---
source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/illuminate/dashboards/create-dashboards-and-charts
title: Create dashboards and charts
updated_at: 2026-06-15T09:15:05.211Z
---

> Documentation Index
> For a curated overview of PubNub documentation, see: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/llms.txt
> For the full list of all documentation pages, see: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/llms-full.txt


# Create dashboards and charts

Visualize your app's data through Dashboards and charts to see key metrics at a glance.

:::note Prerequisites
To create a chart, you need a Business Object and a metric.
:::

:::tip Creating Dashboards for customers
If you are a PubNub partner with Illuminate embedded in your website, you can create Dashboards for yourself or your end customers in the Illuminate section of the Admin Portal. Read [Illuminate for PubNub Partners](#illuminate-for-pubnub-partners) for details.
:::

## Use case

For our [use case](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/illuminate/basics#sample-use-case), create a Dashboard with two charts based on the previously [created](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/illuminate/business-objects/create-business-object) and [activated](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/illuminate/decisions/create-decision#activate-decision) `Game engagement experiment` Business Object and its [metrics](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/illuminate/business-objects/create-business-object#create-metrics).

##### Check configuration details

Summary of items we define:

| Item | Values | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dashboard | Name: `Game engagement experiment` | Container for both charts |
| Chart 1 | Automatically named after the `Message sum` metric | Lets us visualize the number of sent messages and triggered actions (sent discount codes) whenever a guild reaches or exceeds the 100-message sum threshold. |
| Chart 2 | Automatically named after the `Total purchased value` metric | Lets us verify if the discounts we sent to guild members impacted the total value of purchased items and, thus, increased monetization. |

## Steps

First, create a Dashboard and then create charts to visualize your metrics.

### Watch video

[Illuminate: Create Dashboard and charts](https://youtu.be/sXM60XLcEqQ)

### Step-by-step guide

1. On the Dashboards home page, click Create Dashboard and enter the Dashboard name (Game engagement experiment).
2. Either Save the Dashboard now and Edit it to add a chart, or add a chart first and Save at the end.
3. From the Dashboard view, click Add Chart to open the configuration modal.
4. Click Select Business Object and choose the Game engagement experiment Business Object.
5. Choose the Message sum metric. The chart auto‑populates with the metric configuration.
6. If needed, add a Decision to visualize with the chart by clicking Manage.
7. Click Add to save the configured chart. The chart name is generated from the metric name.
8. Create another chart for the Total purchased value metric and Add it to the Dashboard.
9. Save the Dashboard if you didn’t save it earlier. To add more charts, click Edit and add charts.

You can now watch data as it arrives. See when actions trigger at the `100` messages threshold and how that impacts total purchased value.

![Dashboard](https://www.pubnub.com/assets/images/dashboard-aae229ec057692aaf81148ad99f6f780.png)

## Illuminate for PubNub partners

If you’re a PubNub partner, you’ll see a drop‑down menu to choose who you’re working on Illuminate for.

* Select **your own company name** at the top of the drop-down if you’re creating Dashboards for yourself.
* **All customers** to see which customers have been set up with Illuminate.
* A **customer name** to see only their Dashboards and start creating or editing only for this one customer.
* **All internal and customers** for your own Dashboards and those of the customers.

![Create Dashboard for end customers](https://www.pubnub.com/assets/images/dashboards-for-end-customers-166c7424363c889dd527e985cec16e83.png)

Depending on what you’ve selected from the partner drop-down menu, you’ll see a `Customer` column that provides information on who a Dashboard belongs to – a customer or your own organization.

* If you don’t see a customer in the drop-down menu, go to the [Partner Portal](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/portal/partner-portal) section of the PubNub Admin Portal and make sure you’ve created the customer in PubNub and assigned a keyset to them.
* If, after selecting the customer, you don’t see apps or keysets for selection, assign keysets for this customer in the Partner Portal.

## Terms in this document

* **Dashboard** - A collection of widgets (charts) that give an overview of the metrics one is evaluating.
* **End Customer** - A customer of a PubNub partner. End customers do not have direct access to the Admin Portal. Instead, they interact with PubNub products—such as Illuminate—through the partner’s portal, where PubNub services are embedded. They can create PubNub objects only within this partner-provided environment.
* **Partner** - A PubNub customer who resells PubNub products, such as Illuminate, to their own customers. Partners have access to the Admin Portal, enabling them to create and manage PubNub objects for themselves or on behalf of their end customers.