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 start a free trial to create your own, and the setup checklist takes you through your first steps.

2. Connect a data source.

   Open Data Sources and choose Connect Source (Add Your First Source on an empty workspace). The Connect a data source page that opens 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. Choose Test Connection, then Save & Discover.

   No database handy?

   Upload a CSV or Excel file instead — it becomes a queryable source, no credentials needed (a large file imports in the background, with its progress at the top of the page). Or load sample data.

3. Model your data (optional but recommended).

   Under Data Models, choose New Model and build it 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.

   Choose New dashboard, then Blank dashboard, and you’re on the canvas. Open Data in the rail and, on its Fields tab, click a field: with nothing selected it starts a chart, and each field you click next goes into the well that fits it on the selected chart — or drag fields onto a chart or into its wells (how). Cards move and resize freely; add filters on the Filters tab to let viewers slice the data. The Format tab of 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 switch to Phone view to check the phone layout if your audience reads dashboards on their phones.

6. Share it.

   Choose Share: give workspace members access on the Access tab, or create a view-only share link on the Link tab for people outside the workspace. Need it in a deck? Export to PDF, PowerPoint (PPTX), or PNG.

Sign in

Open the sign-in page, type your work email in Email address and your password in Password, on the same page, and choose Sign in; a password manager fills both at once. Continue with Google and Continue with Microsoft, where your company uses them, are one click above the form. Under it, Other ways to sign in offers Email me a link, Use a passkey and Use my phone, and the email field suggests your saved passkeys (Passkeys, sign-in links & more). If your organization signs you in with single sign-on, the page recognises it from your email once you leave the field, or when you choose Sign in: the password gives way to Continue with SSO. If your account uses two-factor, the authenticator code comes next, as before: see SSO, SCIM and MFA.

1. Open the sign-in page. It asks for your email address first; Google and Microsoft, where your company uses them, are one click above it.

   

2. Type your work email in Email address and choose Continue.

   

3. Type your password. Choose Show password if you want to check what you typed; Forgot password? is next to it.

   

4. If the password is wrong, the card says Invalid email or password. Check it and try again.

   

5. Choose Sign in. Your workspace opens on Home.

   

Note

These pictures show the earlier page, which asked for the email on one screen and the password on the next. The email and the password are on one page now, and Sign in sends both.

Start with sample data

No database to hand? The setup checklist can load a year of sample retail orders as a real source, so you can try the rest of this guide straight away.

1. The setup checklist opens on Connect Data. You can fill in a database, or start with sample data.

   

2. Choose Use sample data. DataSquares loads a year of sample retail orders as a real source, and the first step turns green.

   

3. Choose Continue. Step 2 reads the structure of the source: which tables it has and what is in each.

   

4. Choose Discover Schema. When it finishes, the page reports how many tables and columns it found.

   

5. Choose Continue. The next step already holds a question the sample data can answer, so you can try it as it is or type your own.

   

From Data Sources

On a workspace with no data yet, Data Sources offers the same sample year of retail orders.

1. On a workspace with no data yet, Data Sources offers Try sample data next to adding your first source.

   

2. A year of generated retail orders loads as an ordinary source and opens on its own page, rows first, under the name Sample · Retail orders. You can model, chart and delete it like any other source.

   

Where to go next

• Core concepts — the object model behind everything you just touched.
• Connect your data — browse connection guides for databases, warehouses, and files.
• SquareX guide — master formulas, context transitions, and time intelligence.
• Pipelines and the Warehouse — move data between your systems and keep refreshable copies of it.
• Studio and the Android app — design dashboards offline on Windows, and read them on your phone.