How to create and configure a data source in Google Data Studio

Google Data Studio (Looker Studio)

Note: Google Data Studio is now known as Looker Studio.

In order to create a data source schema, follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to the home page of your Looker Studio account: https://datastudio.google.com/navigation/ 

The home page is where you create and access all your Looker Studio files.

Here is what the home page looks like:

homepage

Note: You can also navigate to the home page of your Looker Studio account by clicking on the Looker Studio logo on the top left-hand side:

Step-2: Click on the ‘+ Create’ drop-down menu:

create button 3

Step-3: Click on the ‘Data Source’ option:

Data sources 1

Step-4: Double click on the text ‘Untitled Data Source‘ and then rename your data source schema:

unnamed data source
named data source

Step-5: Select the connector you want to use. Let’s select the ‘Google Sheets’ connector:

connector select

Step-6: Create a data source connection by selecting the data source you want to connect with your data source schema:

sheet 1

Step-7: Click on the ‘Connect’ button to connect your data source schema to the specified data source:

connect

Once you click on the ‘Connect’ button, you will see the data source schema editor through which you can configure your data source:

datasource overview
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How to configure a Data Source Schema (Data Modeling)

You configure/customize a data source schema by:

  • Renaming data source schema fields
  • Changing data types (what type of data (like text, numeric) the field contains)
  • Changing aggregations (how numeric fields should be summarized)
  • Adding, removing, duplicating or disabling field
  • Adding or editing a description (description of a field)

The data source schema editor is where you configure the data source schema. Here is what this editor looks like:

datasource overview 1

You see this editor whenever you create or edit a data source schema.

What is data modelling?

In the context of Looker Studio, data modelling is the process of configuring data source schema.

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