Is it OK to add levels to an existing hierarchy?
The short answer is yes! Although you may encounter a warning message, it's absolutely fine to add a new level to an existing hierarchy. You won't break anything permanently, but the main impact will be in having to rebuild reports that use this hierarchy, specifically levels at or below the new one you're looking to insert.
What happens?
Some things to note when adding a level within an existing hierarchy:
- Any level at or below the inserted level will affect any existing reports using this hierarchy. Levels above the inserted level will not appear to have produced any changes in your reports.
- The effects will appear in Excel as formatting inconsistencies. Essentially, you will need to rebuild your report anywhere this new level or any level below that level exists. This may include adding or editing filters, adding or adjusting pivot table fields in rows or columns, and/or reformatting your report until it's usable again.
- Dashboards and PowerBI Visualizations may be impacted in a similar way. Nothing detrimental will occur to your data, but the dashboard toggles and filters will need to be adjusted in a similar way to that of your Excel reports using this hierarchy at the inserted level or below. You'll need to reach out to your Customer Success Manager for assistance with this.
- Anyone with access to this parent hierarchy will also have access to its subsequent levels including any new levels.
- Performance and processing speed are not impacted by adding a new level within an existing hierarchy. Adding a new level will not add any actual data to your website or increase the data size.