Dashboard Widgets
Widgets are the building blocks of a dashboard. There are four widget types, and you can mix and match as many as you need.
| Widget | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Chart | A chart built from one of your sheets (ex: bar, line, pie) |
| Data Table | Sheet data in a sortable table, with your choice of columns |
| KPI Metric | A key performance indicator with an optional trend |
| Text | Formatted text for explanations, notes, and context |
Building Widgets with AI
Every dashboard has an AI prompt bar in the toolbar. If the dashboard has more than one sheet, pick which sheet the request should use, then describe what you want in plain language and press enter.
The AI can:
- Add widgets - ex: “add a table of orders” or “add a KPI for total revenue”
- Add gauges - ex: “add a gauge showing progress toward our sales goal” adds a gauge chart widget
- Add filters - ex: “add a region filter” adds a slicer for that column
- Edit existing widgets - ex: “make the chart title shorter” or “change that chart to a bar chart”
- Design a full dashboard - ex: “design a dashboard for me” analyzes the sheet and adds a set of widgets and filters at once, optionally on a new dashboard page
New widgets match the dashboard’s current theme and are placed automatically into the layout.
Adding a Widget
Click Add Widget (or Add your first widget on an empty dashboard) to open the Add Widget dialog, then select a widget type.
Chart and Data Table widgets read from a sheet, so the dialog will next ask you to choose the sheet to use for the widget. If the sheet you want isn’t on the dashboard yet, click Add Sheet to add a new or existing sheet without leaving the dialog.
Chart widgets
After choosing a sheet, pick a base chart for the widget. InstaCharts analyzes the sheet and presents recommended charts, each showing the chart type and which columns are plotted on each axis.
Once added, a chart widget is fully customizable, just like a regular InstaCharts chart; change the chart type, axes, colors, and labels to get exactly the view you want.
Gauge chart widgets
Gauge and grouped gauge charts work well next to KPI widgets. Use a KPI widget for a plain number, and a gauge when the number reads better against a scale or a goal (ex: progress on a task, sales against a quota, an average rating out of 5).
When the AI prompt bar adds a gauge widget, it leaves out the subtitle and caption so the dial has room inside the widget. Grouped gauge widgets added by AI also use thinner rings than a regular grouped gauge chart.
Data Table widgets
After choosing a sheet, select which columns to show in the data table. Use Select All or Remove All to toggle the whole list quickly. The table shows only the columns you pick, so viewers see the data that matters without the clutter of the full spreadsheet.
While editing the dashboard, drag a column header to change the column order, drag a column edge to change its width, and click a header to sort by that column. The data table widget saves your column order, widths and sorting, so every viewer sees the table laid out the way you set it up.
The Pagination panel in the edit drawer controls how rows are shown. With Show Pagination on, the table shows 100 rows at a time with a page bar along the bottom for moving between pages. Turn it off to show every row in one scrolling table, which suits short lists like a top 10 or a monthly summary. A new data table widget starts with pagination on when its sheet has 100 rows or more, and off for smaller sheets. On a narrow widget the page bar shows a compact page count, and hovering the page number shows the total number of pages.
KPI Metric widgets
KPI widgets display a headline number with a label (ex: Total Revenue). When you add a KPI widget, and later in the KPI Value panel of the edit drawer, you can choose between two ways to set the number:
- Custom Value - type the number you want to display (ex: 1,234)
- Calculated From Data - InstaCharts works out the number from a column in one of the dashboard’s sheets
Choosing Calculated From Data in the Add Widget dialog lets you pick the sheet, column and statistic right away. If the dashboard has no sheets yet, the dialog offers an Add Sheet button first. The time period, format and trend settings are in the edit drawer once the widget is on the dashboard.
Calculated KPI values
A calculated KPI updates when its sheet changes and follows the slicers on the current page, so the number always matches the charts and tables next to it. On the Value tab, pick:
- Sheet - any sheet on the dashboard
- Column - the column to calculate from
- Statistic - Sum, Average, Median, Minimum, Maximum or Standard Deviation for number columns. Count, Filled, Empty, Unique, Filled %, Empty % and Unique % work on any column. Date columns add Earliest Date, Latest Date and Date Range in days, months or years.
The Time Period tab narrows the number to the rows whose date falls in a period, using a date or timestamp column from the sheet. The periods are Last 7, 30 or 90 Days, Last 12 Months, This Week, Month, Quarter or Year, and Last Week, Month, Quarter or Year. Ends On sets where the period ends: the latest date in the data works well for imported files, and Today suits sheets that get new rows every day. When a period has no rows, the KPI shows the all time value and editors see a short message on the widget.
The Format tab sets how the number is written, with the same number formats as charts (ex: 1.5k, $3.50, 12%) or a custom format. Significant Digits rounds the number to 1, 2 or 3 significant digits before the format is applied, which keeps large headline numbers short and readable (ex: 2,567,567 at 2 significant digits with a millions format shows as 2.6M). Leave it on All to show the full value. Add a prefix or suffix (ex: $ or units) and pick the number and currency locale, which sets the separators and currency symbol for everyone who views the dashboard. The Label tab holds the text shown under the number.
KPI trends
Turn on Show Trend in the Trend panel to show a percentage change under the number. A trend can be a custom value you type with your own trend period text (ex: vs last month), or calculated from data. A calculated trend needs a calculated KPI value with a time period, and compares that period with one of:
- Previous Period - ex: this month vs last month
- Same Period Last Year - ex: this quarter vs the same quarter a year earlier
- All Time - available for Average, Median, Minimum, Maximum, Standard Deviation and the % statistics
The trend label is written for you (ex: vs last month), and you can replace it with your own text. Turn on Lower Is Better for numbers like costs, churn or wait times, so a decrease shows in green and an increase shows in red.
When the AI prompt bar adds KPI widgets, it calculates them from the sheet, and can narrow a KPI to a recent period such as This Month with a calculated trend (ex: “add a KPI for revenue this month”). The AI prompt bar can also change what an existing KPI calculates, such as its column, statistic or time period (ex: “make the revenue KPI show this quarter” or “show average order value instead of total”).
Text widgets
Text widgets hold formatted text; use them for titles, explanations, takeaways, or any context your audience needs. The built-in editor supports rich formatting (ex: bold, italics, lists).
Rows and Layout
Widgets are organized into rows. Hover over a row in edit mode to reveal the row controls:
- Add row above / Add row below - insert a new empty row
- Add widget to row - add a widget directly into that row
- Delete row - remove the row
You can also drag and drop widgets to move them between rows. Each widget’s size and title can be adjusted from its edit panel.
Editing and Removing Widgets
Select a widget to open its edit panel, where you can change the widget’s title, size, and type-specific settings. To remove a widget, use the widget menu and confirm the removal; the underlying sheet and its charts are not affected.