Create an Application

With custom applications, organizations can design and create unique viewing experiences for different groups of users. Use the Application editor in MicroStrategy Workstation to easily update the following elements to brand and customize MicroStrategy based on specific requirements.

• General: Name and Description

• Application Home Screen

• Application Components

• Appearance

• Dashboard Settings (dashboard color palettes)

• Application Content

• Visualization Settings

• Email Communication

• More Settings (email address for reporting problems and Library Mobile settings)

• Environment Connection

• Save the Application

• Copy the Application Link

• Add Security

Once you've customized your application, you can edit and duplicate it.

Check out the video below to learn more.

1. Open the Workstation window.

2. Connect to an environment.

3. In the Navigation pane, click next to Applications.

   You must have the Manage Library Application privilege to create and edit applications in Workstation.

   

General: Name and Description

1. Type an application Name.

   This name helps to keep track of applications created and which users should be given access. If the application uses the default Library home screen, you can display this name on the home screen. See Application Home Screen for steps.

2. Type the application's Description.

   A description is optional but helpful for noting the use of the application and its content available.

3. Select the authentication modes. If you select Choose Specific Authentication Modes for the App, choose the authentication modes to use. To define one as the default, hover your cursor over the mode and click Set As Default. For more details on authentication modes in applications, see Select an Authentication Mode at the Application Level.

4. Continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

Application Home Screen

The home screen of an application is the initial page of the application. The home screen can be any of the following:

• The default Library home screen

• A dashboard or document

• A bot

Use the Preview on the right side of the screen to view updates. Switch between Tablet, Phone, and Web views as needed.

After you define the home screen, continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

Use the Default Library Home Screen

An application can use the Library interface, but you can customize components of the interface. You can also limit content by adding content groups in Content.

1. In the left pane, click Home Screen.

2. Choose Use the Default Library Home Screen.

3. Starting in MicroStrategy ONE (September 2024), the application name displays on the home screen. This helps identify which application a user is in. To display the generic name Library instead, clear the Use Application Name as Home Screen Title check box. For an example, see Change the Library Home Page Display Name.

Use a Dashboard or Document in the Current Server as the Home Screen

An application can use a specific dashboard or document as the home screen. Application workflows should be integrated into the dashboard/document content, such as navigation, contextual linking, and other designs.

1. In the left pane, click Home Screen.

2. Choose Use a Dashboard or Document in the Current Server as the Home Screen.

3. Click Choose a Dashboard or Document.

4. Select the content to use as the home screen.

   

5. Click Select to confirm the content.

Use a Bot in the Current Server as the Home Screen

Starting in MicroStrategy ONE (March 2024), an application can use a specific bot as the home screen.

1. In the left pane, click Home Screen.

2. Choose Use a Bot in the Current Server as the Home Screen.

3. Click Choose a Bot.

4. Select the bot to use as the home screen.

5. Click Select to confirm the content.

6. Continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

Application Components

You can customize which components (features and icons) display on the interface. Click the toggle to disable (hide) a component. As you make changes, use the Preview on the right side of the screen to view updates. Switch between Tablet, Phone, and Web views as needed.

1. In the left pane, click Components.

2. You can Disable Toolbar, so that the toolbar across the top of the interface does not display.

   • The sidebar is also disabled. The sidebar and toolbar components become unavailable and are disabled.

   • Disabling the toolbar also prevents users from switching to other applications.

3. You can Collapse the Toolbar by Default. When the application opens, the toolbar does not display but a user can expand it.

   If the application uses a dashboard or document as the home screen, the toolbar usually collapses automatically.

4. Click toggles to enable or disable components depending on your application requirements.

5. Starting in MicroStrategy 2021 Update 12, you can select whether specific panels can be pinned or docked in Library Web. By default, panels are collapsed. To allow pinning and docking for a panel, click Settings for the component and select the Pin and Open This Panel By Default check box.

   You can allow pinning and docking for these panels:

   • Sidebar

   • Table of Contents

   • Filter

   • Comments

   • Auto Answers

   If the toolbar is collapsed by default, these options do not take effect.

   For more information on troubleshooting, see Troubleshoot Pin and Dock Panels.

6. Starting in MicroStrategy 2021 Update 12, you can display the Filter icon and panel on the left or right side in Library Web and Mobile. Click Settings for the Filter component and click the location.



7. Expand the Table of Contents component to hide any of these components of the Table of Contents panel:

   • The Header, which displays the dashboard name and the Pin icon, which allows users to keep the panel open (pinned)

   • The Content Info section, which includes the cover image, content author, update date, and the Add to Favorites icon

   • The Chapter/Page Name section, which displays the dashboard’s chapters and pages

8. The Filter Summary is the area below the dashboard toolbar that displays the chapter filter selections. Click Settings for the Filter Summary component to:

   • Allow end users to show and hide it

   • Hide it when the chapter filter has no selections, that is, the chapter is not filtered

9. Starting in MicroStrategy ONE Update 12, you can customize how the Bot window looks. For steps, see Share Auto Bots.

10. Continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

Application Content

When the application uses the default Library home screen, you can define the application's content. In Content, you can add content groups to the application.

Add Content to an Application

1. In the left pane, click Content.

2. Name the section where the content groups display.

   

3. Click Add Content.

4. Select the content groups to add to the application. To view the content of a group, expand the group name.

5. Click Select. The selected content groups display.

6. Starting in MicroStrategy ONE (December 2024), you can enable Pre-cache for each content group. This means that when a user logs into the application in iOS Mobile, all the dashboards in the content group download for offline use. Each dashboard is pre-cached with the last closed view or the last saved view, depending on how the View in Library property is set in the Dashboard Properties Dialog BoxDashboard Properties DialogThe targets of any links in the dashboards also download, so users can smoothly transition between dashboards in offline mode. The following are not pre-cached:

   • Bookmarks, although a user can manually pre-cache them

   • Prompted datasets

   • Links defined with URLs

Before enabling pre-caching, clear any dashboard caches on the server that were generated before the upgrade to MicroStrategy ONE (December 2024). For details on how pre-caching works, see Download and Pre-Cache Dashboards for Offline Use.

7. By default, only selected content is available in the application. To allow users to view content in their Library and to create new content, select Allow Users to View and Create New Content in the drop-down list at the bottom of the interface.

   

8. Continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

Visualization Settings

Starting in MicroStrategy ONE (December 2024), you can disable some interactivity with visualizations in your application. For example, you may not want your users to be able to maximize visualizations because they forget to restore the visualization and view the other visualizations. Perhaps your application requires that icons do not display when a user hovers their cursor over a visualization.

1. In the left pane, click Visualization Settings.

If the home page is a bot, you cannot adjust the Visualization Settings.

2. Disable Maximize Visualization to hide the Maximize Visualization icon .

3. Disable Show Data to hide the Show Data option for visualizations. The option is available when you click the menu icon ; the Export option remains available, depending on the user's privileges.

Click here for steps to disable the visualization menu icon completely.

1. In the left pane, click Components.

2. In the Dashboard Windows section, expand Share.

3. Disable Export to Excel and Export to PDF.

4. View your changes in the preview area, where you can switch from Web view to Mobile view.

5. Continue to another element or, if you have completed customizing your application, click Save to return to the Applications list in Workstation.

More Settings

Use More Settings to provide an email address for reporting problems and to configure the Library Mobile settings listed below:

• Network timeout for connectivity

• Maximum log size in terms of items

• Disable logging (set Logging Level to Off)

• The level of logging, such as message, warning, and so on

• Disable or enable cache clearing when a user logs out

• Disable or enable smart download, which automatically downloads dashboards based on users' usage patterns

Save the Application

After you have completed customizing your application, click Save. The new application displays in the Applications list in Workstation.

Copy the Application Link

To log into the application, users must have the application link and View Access. Follow the steps below to obtain the link.

1. In the Navigation pane of Workstation, click Applications.

2. Hover your cursor over the application name in the list.

3. Click Copy Link .

   For Library Mobile, once one application link is added, all applications that the user has access to are automatically added. Users can then switch between workspaces.

   

   Similarly, for Library Web, all applications that the user has access to are automatically listed in the Account menu under the My Libraries option. This allows users to switch between workspaces.

   

Add Security

Applications are governed by access control lists (ACLs). To log into the application, users must have the application link and View access. If access is not granted, users see an error when they access the application.

Users can have access to more than one application.

Grant View Access for an Application

1. In the Navigation pane of Workstation, click Applications.

2. Right-click an application and choose Properties.

3. On the left, click Security Access.

4. Search for and select the user or user group to add.

5. If the new user or user group does not have the View permission, select View from the Permissions drop-down list.

6. Click OK.

   By default, all users (Everyone) have access to the MicroStrategy default application, although you can change that access at any time.

Edit an Application

1. In the Navigation pane in Workstation, click Applications.

2. Right-click the application and choose Edit.

3. Make any changes to the application elements.

4. Click Save.

Duplicate an Application

1. In the Navigation pane in Workstation, click Applications.

2. Right-click the application and choose Duplicate. A copy of the selected application displays in the Edit Application window.

3. Make any changes to the application elements.

4. Click Save.

   The duplicated application is not created until it is saved.

Troubleshoot Pin and Dock Panels

Why is only one panel shown if both the Filter and Comments panel are pinned?

To avoid panel overlap, two panels are not allowed to appear on the same side.

Refresh Status

For manipulations like reset, refresh page, and apply bookmark, the latest panel status before making changes is kept rather than the configuration in Workstation. For example, a Filter panel is set as a pin in Workstation. In Library Web, the user closes the Filter panel and manually pins the Comments panel. After executing changes, the Comments panel is still pinned.

Special handling in documents, reports, and bots

Filters are not supported in documents. The Filter panel does not display, even if it set to be pinned in the application.

Comments are not supported in reports. The Comments panel does not display, even if it is set to be pinned in the application.

Tables of contents, filters, and comments are not supported in bots. The Table of Contents, Filter, and Comments panels do not display, even if they are set to be pinned in the application.

Related Topics

KB486043: Configure Library Mobile to Use Applications