# GA4 Dashboard Template — Setup Guide

You are copying the one-page Looker Studio dashboard from the tutorial
[Build a Custom GA4 Dashboard That Answers Five Questions](/posts/custom-ga4-dashboard/).
It arrives connected to Google's Merchandise Store demo data so you can see
every tile working. Follow these steps to point it at your own association.

## Step 1: Make your own copy

Open the template link and choose **File > Make a copy**. Name it something
your successor will recognize, e.g. `YourAssociationName — Website Dashboard`.
The copy is yours; the original stays untouched.

## Step 2: Connect your GA4 property

1. In your copy, choose **Resource > Manage added data sources**.
2. Click **Edit connection** on the GA4 source.
3. Pick your association's GA4 property and click **Reconnect**, then **Apply**.

Every tile now reads your data. Tiles 3–5 still point at the demo's
stand-in events, which is what Step 3 fixes.

## Step 3: Point the three placeholder tiles at your key events

The template's tiles 3, 4, and 5 use calculated fields with placeholder
event names. Replace each with your association's key event (the tutorial's
Step 3 named them `membership_join`, `event_registration`,
`newsletter_signup` — use whatever names you actually chose):

1. **Resource > Manage added data sources > Edit** (pencil icon).
2. Find the field **Purchase events** and click its formula to edit it.
   Replace `"purchase"` with your membership key event name, e.g.:
   `SUM(CASE WHEN Event name = "membership_join" THEN 1 ELSE 0 END)`
3. Do the same for **Begin checkout events** → your registration event,
   and **Generate lead events** → your newsletter signup event.
4. Click **Apply**, then **Done**.

Delete the grey placeholder text boxes on those tiles once they show
your real events.

## Step 4: Check the date range and the new-user filter

- The date control at the top defaults to the last 28 days. Leave it;
  your team can change it any time without editing the report.
- Tile 1 ("Where do new visitors come from?") is filtered to new users.
  If you want all visitors, remove that filter from the tile.

## Step 5: Share it with your team

**Share > Manage access** and add your colleagues as Viewers. Anyone with
the link can view; only people you add can edit. Turn on **Schedule email
delivery** if you want the dashboard in inboxes every Monday morning.

## Before you trust the numbers — the four silent killers

1. **Data retention.** In GA4: Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention.
   Set event data retention to 14 months. The 2-month default quietly
   deletes the history your trend tile needs.
2. **Key events marked.** Admin > Events: your three key events must be
   marked as key events, or the tiles count nothing.
3. **Consent mode.** If you have European visitors and consent mode is
   misconfigured, your audiences and some event data silently stop
   growing. Ask your web person to confirm it.
4. **UTM tagging.** Tile 1 can only credit sources you tagged. Tag every
   link in emails and social posts (`utm_source`, `utm_medium`,
   `utm_campaign`) and keep a one-line log of campaign names.

## Troubleshooting

- **A tile shows "No data":** widen the date range; new properties need
  a few days of traffic before every tile fills.
- **"Invalid formula" on a calculated field:** event names are
  case-sensitive and must match GA4 exactly, quotes included.
- **Numbers look wrong:** check you reconnected the data source in
  Step 2 — a tile still reading the demo property is the usual cause.