How it Works¶
Lime BI is Metabase under Lime branding. The application is named Lime BI, but everything inside it is Metabase, so their documentation and getting started guide apply.
It runs as a service. In cloud it is hosted for you. On-premise it runs on the Lime CRM application server, or on another server, which then needs internal_url set. Once it is running, an administrator connects the Lime CRM database and synchronizes the data structure from Lime Admin.
From there, users ask questions about the Lime CRM data and collect the answers into dashboards, which are stored in the Lime BI database. Both can be embedded in the web and desktop client.
Who sees what is decided in two places: a Lime CRM user reaches Lime BI only as an administrator or as a member of the Lime CRM group Lime BI, and what they see once inside comes from their Metabase groups.
Asking questions¶
The first thing to do in Metabase is to start asking questions. Click + New in the top bar, then Question to explore one of your tables in the query builder.
Questions can be visualized in different ways and saved in Metabase. To show one in a Lime CRM client, create a widget in Lime Admin that points at the saved question. See Widgets.
Creating dashboards¶
A dashboard is a collection of saved questions that you want to refer back to and view regularly. It displays groups of questions and their corresponding answers.
Questions on a dashboard are meant to be viewed together, so they’re usually grouped by some kind of theme or topic e.g. Sales, Activities, or Helpdesk tickets. A Sales dashboard could show the number of deals by month, year, office, and more.
Dashboards can easily be embedded in Lime CRM, or published to show on, for example, a TV screen.
Embedding in the web client¶
A saved question or dashboard can be shown inside the web client, on the start page or on an object card, either rendered directly on the page or behind a shortcut that opens it in a dialog.
On an object card it can take context from the record it sits on, so one dashboard shows only the deals belonging to the company you have open.
See Web client for the components and how to configure them.
Embedding in the desktop client¶
Dashboards can also be shown in the desktop client, in the overview window, in their own pane, or on a card. This needs Lime Bootstrap, see Requirements, and is configured in the actionpad. See Desktop client.