Build custom analyses in Fountain Analytics to answer specific questions about your hiring and workforce data. Use the AI Query Helper (Ask AI) for natural language queries or manually explore Topics to build your own reports.
Analytics Creation Workflow
Before diving into creating analyses, it's helpful to understand how Analytics content is structured:
Workbooks and Dashboards
Workbooks are where analyses are built. Each workbook contains one or more tabs, and each tab represents a single analysis or query.
Dashboards are where analyses are presented. When a workbook is converted to a dashboard, each workbook tab becomes a visual tile on the dashboard.
The key relationship: Workbook tabs = Dashboard tiles.
Data Creation Process
Build analyses in workbook tabs: Create queries using Topics, fields, filters, and visualizations. Each analysis becomes a separate tab in the workbook.
Convert workbook to dashboard: Click + Dashboard to create a dashboard from the workbook. Each tab automatically becomes a tile on the dashboard.
Customize the dashboard: Arrange, resize, and style tiles to create the final dashboard layout.
Focus on building great analyses in workbook tabs first. The dashboard presentation can be customized later. For detailed dashboard creation instructions, see the Create and Manage Dashboards article.
Create a New Analysis
There are two ways to create a new analysis:
Start a New Workbook
To create a new workbook with your first analysis:
Click the New button in the top right corner of the Analytics homepage
The "Choose a starting point..." menu appears with options:
Ask AI: Use the AI Query Helper to ask questions in natural language
TOPICS: Browse and select from curated datasets organized by product
Spreadsheet: Create a spreadsheet from workbook queries (advanced)
Select your preferred starting point to begin
This creates a new workbook with your first analysis as the initial tab.
Add to an Existing Workbook
To add another analysis to a workbook you're already working in:
Look for the + icon at the bottom left (next to existing tabs)
Hover over the + icon to see "Add new query"
Click the + icon
The same "Choose a starting point..." menu appears
Select your starting point (Ask AI, Topics, or Spreadsheet)
This adds a new tab to your existing workbook, keeping related analyses together.
Group related analyses in the same workbook. Each tab becomes a tile when you create a dashboard, making it easy to build comprehensive dashboards with multiple visualizations.
Use AI Query Helper
The AI Query Helper allows you to ask questions about your data in plain language.
Asking Effective Questions
Click New > Ask AI
Type your question in the text box
Include specific details:
What metrics do you want? (e.g., "applicant count and hire count")
What time period? (e.g., "in the last 30 days")
How should data be grouped? (e.g., "broken down by created date")
Click the arrow button or press Enter
Example questions:
"Show me applicants and hires in the last 30 days broken down by applicant created date"
"What are the top performing openings by hire rate this quarter?"
AI Results
The AI returns:
A conversational response explaining what it found
A data table with your results
A summary of key findings
Automatically selected fields and visualizations
You can:
Refine your question by typing follow-up queries
Modify the generated filters
Change the visualization type
Add or remove fields manually
AI results may not be perfect. Double-check the data and filters, and expect to iterate—refining your inputs as needed to improve accuracy and alignment with your question.
Explore Topics
For more control over your analysis, manually explore Topics and build your own query.
Select a Topic
Click New > Choose a Topic from the list
Each Topic includes a description of the data it contains
Common Topics:
Applicant Current: Current state of all applicants
Applicant History: Historical applicant transitions
Calendar Events: Booking and session data
Hire Configuration: Brands, locations, openings data
Hire Messages: Message performance and applicant interactions
You can use AI at any time. Even if you start from Topics, the Ask AI tool is available to help you build your data. While creating a query, click the Ask Query Helper icon in the left-side toolbar to get assistance.
Build Your Query
Once you've selected a Topic, the workbook interface opens:
Key Interface Elements:
Field browser (left): All available dimensions and measures
Results area (center): Your data table
Chart area (center/top): Your visualization
Filters (top): Apply filters to your query
Options button: View settings for columns, totals, and pivots
Run button (top right): Execute your query
Add Fields
To add fields to your analysis:
Browse the field browser on the left
Click the arrows to expand field groups
Click a field name to add it to your results
Dimensions (black text): Add to group your data
Measures (green text): Add to calculate totals, counts, averages
You can search for fields using the search box at the top of the field browser. This is helpful when working with Topics that have many fields.
Add Filters
To filter your data:
Locate the filter bar at the top of the results area
Click on any field name that appears (or click a field in the field browser and select "Filter")
Choose your filter criteria based on the field type:
Text fields: "is any value," "is equal to," "contains," etc.
Number fields: "is equal to," "greater than," "less than," "between," etc.
Date fields: "in the past," "between," "on the day," "in the month," etc.
Boolean fields: "is true," "is false," "is any value"
Set your filter values
Click Update to apply
Click the Run button to refresh your query with the new filter
Visualize Data
To change your chart type:
Click the Chart tab or Both tab to see visualizations
Click Options on the right side
Under Chart selector, click a visualization type
Common chart types:
Bar chart (vertical or horizontal)
Line chart
Area chart
Pie chart
Single value (for showing one metric)
Table (data only)
Analytics automatically suggests the best visualization based on your data, but you can change it anytime.
Save Your Work
When you save a workbook, it becomes accessible to you (and others you share it with) from the Analytics homepage.
To save your analysis:
Click File > Save (or press Cmd+S / Ctrl+S)
A save dialog appears
Choose a location:
My documents: Only you can access (unless you share it)
Hub: Shared with your organization (if you have permission)
Other folders: Any folder you have access to
Enter a workbook name
Click Save
If you don't save a workbook, you can still return to it via the URL or by checking your "My activity" section, which logs all your Analytics activity.]
Workbook Modes
Workbooks have two modes:
View mode: You're looking at the saved version of the workbook. You can interact with filters and explore the data, but changes aren't saved automatically.
Edit mode: You're actively modifying the workbook. Changes auto-save as you work, and any changes you make immediately affect the dashboard connected to this workbook.
To switch to Edit mode, click the Edit button in the top right.
When you edit a workbook that's connected to a dashboard, your changes immediately appear on that dashboard. If others are viewing the dashboard, they'll see your updates.