How to build a Kinetic homepage dashboard in Epicor
how to build a dashboard in epicor kinetic
Also searched as
- epicor kinetic homepage dashboard tutorial
- epicor bpm dashboard vs kpi tile
- epicor active homepage dashboard maintenance
Short answer
Kinetic homepage dashboards are built from Active Homepage Maintenance: create a BAQ that returns the metric or list you want, add a KPI or List widget referencing that BAQ, arrange widgets on the homepage layout, and assign the homepage to a role or company so the right users see it.
Applies to: Epicor Kinetic 2021.1 and later; classic Epicor 10 System Dashboards (the older grid-based dashboard tool) are a separate, still-supported technology with a different build process.
Build a KPI-driven Kinetic dashboard
- 1Design the underlying BAQ first (Customization > BAQ Designer): build the query that returns the exact rows or aggregate value you want on the dashboard, and test it independently.
- 2For a single-number KPI tile, ensure the BAQ returns an aggregate (count, sum) with a clear calculated field; for a list widget, keep the result set reasonably narrow in columns.
- 3Open Active Homepage Maintenance (System Setup > General Maintenance area, or search "Active Homepage").
- 4Create a new Homepage (or edit an existing one), then add a Page and, within it, a Widget - choose KPI, List, or Chart widget type depending on what you built.
- 5Point the widget at your BAQ as its data source, map the field to display for a KPI tile, and set thresholds/colors if using the KPI widget's conditional formatting (e.g. red if over budget).
- 6Arrange widgets on the grid layout by dragging; save and preview as yourself first.
- 7Assign the homepage to specific companies, roles, or default-for-all-users under the homepage's security/assignment tab so it appears for the right audience.
- 8Test by logging in as a user in the target role (or using Kinetic's "test as" / impersonation if available) to confirm both visibility and BAQ security filters behave as expected.
KPI widgets vs List widgets vs Trackers
KPI widgets show a single number or small set of numbers with optional threshold coloring (green/amber/red) - good for "open orders past due," "WIP value this week," or "on-hold jobs." List widgets render a small grid from a BAQ, letting users click through to the underlying record, useful as a personalized action list (e.g. my open quotes, my overdue tasks). Chart widgets visualize a BAQ result as a bar/line/pie directly on the homepage.
Trackers (Order Tracker, Job Tracker, etc.) are a related but distinct Kinetic feature - larger, filterable, drill-down screens rather than homepage tiles - and are a better fit than a dashboard widget when users need to interactively slice a dataset rather than glance at a summary.
BAQ security and dashboard data exposure
A dashboard widget only shows what its underlying BAQ returns, and BAQs respect Epicor's row-level security and company access - if a user should not see certain sites or customers on the dashboard, that restriction has to be built into the BAQ (via BAQ security or parameterized filters bound to the logged-in user's context) rather than assumed from the UI.
Avoid building a KPI from an unfiltered, unindexed BAQ scanning a huge transaction table on every homepage load - dashboard widgets typically refresh on a timer or on login, so a slow underlying query becomes a slow homepage for every assigned user, not just the person running a report once.
Migrating a dashboard between environments
Both the BAQ and the Active Homepage definition need to move together when promoting from test to production - export/import the BAQ first (via BAQ export or Solution Workbench), confirm it runs cleanly in the target environment, then export/import the Active Homepage definition referencing it.
Role and company assignments on the homepage are environment-specific and typically need to be re-set after import rather than assuming they carried over identically, especially if role names differ between environments.
Common pitfalls
- !Building a KPI BAQ that scans an entire transaction history table with no date filter, making the homepage noticeably slow to load for every assigned user.
- !Forgetting that BAQ security/company filters must be explicit - a dashboard can leak cross-company or cross-site data if the BAQ does not filter by the current user's context.
- !Assigning a dashboard to "all users" when only one department should see it, cluttering other users' homepages and drawing support tickets.
- !Confusing classic Epicor 10 System Dashboards (grid-based, different designer) with Kinetic Active Homepage dashboards when following an older tutorial or documentation page - the two are not interchangeable.
- !Not testing widget visibility as an actual member of the target role before rollout, missing a security or assignment gap.
- !Overloading one homepage with too many live-refreshing widgets, each hitting the database independently, rather than consolidating into fewer, well-indexed BAQs.
How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this
A grounded ERP assistant can turn a plain-English ask like "show me a tile with overdue purchase orders by buyer" into a draft BAQ plus KPI widget configuration matching your existing BAQ and security conventions, then flag if the requested filter would expose cross-site data that your BAQ security policy normally blocks - catching an access gap before the dashboard goes live rather than after an audit.
Frequently asked questions
Can end users personalize their own Kinetic homepage?
Yes, within the widgets and pages made available to their assigned homepage, users can often rearrange, resize, or hide widgets for themselves, but they cannot create new BAQ-backed widgets or change the underlying data source without Active Homepage Maintenance access.
Do Kinetic dashboards refresh in real time?
Widgets typically refresh on a configurable interval or on page load/navigation, not via a persistent live connection, so there can be a short lag between a transaction happening and it appearing on a KPI tile - factor this into expectations for anything described as "real time."
Can a dashboard widget link to a specific Kinetic screen?
Yes, list widgets commonly support click-through navigation to the related record's detail screen (e.g. clicking an order row opens Order Entry for that order), configured as part of the widget's drill-down settings in Active Homepage Maintenance.
What is the difference between a Kinetic dashboard and a classic System Dashboard?
Classic System Dashboards are a separate, older grid-based tool built in Dashboard Maintenance with its own tracker/updateable-grid model, still supported for existing implementations. Kinetic Active Homepage dashboards are the newer widget/tile-based homepage experience built for the Kinetic UI and are the recommended path for new dashboard work.
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