@WonderLaura

Thought I’d kick the tires on PerformancePoint in SharePoint 2013 today, and share with you the steps I had to take to make it usable.

1. In Central Administration, in the list of service applications, click on the PerformancePoint Service application. (assuming you already installed this service app)
2. Click PerformancePoint Service Application Settings – type your unattended service account, in my case on my VM it’s just “contosoadministrator”. Click OK.
   
3. Create a new site using the Business Intelligence Center template.
4. In Internet Explorer security settings, add your SharePoint URL to at least one of the following zones: Local, Intranet, or Trusted. (if it’s not already in there)
   
5. Click Site Contents on the left.
6. Click the name of the PerformancePoint content list.
7. Click NEW ITEM.  This will bring up the Dashboard Designer, and you may be prompted to install it the first time, so click Run.
   (There is also a PerformancePoint tab in the ribbon, which gives you additional buttons to export and import content)
8. In Dashboard Designer, click the File menu and click Designer Options.
9. Go to the Server tab.  Type your SharePoint site URL, and this has to be a site that has the PerformancePoint features enabled. (PerformancePoint services site collection features, and PerformancePoint Services Site Features)
10. Click Connect, click OK.
    

NOW that you are all set up and connected to your SharePoint site, you can start creating data sources and other PerformancePoint content.  In Dashboard Designer, you have to select the “Data Connections” folder on the left, and then use the Create tab at the top to create your data sources in there.  In this screenshot, I want to report on data that lives in a SharePoint list.

Then, on the left, you have to click PerformancePoint Content, so that all the other stuff on the Create tab lights up.

Keep in mind that PerformancePoint is best used when your back end data is in a cube, such as SQL Server Analysis Services.  When your data is just a flat table or list like a SharePoint list, the only thing you’ll be able to create in here is a Scorecard, KPI, Filter or Indicator.

Creating a “Dashboard” in here really just means that you’re creating a web part page and arranging all these other objects on the page.  Once you create a dashboard and place objects on it, you can use the File menu and “Deploy” your dashboard to SharePoint.

Anyway, this post was really just to get you started so that you can try PerformancePoint out.  There is much more reading about this in other places, such as:

Create dashboard pages by using Dashboard Designer (SharePoint Server 2013) on TechNet

Creating dashboards by using PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer on Office.com (for end users)

Introducing PerformancePoint Services 2013

2010 links that are still pretty good:

Video: Touring PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer

How to navigate PerformancePoint dashboards and explore data

Create a basic PerformancePoint dashboard

Up to Speed with PerformancePoint Dashboard Designer (with 6 videos!)