Ask an expert

Do you need help finding something in your data? Ask an expert to create the search for you.

At times you may struggle to answer a specific question, build a chart you have in mind, or find something in your data. You can use Ask an expert to request help from someone in your organization. Your request goes to the person in your company who best knows the data source you’re using and how to search it in ThoughtSpot. When the expert responds, you can see the expert’s answer in the Ask an Expert interface in ThoughtSpot.

If you don’t see Ask an expert it’s possible that your company has chosen to disable this capability. If you want to try it out, ask your administrator to consider enabling it.

Ask an expert can help in these ways:

  1. You can get an answer to your tough question, even when you’re stuck.

  2. The expert gets to see what people have trouble with, so he or she can make it easier.

  3. You can use the answer from the expert to understand the data better.

How do I use Ask an expert?

  1. When you’re doing a search, you can see a link under your search that says Ask an expert. Click that if you’re stuck and need help.

    You can also use Ask an expert if you have questions about someone else’s saved Answer, or an Answer in a Pinboard. Copy and Edit a Pinboard visualization to Ask an expert about it.

  2. The search you were working on is captured and shown back to you, with a text box for your message. Send a message describing what you were looking for, along with any information that makes it easy for the expert to understand what problem you were having.

    You can see who the experts are for the data source you are working on. By default, the data source owner, who originally uploaded the data, is an expert. The data source owner can add other experts as well.

    ask an expert form

    An example would be:

    "I’m having trouble getting this search to show as a stacked column, with each department shown as a separate color."

  3. Then click Send. ThoughtSpot emails your request to the expert(s).

  4. The expert will share their answer with you. You can then Review answers from Ask an expert.

What kinds of things can I ask?

You can use Ask an expert to ask any kind of question you like. Even if your question is about some data that isn’t in ThoughtSpot at all, the expert may be able to help, so it’s always worth asking.

How can I view the experts for a data source?

You can view the experts for a data source by creating a search using the data source, and clicking Ask an Expert.

If you have edit permissions for the data source, you can see experts when you manage experts.