Overview
Dashboard filters in Mobaro come in two flavors with very different lifecycles: Organization filters live on the Dashboard Template (admin-built, shared with everyone), and Personal filters live on each User's view of the dashboard (User-built, visible only to them). Used together, they let admins ship a sensible default experience while empowering individual Users to tailor it. Used badly, they fragment data access and cause "the dashboard isn't showing data" support tickets. This article unpacks the model and the trade-offs.
The mental model: Organization filters = the Template-distributed filter set, the same for everyone. Personal filters = the individual User's filter set, only theirs. The dashboard surfaces both in the same dropdown, separated under headers — making it easy to mix admin-distributed presets with personal customizations.
Organization filters — how they work
Organization filters are created on the Dashboard Template by an admin with the Manage Dashboard Templates permission. They:
Apply to every User who has access to that dashboard.
Cannot be edited or deleted by end-users.
Can be marked as the Template's default favorite filter, loading by default for every User.
Update for everyone when the admin changes them.
Use Organization filters for views that the whole audience needs — common time ranges (Today, This Week, Month to Date), common Location scopes (My Park, All Parks), common audience-level perspectives.
Personal filters — how they work
Personal filters are created by individual Users on a dashboard they have access to. They:
Are visible only to the User who created them.
Live on the dashboard where they were created — they don't roam to other dashboards.
Can be marked as the User's personal favorite, overriding the Template's favorite for that User's view.
Are unaffected by Template-level changes.
Use Personal filters for User-specific customization — a Maintenance Manager who wants to scope to "my Locations" rather than the team-wide view, or a Trainer who wants to filter to "this week's training Schedules" without polluting the Template's filter list for everyone.
Creating an Organization filter
1. Open the Dashboard Template in edit mode
As an admin, open Dashboard Templates, find the Template, and edit.
2. Configure the widgets the way the filter should remember
Set per-widget filters on each widget — date range, Location scope, Categories, anything that makes the dashboard look the way this filter should produce.
3. Save as a new Organization filter
In the filter dropdown, save the current configuration as a new filter. Name it something audience-friendly ("Today", "Week to date — Coasters only").
4. Optionally mark as the Template's favorite
If this should be the default view for new Users, set it as the favorite. This affects every User unless they override it with their own.
Creating a Personal filter
1. Open the dashboard as an end-user
Open the dashboard you want to customize.
2. Adjust per-widget filters
Configure widgets as you'd like the saved view to behave.
3. Save as a Personal filter
From the filter dropdown, save the current state. The new filter appears in the Personal section of the dropdown.
4. Optionally set as your favorite
Marking your Personal filter as favorite means it loads by default whenever you open this dashboard, overriding the Template-level favorite.
Best practice: A team member who finds themselves applying the same custom filters every day should make a Personal filter for that view. It's a one-time setup that pays back every time they open the dashboard. Encourage Personal filter creation as part of new-User onboarding.
The admin data-access caveat
Critical: Admins typically have access to more data than end-users. An Organization filter that scopes to "all Coasters" when only Maintenance Roles can see Coaster data will produce empty widgets for Sales Users who can see the dashboard but not the underlying data. The filter still appears in their dropdown, which makes the empty result feel like a bug.
Two ways to avoid this:
Limit dashboard access via Limit to on the Template so Sales never sees this dashboard.
Test with a sample User account that mirrors the target audience's permissions before publishing the filter.
Worked examples
Example 1: Time-range presets across an audience
Scenario: Park leadership wants every leader-facing dashboard to default to Today, with one-click access to Week to Date and Month to Date.
Setup: Admin creates three Organization filters on each leadership Template — Today, Week to date, Month to date. Marks Today as the favorite.
Result: Every leader opens to Today by default. One click switches to a longer range. The set is consistent across leadership dashboards because the same three filters appear on each.
Example 2: Personal scope for a maintenance manager
Scenario: A maintenance manager covers half the park's rides. The Maintenance dashboard's Organization filters all scope to the entire park.
Setup: Manager opens the Maintenance dashboard, applies their own Location filter to scope to "Coasters — west side", saves as a Personal filter named "My side". Marks My side as their personal favorite.
Result: Manager loads to their own scope by default. The Maintenance team's other managers see their own equivalent personal filters; the Template stays clean.
Example 3: Iterating Template defaults based on usage
Scenario: A new Compliance dashboard launches with three Organization filters. After a month, the admin notices most Users have created Personal filters that converge on similar configurations.
Setup: Admin reviews the patterns (perhaps by asking Users which Personal filters they use most). Adds two new Organization filters that match the most common Personal patterns. Communicates the addition to the team.
Result: Users get the new Organization filters as a default; many delete their Personal versions because the Template now covers the use case. Template stays in sync with how the team actually uses it.
Anti-patterns to avoid
Watch out for these patterns:
Organization filters that need permissions Users don't have — see the critical caveat. Test before publishing.
Too many Organization filters — 20+ filters in a dropdown is overwhelming. Aim for 5-8 well-named presets covering the common views; let Users add Personal filters for everything else.
Renaming/deleting Organization filters without warning — Users build muscle memory around filter names. If you must rename, communicate the change. If a User has a Personal favorite, it survives — but their reference points change.
Treating Personal filters as the Template's responsibility — Personal filters are intentionally Personal. Don't try to standardize them via admin tooling; if a pattern is universal, promote it to an Organization filter.
Ignoring the favorite-filter override — admins sometimes assume "my Template's favorite is what everyone sees." It's the default, but Users can override. Don't rely on the favorite for compliance-critical defaults.
See also
How to use the Dashboard — for the end-user experience.
How to set up Dashboard Templates — for the broader Template setup flow.
Frequently asked questions
Q: If I delete an Organization filter, do Users with that filter as a favorite lose their default?
A: Their favorite reference becomes invalid. They'll typically see no filter applied and need to pick or favorite a different one.
Q: Can I share a Personal filter with a colleague?
A: Personal filters aren't shareable by design. If two Users both want the same view, the right move is to promote it to an Organization filter on the Template.
Q: Where does my favorite Personal filter live if the dashboard is moved or deleted?
A: Personal filters are tied to a specific dashboard. If the underlying Template is deleted, Personal filters on it are deleted too. There's no migration path; rebuild on the new Template if needed.
Q: Why don't I see any Organization filters on my dashboard?
A: Either the Template's admin hasn't created any (the dashboard always works without filters — the unfiltered view is the default), or the filters they created don't apply to your permission scope. Talk to the dashboard's admin.
Q: Can a User have multiple favorites on the same dashboard?
A: One favorite filter per dashboard, per User. Users can change their favorite at any time.