Why is a traffic light red, yellow or missing?
The light in the Status column of a KPI scorecard compares the row’s Sum with the row’s green and red boundaries, and nothing else; the target does not affect it. For some rows the boundaries are first scaled down to the part of the year that has passed, so early in the year a row can turn red or green sooner than the full-year boundaries suggest. A row shows no light when green and red are equal (also when neither boundary is filled in), or when a manual row has nothing registered yet.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- You need at least the Read right on the scorecard’s row to see it.
- To see a row’s green and red boundaries, you open the row’s dialog from the cog next to its header in edit mode. That needs the Manage right on the KPI row, the Edit right or higher on the scorecard’s row, and the current year selected; see Rights, years, favourites and Excel export in KPI Scorecard. Without it, ask the person who built the scorecard.
- Note whether the row is a manual row (you type the values) or a system row (values come from documents; its month cells are greyed out in edit mode). The rules differ.
Go through these checks for the row in question.
- Check the direction. The sign in the Target column shows it: “>” means green is higher than red (higher is better), “<” means green is lower than red (lower is better). For a row where higher is better, a sum at or above green is green, at or below red is red, and anything between is yellow. For a row where lower is better, it is the other way round. A target of 0 is shown without a sign, and “-” means the row has no target or does not have both boundaries; then check the boundaries in the row’s dialog.
- Check the boundaries. An empty boundary counts as 0: a row with green 10 and no red boundary is compared as green 10 and red 0, and a row with red 10 and no green boundary as green 0 and red 10. Such a row shows a light, but “-” in Target. A row with no boundaries, or with green equal to red, shows no light.
- Check whether anything is registered. A manual row where none of the months has a value shows no light. A system row is never treated as having nothing registered: with no matching documents, its sum is compared as 0, so with positive boundaries a system row where fewer is better shows green, and one where higher is better shows red.
- Check the scaling. Boundaries are entered as full-year values. Depending on the row:
- On a system row with Sum, Count or Show last registration, the boundaries are scaled by the days elapsed in the current year out of 365. In an earlier year the full boundaries apply.
- On a manual row with Sum or Count, the boundaries are scaled by the latest month that has a value, out of 12. If that month is June, the row is compared against half the boundaries.
- On a row with Average, on a system row with Average - Sum on months, and on a manual row with Show last registration, the boundaries are not scaled.
- Check which values count in the sum. On a manual row with Average, empty months are left out, so a month whose real value is zero needs a typed 0. On a system row, only the latest version of each published, non-archived document counts, placed in the month of the date chosen for the row and filtered by the row’s Status and Documents saved as settings. Full tables are in Calculations and traffic lights in a KPI scorecard.
- Check whether the row is split. Each sub-row has its own boundaries. On a system row that is split by a choice field, use the figures on the sub-rows; the row’s own cells do not add up its sub-rows. On a manual row, the row’s own sum comes from its own month cells, not from its sub-rows.
- Check that the page is up to date. After you type values in edit mode, the light updates only when you click the floppy-disk icon, which reloads the scorecard.
What you should see
Section titled “What you should see”Once you know the direction, the scaled boundaries and the sum, the light follows the rule in step 1. Example: a system row counts nonconformities with Count, green 24 and red 48 for the year (lower is better). On 13 October about 78% of the year has passed, so the row is compared against about 18.8 and 37.6; a sum of 7 gives a green light. In early January the scaled red boundary is close to 1, so one or two nonconformities can turn the same row red.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”Show last registration on a system row. This type shows a single value, the field of the latest document, but its boundaries are still scaled by the days elapsed in the current year. Early in the year that single value is compared against a small part of the boundaries.
System rows change by themselves. A system row’s figures are recalculated every time the scorecard is shown, so its light can change when documents are published, archived, given another date or edited, also for earlier months and years.
The target is information only. Changing the target never changes the light; change the green and red boundaries instead.