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Quickstart

This guide takes you from signing in to a shared dashboard in one sitting. You’ll need a DataSquares account and credentials for a database you can read from — or just a CSV/Excel file if you’d rather start without one.

  1. Sign in and pick your workspace.

    Everything in DataSquares — data sources, models, dashboards — belongs to a workspace. If you were invited by a teammate, accept the invite and you’ll land in theirs; otherwise the setup wizard walks you through creating your own.

  2. Connect a data source.

    Open Data Sources and add a new connection. The connector picker shows everything DataSquares can talk to — search or browse by category. For a classic database you’ll enter host, port, database name, and credentials; cloud warehouses like Snowflake or BigQuery have their own short forms. Test the connection and save.

  3. Model your data (optional but recommended).

    Under Data Models, create a model from your new source: pick tables, define relationships between them, and add calculated fields or SquareX measures. A model gives every dashboard built on it a consistent, reusable foundation. In a hurry? You can skip this and build straight against tables.

  4. Create a dashboard.

    Create a new dashboard and you’re on the canvas. Add a card, choose a chart type, and drag fields from your model onto it. Cards move and resize freely; add filters to let viewers slice the data. The format panel on each card controls colors, labels, axes, and more.

  5. Make it yours.

    Apply a theme — one of the built-ins, your workspace default, or a custom theme — and check the mobile layout if your audience reads dashboards on their phones.

  6. Share it.

    Share the dashboard with workspace members, or publish a view-only share link for people outside the workspace. Need it in a deck? Export to PDF, PPTX, or PNG.

Where to go next

Section titled “Where to go next”
  • Core concepts — the object model behind everything you just touched.
  • Per-connector setup guides, dashboard deep-dives, and the SquareX language reference are coming to this site next.
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