Facing quite a number of issues with platform analytics

[venori26]

Hello Team,

I have posted few questions earlier but had no luck receiving responses. I am working in Platform Anlytics for the first time and I am facing quite a number of challenges as listed below:

1) There is no option to turn-off totals in pivot table style visualisation

2) Unable to change the format of numbers for the ones which are more than 10000. for example if total is 13000, the dashboard is showing 13k. This is especially in indicator groups. I dont want to show in abbreviated format (attached screenshot). is this solvable by a formula indicator? or a scripted indicator?

3) Unable to add any placeholders, like a box or something. I am trying to show something that is done in ppt. As shown in attached,  for the columns in Pivot, there is Current Month, Prior Month and underneath, there is Critical, High, Total. I am unable to accomplish the same way of representing in platform analytics. Is this possible in UI builder?

Are there any work arounds for any of the issues above. Any kind of suggestions are much appreciated.

[M Iftikhar · Accepted solution]

Hi, I understand your frustration. Platform Analytics can be tricky, especially when you're just starting. Here are solutions and workarounds for the issues you've listed.

1. Turning Off Totals in Pivot Tables

Unfortunately, you're right. As of the current ServiceNow version, there is no out-of-the-box option to disable the totals row or column in a pivot table visualization directly on the dashboard. The total is a core part of the pivot functionality.

Workaround: The only way to "hide" the total is to use a different visualization type that doesn't include totals, such as a bar chart or a simple list. For more advanced, customized views, you can also create a custom visualization in UI Builder to represent the data without the totals.

2. Number Formatting (13,000 as 13K)

This is a common issue and yes, it's possible to change this.

Solution: You can control this formatting in the Indicator Settings. Go to your indicator or the formula indicator you're using. Under the "Display" tab, you'll find a field called "Format". Here, you can select "Number" instead of "Number (Abbreviated)". This will ensure that the full number is displayed, not the abbreviated version.

Workaround: In some specific cases (like in Indicator Groups), the platform may forcefully abbreviate numbers. If the direct setting doesn't work, a workaround is to use a Formula Indicator to manipulate the value or use a Scripted Indicator to control the output format.

3. Adding Placeholders or Boxes (PPT-style layout)

The layout you're trying to achieve is not natively possible with the standard ServiceNow dashboard UI. Dashboards are designed to be a grid of widgets, and they don't support custom boxes or placeholders to group items in that manner.

Solution: The correct way to achieve a custom layout like this is by using a UI Builder. The UI Builder allows you to create highly customized layouts with containers, columns, and rows, which can then hold your visualizations. You can use UI Builder containers to mimic the boxes and sections you would create in a PowerPoint presentation. This is the correct tool for your requirement.

I hope this helps solve your challenges. The key is knowing which tool to use for each job. So, for simple analytics dashboards, you use Platform Analytics, but for advanced layouts, UI Builder is the right way.

Thanks & Regards,
Muhammad Iftikhar,
If my response helped, please mark it as the accepted solution so others can benefit as well.

[venori26]

Thank you!

[venori26]

Thank you sir for the response and inputs. Now I atleast know that I am not missing any important feature that might be available in ServiceNow