Dynamic Comments In Data Studio

Data Studio is a fantastic reporting solution, especially when considering it is totally free. However, every now and then users may become frustrated by some limitations in functionality that one often finds with a free and relatively new tool.

Here's the scenario: We have a weekly report which is static and includes comments from a collaborator. We would like to make our report dynamic whilst maintaining the value of our weekly remarks.

The solution? We introduce a new data source into Data Studio. We recommend using Google Sheets to do this. This new data source will hold all the comments. The process will go like this:

Step 1: Create the comments spreadsheet in Sheets

Step 2: Connect the Sheets Data Source to Data Studio

Step 3: Configure the analysis table in the report

Step 1: Create the comments spreadsheet in Sheets

From our Google drive, we will create a new spreadsheet.

We will need the following fields: Week, Comment, Bullet

Week – This column will dictate which week’s comments we are looking at.

Note, each report is different and we can adapt our spreadsheet to accommodate these unique requirements. For example, we could have monthly comments etc. Additionally, it is best practice to use text for the date indicator rather than numbers.

Comment – This field will hold the actual analysis we want to deliver to the client.

Bullet – This is an optional field but I think it helps make the analysis look more professional since it distinguishes each comment with a bullet point.

Once we have created the field headers, we can insert the data. For this example I will include just 3 weeks and apply 3 analysis remarks for each week. We can add more analysis points if we choose but we must be mindful of the space we will use in the report.

Above we can see all of our comment data. We required a new row for each new piece of analysis for the week, therefore, we had 3 rows for each week. We have used the capital letter “O” to generate our bullet points.

Finally, give the comment sheet a creative name and we will be ready to connect it to our Data Studio report.

Step 2: Connect the Sheets Data Source to Data Studio

In our Data Studio report, go Resource > Manage added data sources

Select “Add A Data Source” and then select Google Sheets

Navigate to your comment sheet, keep the two boxes on the right checked. Confirm by selecting “Connect”.

Ensure that the fields are configured as expected and confirm.

Step 3: Configure the analysis table in the report

Now we want to get the comments in the Report. Insert a Table by going to Insert > Table. We will have to change the Data Source to our new Sheets Data Source.

We add the Bullet and Comment dimensions to the table.

Now we have cleaned up the table by taking off the Table Header, Row numbers, and pagination. We have also enables text wrapping for the table body.

Next, we have added a Filter Control so that we can dynamically select which week we want to see the analysis. We add the Filter Control through Insert > Filter Control. We ensure the Data Source is our new Sheets Data Source, and that our Dimension is Week.

If we leave our comments table in our report, it will currently display every comment until the user selects the week they wish to filter by. To clean this up, we will select “Single Select” which allows us to set a Default value to filter by. By inserting the filter value “None selected”, the table will show “No data” and will only show the relevant comments after the user specifies the week.

Now, once we select our week, we successfully see the comments as expected.

Practical Comments:

- We can customise the font of the table in three ways: Font, Font colour, and Font size

- The best practice is to use two different filters to control the date range for the analysis comments and the rest of the data in a report. Attempting to blend the comments data with the rest of the data can be temperamental.

- We can select a number for the week, however, when we clean the table to