How to apply Fixed positioning feature for template variables and the time picker in Grafana

Question

Hi all,

Our team needs to work with Azure Managed Grafana version 11.2.8. According to the Grafana team's announcement, the fixed positioning feature for template variables and the time picker was introduced in version 11.0. However, I’m currently unable to apply this feature in my Grafana. What should I do?
https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/whatsnew/whats-new-in-v11-0/

Answer 1

Hi Zheng Huang

I tested this internally using Azure Managed Grafana version 11.2.8, where the fixed positioning feature for variables and the time picker was introduced upstream in Grafana OSS v11.0.

However, in AMG, the feature may not be fully available yet due to Azure’s controlled feature rollout process. Even though AMG shows version 11.2.8, some UI enhancements like sticky headers may be delayed or gated by platform settings.

Workaround Attempt: JSON Model Update, to try enabling the fixed positioning manually, we used the following steps:

Open the dashboard in > edit mode > Click the gear icon at the top right > choose JSON model > Locate the templating.list array this contains your dashboard variables for each variable, add or modify this property

"position":  "fixed"

Here’s an example of a full variable object:

{
  "name": "region",
  "label": "Region",
  "type": "custom",
  "query": "US-East,US-West,EU",
  "position": "fixed"
}

Then Save it after editing the JSON reload the dashboard and scroll check whether the variable bar and time picker remain visible at the top.

Recommendation:

If this feature is important for your team, we recommend:

Submitting a support request to Microsoft (via Azure Portal) referencing this Grafana OSS v11.0 announcement

Upvoting or requesting this in Azure Feedback

Until then, the JSON update is the only safe way to attempt enabling it, but success will depend on whether Azure has unlocked the feature in your environment.

Let us know if anyone observes a different behavior in other AMG regions or versions — happy to compare notes. Thanks!

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Answer 2

hi there Zheng Huang! thanks for posting this question ))

good news is yes, its totally doable since 11.0 added this feature. but sometimes things need a lil extra push to work ).... just be sure u're actually on 11.2.8. sounds obvious but hey, version checks save lives %) u can verify this in the azure portal under your grafana resource's properties.

if u're on the right version but still not seeing the option, try this: go to your dashboard settings > variables tab. look for the 'fixed position' toggle - sometimes it plays hide and seek )) if its not there, hard refresh your browser (ctrl+f5 works magic lol yes) or try incognito mode in case extensions are messing with u.

The grafana docs u linked are gold! but sometimes the ui changes slightly between versions. instead of just looking for 'fixed position', try right-clicking the variable or time picker. newer versions sometimes hide options there like easter eggs )

this might help in other tools too - clear your grafana cache. sounds simple but oh boy, how many headaches this solves )) find your grafana.ini file (usually in /etc/grafana/) and look for the [cache] section. set enabled=false, restart grafana, then enable cache again. full cache config tips here Grafana cache settings.

Worth looking into your browser console (f12 > console) while loading the dashboard. if u see errors about missing permissions or failed loads, that could explain why the feature's not showing up. grafana's picky about permissions sometimes )

if all else fails, the grafana community forums are surprisingly active. microsoft's azure team monitors them too, so u might get official help there faster than expected :)) Grafana Community Forums.

let us know how it goes

rgds,

Alex