View the original community article here
Last tested: Jan 26, 2021
There are two main ways you can install a custom visualization:
- Install an existing custom viz straight from marketplace
- Write your own custom viz from scratch and host the code either
- Outside of Looker, in a git repo or a CDN, or
- Within Looker, in the LookML
Both of these approaches are overviewed here:
INSTALLING A CUSTOM VIZ FROM MARKETPLACE
Steps to install a viz from marketplace:
- Search for the viz in marketplace and follow the installation instructions
- The viz will now be visible in Admin>Platform>Visualizations and will be available to use in explores
What happens when you install a viz from marketplace?
In v. 6.24+ a project gets created on the instance (won't appear in the Dev drop down but you can find in “Manage LookML Projects”). The project will contain:
- -minified dist file (.js): allows for proper versioning and package management
- -configuration files (package.json, yarn.lock, .babelrc, webpack.config.js)
- -LICENSE: licensing
- -README: description
- manifest.lkml: defines the viz object + adds to instance, contains the source
- marketplace.json: configures the Marketplace listing
INSTALLING A CUSTOM VIZ THAT IS NOT IN MARKETPLACE
Let's say you've developed a custom viz from scratch and it's not in Marketplace. Then you can host the viz somewhere public (like a CDN or a git repo), or, directly in the LookML.
Steps to install a custom viz from a git repo or cdn:
- Make the .js file publicly available in a git repo or a CDN
- Make the .js file available to Looker by adding a manifest in Admin>Platforms>Visualizations
Steps to host a custom viz in the Lookml:
- Recommended approach: create a manifest.lkml file in a new, blank LookML project
- In the manifest file, create a visualization parameter
- Drag .js file into project and set as “file”
- Push to prod
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