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Exporting Watchouts: Key Limitations and Naming Nuances for Dashboard Subscriptions & Exports

This article outlines common pitfalls that may prevent dashboards from exporting properly to Excel, especially for subscriptions.

Shahid avatar
Written by Shahid
Updated over a week ago

1. Widget and Chart Naming Conventions

Supported Naming Practices

  • Keep widget/chart names under 31 characters.

  • Use letters, numbers, and underscores only.

  • Avoid special characters (e.g., @, #, &, /, *) and punctuation.

  • Ensure all widget names are unique across the dashboard.

Problematic Naming Patterns

  • Too long or duplicative widget names.

  • Unsupported characters (e.g., emojis, slashes, parentheses).

  • Names conflicting with Excel reserved terms (e.g., Sheet1).

2. Differences Between Platform View and Excel Export Versions

Known Issues

  • Filters applied in-platform may not carry over properly to Excel.

  • Chart formatting (e.g., colors, shapes) might not translate accurately in the export.

  • Positioning of charts or visual elements could shift during export, affecting the visual layout.

3. Complex Column Labels

Excel exports may include complex or auto-generated column names, especially when handling calculated fields or duplicated labels. These can make it difficult for users to accurately interpret the export, even if the export itself completes successfully.

Why It Happens

Due to Excel’s restriction against having duplicate column headers in the same worksheet, the system automatically modifies field names to make them unique. For example:

  • Distinct Count of AdBlockId

  • Distinct Count of AdBlockId_1

  • Distinct Count of AdBlockId_1_2

Although technically valid, these repetitive and similar names can cause confusion when reading the export, as users may not be able to easily distinguish between them or understand the logic behind each field.

Common Challenges:

  • Labels become too long or similar-looking

  • It's hard to know which field is the original vs. duplicates

  • Business users may struggle to trace the source logic

4. Flat Table Format Limitations

Exporting dashboards as flat tables is not reliably supported and may lead to:

  • Partial or missing data

  • Misplaced columns or header misalignment with the data rows

❓ Clarification:
“Minimal and consistent” means the structure of the table should be:

  • Small in size (few rows/columns)

  • Uniform (no nested values or merged cells)

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Last updated: 06/17/2025

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