Are you new to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) Report Manager? Do you want to learn how to customize it to suit your needs? In this article, we will explore some tips and tricks for customizing the Report Manager interface.

Customizing Report Manager Header/Title

When testing reports in different environments, it is important to label and identify each Report Manager instance to avoid confusion. By default, the Report Manager Title is set to “SQL Server Reporting Services”. However, you can easily customize it to reflect the specific environment.

To customize the Report Manager Header/Title:

1. Go to “Report Manager” and click on “Site Settings”.
2. Under the “General” section, find the “Name” property and set it to your desired label.
3. Click on “Apply” to save the changes.

For example, you can set the “Name” property to “SQL Server 2012 Developer (SP1) – 11.0.3000.0 (X64) – Dev Environment” to indicate that this Report Manager corresponds to a 64-bit SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition with Service Pack 1 and is a Development Environment.

Uploading Custom File Types to Report Manager

In addition to hosting Reporting Services artifacts like reports and data sources, Report Manager also allows you to upload other types of files such as Word documents, Excel workbooks, and images. This can be useful for hosting project-related artifacts like help documents, how-to guides, and data models.

To upload custom file types to Report Manager:

1. Click on “Upload File” and select the file you want to upload.
2. The uploaded files will be displayed in Report Manager, and some file types can be opened directly in the browser window.

Enabling the My Reports Feature

The My Reports feature in Report Manager allows users to save reports to a private folder. This feature allocates space in the ReportServer database for each user and can be enabled to provide a personalized reporting experience.

To enable the My Reports feature:

1. Connect to the Reporting Services instance in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
2. Right-click on the server and select “Properties” from the context menu.
3. In the Server Properties window, select the “Enable a My Reports folder for each user” checkbox.
4. You can assign a role of your choice to the My Reports folder, which is set to “My Reports” role by default.

Once the My Reports feature is enabled, every user will see a “My Reports” folder on the Report Manager where they can create and manage their reports. Administrators will also have access to a “My Reports” folder for themselves and a “Users Folders” folder containing individual user’s “My Reports” folders.

It is important to note that any changes to the security settings for the My Reports feature will apply to all users, and the feature cannot be enabled or disabled for specific users or groups.

By customizing the Report Manager Header/Title, uploading custom file types, and enabling the My Reports feature, you can enhance your experience with SQL Server Reporting Services Report Manager and tailor it to your specific needs.

These tips and tricks have been verified on SQL Server 2012, but they should also work on SQL Server 2008 and above.