. projectstatus).
8. Select Active Site Home Page by clicking on the lookup icon next to the field. In the window that comes up, select trtaskboard.
9. Make sure that the Require Secure Connections (HTTPS) checkbox is checked.
10. Click Save.
11. On the Site Details page, click Activate.

Step 3: Public Dashboard Setup Utility [Admin]

The following steps can be completed directly in the TaskRay app. 

TaskRay offers a Public Dashboard Setup Utility to simplify this process and guide an administrator through the process of deploying Public Dashboard feature. This utility can be accessed in TaskRay Tools and Settings once you complete registration and creation of the public dashboard Salesforce Site.

To access the Public Dashboard Setup Utility, navigate to the TaskRay app in your Salesforce org and open the Tools and Settings menu. Tools and Settings can be accessed from the TaskRay toolbar by clicking on the Gear icon in the upper right corner. 

Within Tools and Settings, under Admin, click on the Public Dashboard tab to open the utility.

This utility will walk you through the steps to configure the TaskRay Public Dashboard feature and it will consist of the following steps:

1. Register a Domain Name and Public Site

This section correlates with Step 1 (Register Salesforce Site Domain) and Step 2 (Create New Salesforce Site) of the article above. Set the Site Setup Complete? toggle to True if this has been completed.

If you still need to configure site settings, click on the Open Site Setup button and refer to the following sections of this article: Register Salesforce Site Domain [Admin] and Create New Salesforce Site [Admin].

2. Select Public Site for Public Dashboard

Using the dropdown, select the site that you would like to use for Public Dashboard (configured in the previous step). When selected, click on Apply Selection.

3. Assign a TaskRay Permission Set and License

Click Assign to automatically assign the TaskRay External - Read Only Access Permission Set and a TaskRay License to the Public Site Guest User.

4. Create Sharing Rules for the Public Site

Click on Create Sharing Rules to create Sharing Rules that grant the TaskRay Public Site Guest user read-only access to the TaskRay Project, TaskRay Task, and TaskRay Checklist objects.

5. Update TaskRay Project Page Layouts

To make projects available for Public Dashboard, you will need to add two fields to the TaskRay Project Page Layout: Viewable in Public Dashboard and Public Dashboard Link. These fields are necessary to control which projects are available in public dashboard and to generate the link that can be shared with external users. Additionally, you can add Public Dashboard Notes if you'd like to leave a note on the public dashboard for external users to view. This will need to be completed in Salesforce Setup.

To add the fields to the TaskRay Project Page Layout:

1. From Setup, navigate to:
   • Lightning: Objects and Fields | Object Manager | TaskRay Project
   • Classic: Create | Objects | TaskRay Project
2. Click Page Layouts.
3. Select the page layout where you'd like to add the fields.
4. Move the following fields onto the page layout.
   • Viewable in Public Dashboard
   • Public Dashboard Link
   • Public Dashboard Notes
5. Click Save.

When you are done, back in the Public Dashboard Utility in Tools and Settings, set the Complete? toggle to True.

6. Public Dashboard Optional Configuration

Now that the Public Dashboard is setup, you can easily customize the dashboard for your organization's needs. There are 3 options for customization within the utility:

1. Upload a company logo and choose a banner color for the Public Dashboard Site

Your customer's may not be familiar with TaskRay since it's an internal tool used to manage projects. This option allows you to white label the Public Dashboard so customers can recognize your organization. Bt default, the dashboard will use the TaskRay logo and color.

• To upload a logo, click Upload File and open the file with your company logo.
• To change the banner color, use the color selector to select a color. Alternatively, you can enter the Hex # or RGB values. Once your color is set, click Done. 

Once completed, you can view your changes by making a project viewable in Public Dashboard and viewing the Public Dashboard Link.

If you're not satisfied, you can modify the settings or reset back to the default settings at anytime in Public Dashboard Setup Utility in TaskRay Tools and Settings.

2. Choose which task fields display in the Project Plan

Public Dashboard allows you to share the Project Plan View with external stakeholders. By default, TaskRay will display the Gantt chart with the Task name. This option allows you display additional columns over the Gantt chart. 

1. To add additional columns, click Select Fields to Display.
2. In the modal, select fields in the Available Task Fields and click the right arrow to move them to Selected Task Fields
   
   Tip: You can hold down the Control or Command button to select multiple fields to move at once.
   
   
3. Use the up and down arrows to change the order of the Selected Task Fields. 
   
4. Click Apply.

3. Choose the available and default views for the Public Dashboard

The Public Dashboard has two views available:

1. Project Plan: Displays a Gantt chart of the Project Plan along with any Task fields selected in the step above.
2. To-Do: Displays list of tasks assigned to external stakeholders. This view should only be used in conjunction with External Task Ownership.

To select which views to display:

1. Click Select Default & Available Views
2. Use the left and right arrows to move views between Available Views and Selected Views
3. Use the up and down arrows to order the selected view. The top view will be the default view external stakeholders see when they open the dashboard. 

That's it!

This should complete the setup for the TaskRay Public Dashboard feature. Next, in order to share projects externally, you will need to mark the applicable projects as Viewable in Public Dashboard. Instructions on how to do this can be found in this article: Make Projects Viewable on the Public Dashboard. 

Lastly, you can also refer to this article for the additional optional configurations that can be made to the Public Dashboard: TaskRay Public Dashboard Additional Options.