{"id":3968,"date":"2018-05-19T19:25:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T15:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/?p=755289"},"modified":"2018-05-19T19:25:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-19T15:25:27","slug":"5-cool-custom-data-dashboards-can-make-google-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/5-cool-custom-data-dashboards-can-make-google-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Cool Custom Data Dashboards You Can Make With Google Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google Sites is one of the most convenient ways to create and publish a website with the least amount of effort. With the tools available in Google Sites, you can actually create very useful personal dashboards that can boost your organization and productivity.<\/p>\n

In this article, you\u2019re going to see how you can use Google Sites to create some very cool dashboards that can:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Monitor your email<\/li>\n
  2. Analyze your website performance<\/li>\n
  3. Create a time management system<\/li>\n
  4. Stay informed with live news<\/li>\n
  5. Save your favorite locations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. Email Monitoring Dashboard<\/h2>\n

    One of the most annoying things about email is that you need some kind of email client to know when a new email has arrived in your inbox.<\/p>\n

    If you have a Google email account, that might be your preferred online Gmail inbox<\/a>, or any of the desktop email clients<\/a> out there.<\/p>\n

    But with Google Sites, you could actually build a custom data dashboard to display all incoming emails in one place. With a single dashboard, you can just glance to see all the new incoming emails for the day.<\/p>\n

    This requires syncing Gmail to a Google Sheets and then displaying those sheets in a Google Sites page.<\/p>\n

    Display Timestamp of Latest Email<\/h3>\n

    It\u2019s possible to sync Gmail with Google Sheets<\/a> using IFTTT. But with IFTTT you can only do this with one Gmail account. This is why I usually turn to Zapier<\/a> to sync multiple Gmail accounts to multiple Google Sheets. However, keep in mind that Zapier isn\u2019t free.<\/p>\n

    With Zapier, you just create a \u201cZap\u201d with an input for the Gmail account you want to monitor and choose it to trigger with every new incoming email. Then choose Google Sheets as the output.<\/p>\n

    You should create a Google Sheet called \u201cIncoming Emails\u201d ahead of time.<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    Zapier lets you choose the spreadsheet by name and the worksheet inside it where you want your email information to go.<\/p>\n

    In this first example, you\u2019ll create a widget on your dashboard that shows each account.<\/p>\n

    Something like this:<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    Every few minutes, the script will run and update the second column, of the row you specify.<\/p>\n

    So to update the MakeUseOf row with the timestamp of the latest email in the inbox, I\u2019d choose row three<\/strong>. Then select the email data you want to import.<\/p>\n

    In this case, I\u2019m importing the received date of the latest email.<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    Once an individual \u201cZap\u201d is created for each gmail account, the dashboard widget will look something like below.<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    You can import this widget into your Google Sites web page (dashboard) by clicking on Sheets<\/strong> under the Insert<\/strong> menu on the right side of the page.<\/p>\n

    Display All Incoming Email<\/h3>\n

    To add a widget that\u2019ll show you all the incoming emails for the day, create the same kind of Zap. Also, create three columns in the sheet: Name, Date, and Subject<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Then, when you add the Sheet action in the Zap, you\u2019ll choose the same workbook, but choose the sheet you created for that email account.<\/p>\n

    Then fill out the fields with the email data you want to import.<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    This will bring all new incoming emails into your new Google Sheet. Here\u2019s what the widget will look like when you import it into your new dashboard.<\/p>\n

    \"cool<\/p>\n

    Of course, you don\u2019t want to just let this sheet keep filling up. The widget\u2019s purpose is to show you incoming emails for the day, so you\u2019ll want to add a Google Script to the sheet to clear out the sheets every day at midnight.<\/p>\n

    This is very easy to do. In the Google sheet, just click on the Tools menu, and select Script editor.<\/p>\n

    Paste a new function called \u201cClearAll\u201d into this script editor.<\/p>\n

    function ClearAll() { var start, end; var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Makeuseof'); start = 2; end = sheet.getLastRow() - 1;\/\/Number of last row with content \/\/blank rows after last row with content will not be deleted sheet.deleteRows(start, end); var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('IAMMarketing'); start = 2; end = sheet.getLastRow() - 1;\/\/Number of last row with content \/\/blank rows after last row with content will not be deleted sheet.deleteRows(start, end); var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActive().getSheetByName('Gmail'); start = 2; end = sheet.getLastRow() - 1;\/\/Number of last row with content \/\/blank rows after last row with content will not be deleted sheet.deleteRows(start, end); } <\/code><\/pre>\n
    You\u2019ll want to edit the \u201cgetSheetByName\u201d section with the actual name of your sheets that contain the emails.<\/p>\n
    To run this script every day at midnight, in the Script Editor, save your script by clicking on File<\/strong> and then Save.<\/strong> Then click on Edit<\/strong> and Current project\u2019s triggers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Set the events to Time-driven<\/strong>, Day timer<\/strong>, and Midnight to 1am<\/strong>. Then click Save<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    This will clear all sheets at midnight, so every morning you\u2019re dashboard will start with a fresh sheet, displaying only the latest incoming emails for the day.<\/p>\n
    2. Website Performance Dashboard<\/h2>\n
    Another useful data dashboard is a performance display if you own or operate a website.<\/p>\n
    To create a dashboard that shows you data about your website performance<\/strong>, you\u2019ll need that data in a location that automatically updates. Since Google Sites lets you import charts from Google Sheets, you\u2019ll want to set up Google Sheets to automatically receive data from Google Analytics.<\/p>\n
    That\u2019s outside of the scope of this article, but we\u2019ve got you covered. There are two ways you can accomplish this. Either set up an IFTTT applet that sends Google Analytics data via email to Google Sheets<\/a>, or build your own spreadsheet using the Google Core Reporting API<\/a>.<\/p>\n
    The reporting API is much more powerful and gives you access to nearly all of the data Google Analytics collects about your website, but it has a slightly steeper learning curve.<\/p>\n
    Once your spreadsheet is receiving data and you\u2019ve created a few charts that plot your traffic or demographics, you\u2019re ready to build your dashboard.<\/p>\n
    In Google Sites, just click the Insert<\/strong> menu and select Charts<\/strong>. Browse to the spreadsheet in Google Drive where you\u2019ve saved your spreadsheet, and Google Sites will give you the option to select any of the charts that exist in that spreadsheet.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    Build your website dashboard by clicking each of the charts you want to include, and place them on the page where you\u2019d like them to go.<\/p>\n
    In just a few clicks you\u2019ll have a beautiful web performance monitoring dashboard.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    You don\u2019t need an individual Google Site for these different dashboards.<\/strong> You can create sub-pages on the site for each individual dashboard.<\/p>\n
    This way there\u2019s just one URL to access everything you want to monitor.<\/p>\n
    3. Time Management Dashboard<\/h2>\n
    If you have several Google Calendars<\/strong>, you can use a time management dashboard that displays three formats of your calendar: Agenda, The Week, and The Month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Unlike Google Calendar where you have to flip between these views, you can create a Google Sites dashboard that displays them all at once.<\/p>\n
    Even better, you could embed all the calendars from all of your Google accounts on a single dashboard. Here\u2019s how you do it:<\/p>\n
    In Google Sites, under Insert<\/strong>, click on Calendar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    This gives you the option to select which Google Calendar you want to insert.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    When you select the calendar you want to embed, under View Selection<\/strong>, you can choose from Month, Week, or Agenda.<\/p>\n
    To create a dashboard with all three, just insert one of these at a time into the dashboard.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    Choose a clean layout for the three formats, and you\u2019ll have a highly functional time management dashboard.<\/p>\n
    Since the Agenda view is so narrow, you could easily fit the Weekly calendar view beside it.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    Then, add the larger Monthly calendar view underneath both of those.<\/p>\n
    Also, you can switch the display mode of each of these widgets on the live dashboard at any time. So you aren\u2019t stuck to a static display after setting it up.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    If you want to include calendars from your other Google accounts on the same page, just scroll down to the bottom and start adding more. Or you can create an entirely new sub-page for each Google account.<\/p>\n
    The layout you choose for your dashboard is completely up to you!<\/p>\n
    4. Live News Dashboard<\/h2>\n
    If you\u2019ve ever wanted a \u201cmission control\u201d panel with a bunch of displays streaming lots of information at you all at once, Google Sites is the perfect platform to do it.<\/p>\n
    In the Insert<\/strong> menu, click on YouTube<\/strong>. This brings up a search field where you can find any video on YouTube you may want to embed on your web page.<\/p>\n
    Most YouTube videos are static though, which would be pretty boring. Luckily there are live news channels on YouTube you can embed. Just search for \u201clive news\u201d or \u201clive\u201d followed by your favorite news network, to find them.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    After you\u2019ve embedded all of the live YouTube streams you want to monitor, you can click on each of them to start them playing.<\/p>\n
    All videos will stream simultaneously on the same page. It looks really cool and will make you feel like you\u2019re sitting at a desk at mission control under Cheyenne Mountain.<\/p>\n
    5. Dashboard of Places on Google Maps<\/h2>\n
    If you don\u2019t know you can create and share lists in Google Maps<\/a>, then you\u2019ll want to explore that feature.<\/p>\n
    It\u2019s a really useful way to keep track of all of your favorite places in organized lists.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    How can you use this to build a Google Sites dashboard? Easy. When you click on the Insert<\/strong> menu in Google Sites and click on Map<\/strong>, you\u2019ll see a menu option called My Maps<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
    Click on that, and you\u2019ll see all of the lists storing your favorite locations.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    Select one of the lists, and you\u2019ll have an embedded map on your dashboard featuring all of those saved locations.<\/p>\n
    It\u2019s a really convenient way to store all of your favorite spots on one URL.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    The next time you can\u2019t remember the location of that hiking trail you love to visit, just open up your dashboard and check out your \u201chiking trails\u201d map.<\/p>\n
    Switching between all of your dashboards is as simple as clicking the dropdown icon next to Home<\/strong>, and selecting the dashboard you want to see.<\/p>\n
    \"cool<\/p>\n
    You could even use a dashboard like this to plot out an itinerary for someone and then share the URL with them.<\/p>\n
    They could access it from any browser or phone, no matter where they are.<\/p>\n
    Start Using Google Sites Data Dashboards Today<\/h2>\n
    The examples above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building useful dashboards that\u2019ll make your life a whole lot easier.<\/p>\n
    Just think of all the ways you could incorporate YouTube content, map locations, information from Google Docs or Google Sheets, and more.<\/p>\n
    Google Sites has always been an easy way to make web pages<\/a>, but with the new Google Sites, you can actually make beautiful and useful dashboards like these. There\u2019s no need for dedicated data dashboard software.<\/p>\n
    \u062b\u0628\u062a \u062f\u0627\u0645\u0646\u0647\u060c \u0645\u062f\u06cc\u0631\u06cc\u062a \u0633\u0631\u0648\u0631\u060c \u0644\u06cc\u0646\u0648\u06a9\u0633\u060c \u0627\u0645\u0646\u06cc\u062a\u060c \u067e\u0634\u062a\u06cc\u0628\u0627\u0646\u06cc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Google Sites is one of the most convenient ways to create and publish a website with the least amount of effort. With the tools available in Google Sites, you can actually create very useful personal dashboards that can boost your organization and productivity. In this article, you\u2019re going to see how you can use Google […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-36"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}