Learn365 Power BI solutions: Basic Starter Kit guide

Introduction

As part of the Microsoft ecosystem, Learn365 strongly recommends leveraging Power BI to create all your elaborate business intelligence reporting and analytics visuals. Power BI is a powerful tool that enables you to connect to, transform, analyze, and visualize data from various sources in one place. With Power BI, you can create interactive reports and dashboards that help you gain insights and make informed decisions.

The Learn365 Power BI solutions – Basic Starter Kit is a Power BI report file that enables you to get started quickly on leveraging Power BI with your Learn365 instance.

The complimentary reports are available to everyone. All you need to do to get started is download the report file (available as an attachment at the bottom of this article), open it in Power BI Desktop, connect your Learn365 API Key, and customize the report to suit your needs.

In this guide, we'll show you how to get started with the Basic Starter Kit and Power BI Desktop, the application that enables you create reports and publish them to the Power BI service.

Watch the video below or scroll through the article (more details in the article).

 

How to get Power BI Desktop

There are two ways to download and install Power BI Desktop on your computer:

• From the Power BI Desktop site. From here, download Power BI Desktop, run the .msi file, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
• From the Microsoft Store. From here, search for and get Power BI Desktop then follow the prompts to install Power BI Desktop.

Once installed, you can launch Power BI Desktop from the Start menu or a desktop shortcut.

 

Will users need a specific Power BI license to use these Solutions?

You don't need any specific licenses to use our Power BI solutions. All you need is access to Power BI Desktop, which is a free application that you can download.

However, if you want to access additional features and capabilities that Power BI offers, such as publishing reports and dashboards to Power BI Online, leveraging Row-Level Security (RLS), or using Power BI Premium features, you'll need a matching Power BI license based on the features you want. For more information on Power BI licenses, see this Microsoft article.

 

Connect the Basic Starter Kit to your Learn365 data

To enable the Basic Starter Kit to retrieve and display your data, you'll need to complete a few configuration steps. The following steps typically take 10 minutes to complete.

 

 

Before proceeding, ensure:

• Power BI Desktop is installed on your computer. 
• The Basic Starter Kit report file (Learn365 Report - Basic Starter Kit.pbix) is downloaded to your computer. You can download it by selecting the attachment at the bottom of this article.
• You have your Learn365 API key. Only a read-only key is needed. For information on how to get your API key, see this article.

 

Step 1. Open the report file

1. In File Explorer on your computer, navigate to the location of the report file - Learn365 Report - Basic Starter Kit.pbix.

2. Double-click the report file to open it in Power BI Desktop.

 

 

Step 2. Edit the parameters

 

 

1. On the Home tab in Power BI Desktop, select Transform data > Edit parameters from the Queries group to open the Edit Parameters dialog.

2. Check the API URL and update it, if necessary.

This defaults to the Central US tenant region but you should replace this with the URL for the region your tenant is using.

 

 

Information on tenant regions and the API in general can be found at https://api.365.systems/.

Once you've identified the region for your tenant, copy the relevant URL from the following list and paste it in the API URL field.

• Central US: https://us-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• North Europe: https://ne-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Japan East: https://je-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Australia East: https://au-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Canada Central: https://ca-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• United Kingdom South: https://uk-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Germany West Central: https://de-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Switzerland North: https://ch-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• U.S. Government GCC: https://va-api.usgcc365.systems/odata/v2

3. Select OK if you made any changes. Otherwise, select Cancel.

If you encounter issues when connecting the Basic Starter Kit to your Learn365 data, check you're using the correct API URL. If you still encounter issues, you can submit a request to the Zensai Product Support team via the Zensai Help Center.

 

Step 3. Configure the data sources

 

 

1. On the Home tab in Power BI Desktop, select Transform data > Data source settings from the Queries group to open the Data source settings dialog.

2. Ensure the Data sources in current file radio button is selected.

3. To ensure you can input your own API key, select Clear All Permissions from the Clear Permissions drop-down list then select Delete to confirm.

4. Select the item that ends .../odata/v2. Typically, this will be the first item in the list. 

5. Select Edit Permissions to open the Edit Permissions dialog.

6. In the Credentials section, select Edit.

7. Select Basic in the left-hand menu then enter API as your username and your API key as the password. For information on how to get your API key, see this article.

8. Select Save then OK to confirm.

9. On the Data source settings dialog, select the item that that has the blue and white globe icon, and ends .../odata/v2/Users. Typically, this will be the last item in the list.

10. Repeat steps 5 to 8 to provide your credentials.

11. Select Close on the Data source settings dialog.

12. Select Refresh from the Queries group.

Power BI will attempt to connect to your Learn365 instance and retrieve data. This might take a few minutes.

If you encounter issues when configuring the data sources, check the configuration. If you still encounter issues, you can submit a request to the Zensai Product Support team via the Zensai Help Center.

 

Customize your visuals

 

 

Custom visuals in Power BI provide the flexibility to create visual representations that are tailored specifically to your data and analysis goals. They enable you to go beyond the limitations of the built-in visuals and create visualizations that align perfectly with your organization’s brand, style, and requirements.

1. Identify the type of data you want to visualize and select the appropriate chart type from the Visualizations panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

2. Drag and drop your data from the Fields panel on the right-hand side of the screen into the appropriate areas of the chart or graph, such as values, axes, legend, etc.

3. Configure the chart properties, such as colors, labels, titles, filters, etc. by applying the relevant formatting. For more information, see this Microsoft article.

4. Use design best practices to improve the readability of the chart, such as choosing an appropriate scale, avoiding clutter, highlighting important data points, etc.

5. Save and publish your report to share your custom visual with others. For more information, see this Microsoft article.

 

Additional resources

If you want to learn more about Power BI and how to use its features, there are many resources available online, including:

• An overview of the Power BI training options, such as courses, webinars, documentation, samples, and more. For more information, see this Microsoft article.
• Learning paths and modules for Power BI, covering topics such as data visualization, data analysis, data preparation, and more. For more information, see this Microsoft article.