In the latest update of Power BI Desktop, there now is the capability to be able to use Bookmarks.

What bookmarks does is allow you to create an informative way in which you can tell your story. It really is an awesome feature and something that I know a lot of people have been asking for. If you want more details you can find it from the Microsoft Power BI Blog post here: Power BI Bookmarking

In my blog post today, I am going to demonstrate how to create bookmarks, and then create a home page and link the images through to specific bookmarks, which will enable a seamless navigation experience for report consumers.

I am going to be using my Strava data, and I will create bookmarks for my bike rides, runs and
swims that I have done in the past. I will then create a new Home page and link images to those specific bookmarks.

Ensuring you have got all the Bookmarking features enabled

The first thing that I did was to ensure that I had the bookmarking preview feature enabled. Then also to ensure that I could see the bookmarks pane

• I went into the Power BI Desktop, clicked on Options and Settings and then on Options
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• I then ensured that I had a tick box next to bookmarks under the Preview Features section
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  • I then clicked Ok
• The final step was to click on View in the Ribbon and ensure that I had put a tick box for bookmarks Pane
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Creating the Bookmarks

Now I will be demonstrating is how to create the bookmarks.

• To create my bookmark, the first thing that I must do is to be on the page where I want to create the bookmark.
• Next, if there are any slicers or filters then I made sure that I had that completed also.
  • As with my example the first bookmark that I am going to create is for Riding.
  • In my Page Filters I put in the Activity Type and selected Ride.
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  • Now when I look at my report it is only showing my bike rides.
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  • Then in the BOOKMARKS pane I clicked on Add
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    • As you can see above it defaulted to the name of Bookmark 1
      • I then double clicked and renamed it to Bike Riding
      • NOTE: You can also click on the ellipses and select Rename
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    • Once I completed my first bookmark it had the correct name.
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• I then added in the following two bookmarks.
  • Running
  • Swimming
  • NOTE: If you are looking to replicate this, I did this by simply following the steps above, but where I selected Ride I changed it to be Run and then Swim
• Once I had completed my Bookmarks for my Activity Types I had the following bookmarks completed.
  • 

Creating my Home Page and linking it to a specific Bookmark

What I did next was to then create a home page with some images and link it to a specific bookmark.

• I created the home page and put in 3 images, one for each activity as shown below.
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• Next to link a particular image to a bookmark I did the following.
  • I first clicked on the Swimming Image
  • Then in the FORMAT IMAGE pane, I set the Link to On
  • Where it said Type I clicked on the Drop Down and selected Bookmark
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  • Then below where it said Bookmark I clicked on the Drop down and selected Swimming (From the bookmark I had created earlier)
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  • So once complete for my Swimming Image it had the following link properties
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  • I then did this for my Bike Image
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  • And then finally I did it for my Run Image
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Creating my Home Page Navigation

The final step was for me to create my Home Page navigation so when I clicked on the Home Image it would take me back to my Home Page from within my report.

• To do this I made sure I still had my BOOKMARKS pane open, and that I was on my Home page.
  • I then clicked on Add under BOOKMARKS
• I then renamed it to Home Page
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• I then also put the Home Page bookmark at the top of the bookmarks.
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  • NOTE: The reason for this is so that when you start your Bookmarks in the Power BI Service it will start at the Home Page.
• I went into my report page and inserted a Home Image
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• I then clicked on the Image, and went to the Link Properties.
  • I then made sure that it was linked back to the Home Page Bookmark
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I then uploaded my Power BI Report to the Power BI Service.

Testing my Bookmarking

Once I had uploaded it to the Power BI Service, I wanted to test it to ensure that it is working as expected.

• To do this I went to my report and by default I could click on the Swim, Bike or Run and it would link me correctly to the correct bookmark.
• Likewise, I could click on the Home Icon and it would take me back to the Home Page
• Below is what it looks like in action.
  • I am clicking through to the Bike Activities, and showing I can still interact with the report.
  • I then go back to the Home page and click through to my Running Activities.
    • Once again interacting with the data in the report.
  • And then finally going back to the Home Page

Conclusion

As I have demonstrated not only is the new Bookmarking feature great for storytelling, but it is also a feature that can be leveraged to create a seamless report navigation experience.

As always if there are any comments of questions, please leave them in the section below.