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Create Your First Apache Superset Dashboard in 10 min

Step-by-step tutorial to create your first Apache Superset dashboard: dataset, chart, dashboard, sharing. For beginners.

· Tuvalu Tech OÜ

You just installed Apache Superset and want to produce your first dashboard in less than 10 minutes? This tutorial guides you step by step, from dataset to sharing, without code and without traps. Ideal for open source BI beginners.

1. Prerequisites

  • An accessible Superset instance (local or managed — see hosting guide);
  • An account with the Alpha or Admin role;
  • A data source already connected (cf. connect PostgreSQL).

If you want to start in 3 minutes with a pre-populated example instance, TVL Managed Superset includes demo datasets by default.

2. Step 1 — Create a dataset

  1. Superset UI → Datasets → + Dataset;
  2. Database = your connection;
  3. Schema = public (or other);
  4. Table = select the source table (e.g., orders);
  5. Click Save.

The dataset then appears in the list, ready to be explored.

3. Step 2 — Create your first chart

  1. UI → Charts → + Chart;
  2. Select the orders dataset;
  3. Choose a visualization type. For a beginner, Big Number with Trendline is perfect;
  4. Click Create New Chart.

4. Step 3 — Configure the chart

In the chart editor:

  • Time column: created_at (the date column);
  • Time grain: Day (granularity);
  • Time range: Last 30 days;
  • Metric: click + add, choose COUNT(*), label Number of orders;
  • Click Run query.

You get a Big Number with a mini trend line. Click Save, give it a name (e.g., Orders 30d) and save.

5. Step 4 — Create a second chart

For a complete dashboard, add at least 3-4 different charts:

  • Bar Chart: Top 10 products by revenue;
  • Line Chart: Daily revenue evolution;
  • Pie Chart: Acquisition channel distribution.

This configuration is applied by default on TVL Managed Superset, which follows community best practices.

6. Step 5 — Create the dashboard

  1. UI → Dashboards → + Dashboard;
  2. Give a title: My first dashboard;
  3. Drag and drop each saved chart from the right panel;
  4. Reorganize in grid, adjust sizes;
  5. Add a title and Markdown description if desired;
  6. Click Save.

7. Step 6 — Add filters

Filters allow your readers to drill-down:

  1. Edit mode → Filters sidebar;
  2. Add a Time Range filter;
  3. Add a Value filter on the acquisition channel;
  4. Save.

8. Step 7 — Share the dashboard

Three options:

  • Direct link: copy the URL and share (with authentication);
  • Role permissions: Settings → List Roles, grant read access to a role;
  • Scheduled report: send the PNG by email every Monday (cf. scheduled reports).

9. Best practices for a useful dashboard

  • Maximum 12 charts per dashboard: beyond, lose attention;
  • Visual hierarchy: KPIs at top, detail at bottom;
  • Consistent colors: avoid rainbows, keep a defined palette;
  • Global filters at the top, applicable to all charts;
  • Markdown description in intro to explain the KPI definition.

10. Common pitfalls

  • Overloaded dashboard: 30 unreadable charts vs 6 useful ones;
  • Time range too wide: slow queries, useless scan;
  • No cache: each render re-queries. Enable Redis (cf. Redis cache);
  • Mixed granularities: a chart in days, another in months without alignment.

11. Conclusion

With these 7 steps, your first dashboard is online in less than 10 minutes. Mastery comes later with practice: virtual datasets, computed metrics, dynamic filters, multi-tenant RLS. Apache Superset offers functional depth covering 90% of the needs of a modern data team.

Want the benefits of Apache Superset without the friction of installation and maintenance? Deploy your instance in 3 clicks with TVL Managed Superset, hosted in Europe (OVHcloud, Roubaix, France).

For more: chart types, advanced filters, SQL Lab.