Excel to Dashboard

With Squadbase, you can transform your Excel files into interactive dashboards in just minutes. This guide walks you through the entire process—from creating your first dashboard to sharing it with your team—even if you're using Squadbase for the first time.

Time Required

Approximately 15 minutes

What You'll Need

• A Squadbase account (free sign-up available)
• An Excel file you want to analyze (.xlsx, .xls, or .csv format)

Step 1: Create a New Project

1. Log in to Squadbase and click "New Project" from the dashboard
2. Give your project a name (e.g., "Sales Analysis Dashboard")
3. Optionally add a description, then click "Create"

Step 2: Upload Your Excel File

1. Open your newly created project and locate the data source panel on the right side of the screen
2. Click "Upload File" or "+ Add Data Source"
3. Drag and drop your Excel file, or click "Browse" to select it from your computer
4. Once uploaded, you'll see a preview of your data

Supported file formats:

• Excel (.xlsx, .xls)
• CSV (.csv)
• Jupyter Notebook (.ipynb)

Step 3: Let AI Build Your Dashboard

Now it's time for vibe coding to work its magic.

1. In the chat input field at the bottom of the screen, describe the dashboard you want to create in natural language

Examples:

Show me monthly sales trends as a bar chart.
I also want to see the top 5 product categories in a pie chart.

Create a ranking of customers by purchase amount.
Add a filter so I can narrow down by date range.

2. Press Enter, and the AI will understand your request, generate the code, and build your dashboard
3. Within seconds, your dashboard will appear in the preview area

🎯 Tips for Effective Prompts:

• Use specific action verbs like "show," "display," or "visualize"
• Specify the chart type (bar chart, line chart, pie chart, etc.)
• Mention if you need filters or interactive features

Step 4: Refine Your Dashboard

The AI-generated dashboard can be improved iteratively through continued conversation.

Example refinements:

Change the chart colors to blue tones

Set the title to "2024 Sales Summary"

Add thousand separators to the numbers

Keep refining through dialogue with the AI to get closer to your ideal dashboard.

🔍 Analysis Transparency: From the "Tasks" section in the chat, you can run the "Explain SQL" task to see exactly what data queries are being executed.

Step 5: Share with Your Team

Once your dashboard is ready, share it with your team members.

1. Click the "Share" button in the top right corner
2. Choose your sharing method:
   • Share within Space: Invite team members to your Space with viewing permissions
   • Share via link: Generate a public link to share with internal or external stakeholders
3. Set permission levels:
   • Viewer: Can only view the dashboard (free)
   • Editor: Can edit and improve the dashboard
   • Admin: Can manage the entire project
4. Click "Share" to complete the process

🎉 Viewing is Free! With Squadbase, Viewer licenses are free. Share your dashboards with your entire team and spread data-driven decision-making throughout your organization.

Troubleshooting

File Upload Fails

• Check if the file size is too large
• Verify that your file format is supported (.xlsx, .xls, .csv)
• Ensure the file isn't corrupted by trying to open it in another tool

AI Doesn't Understand My Request

• Try being more specific (e.g., "create a chart" → "show monthly sales in a bar chart")
• Explicitly mention column names from your data
• Break complex requests into multiple steps

Generated Chart Doesn't Match Expectations

• Use the chat to give specific instructions like "change X to Y"
• Check the SQL tab to review the aggregation logic, and if needed, specify "group by X"