HTML reports are an easy way to show information to users. HTML reports are “native,” so to speak (not native to an operating system, though), in that they can be rendered via any web browser. Why is that an advantage? Opening an HTML report is instantaneous as elements are interpreted by a web browser very quickly. Excel, Word, and PDF files all require a cumbersome application to open them. HTML reports can be easily rendered in Excel or Word by cutting and pasting if users insist on using Excel or Word.
Try not to make your reports have too many columns as it becomes distracting to consume. A report shouldn’t be a data dump, it should show consumable information for the user, or it will be unused. Think of it as a web page - you want "visitors" to stay on the page and find it "useful."
Setup reasonable schedules to email HTML reports
Not all users need all reports emailed to them, all the time. If it is desired that a round of reports should be emailed to the organization or parts of the organization, decide on a reasonable schedule. Every day is too much, once a quarter may be too little. Once a week or once a month may be just right. Decide what works for your organization and be flexible in making changes to schedules and reports.
CSS (cascading style sheets) is how web pages and HTML files get their style, their swagger, their vibe. Without CSS, HTML files render data all smooshed to the top left in blue Times New Roman font, on a white background. That’s not style! Good news - Agiloft HTML reports are generated with default CSS, so you don't need to add any additional rules if you don't want to. But you can add more CSS to add more style. CSS can be swabbed all over your HTML reports in the Report Template tab (see the wiki link above), completely customizing/branding your output. A quick yet comprehensive guide to CSS is available at W3Schools. Give it a try!
Educate users on the magic of HTML reports
Nothing renders faster than an HTML report, even large reports with lots of records. Let users know that their life does not have to be in an Excel tab, or their information does not have to be in a Word document for it to “make sense.” If the data absolutely needs to be in Excel format for a structure that is used within your organization, then Excel it is. But you can’t place an Excel file on a website. Just sayin’.
I hope you find this blog post helpful. Let us know in the comments what other helpful tips and tricks you have for HTML reports. Keep it native!