Dashboards and Widgets

Dashboards are fully customizable displays containing widgets, which are built from saved queries.

Managing widgets

A widget is based on a query and customized to present all or some of the results of the query as a number, chart, or table. You can have several different widgets based on a single query where each displays data differently. You can create widgets when saving a new query or by editing an existing saved query. The following procedure describes how to create a widget from an existing saved query.

To create a widget from a saved query:

  1. Navigate to Surface Command > Saved Queries.
  2. Locate the query you want to create a widget from.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Click the Widgets tab.
  5. Toggle on Use query for dashboard widgets.
  6. Click Create a widget.
  7. Provide the following settings:
    • Widget name - The name of the widget, which is displayed in dashboards.
    • Widget description - An optional description of the widget's purpose.
    • Type - Type of chart to display, including Number, Pie, Trend Bar, or Table.
    • Measures - Defines what is being measured. One or more values can be aggregated and displayed by the widget.
    • Dimensions - Dimensions are properties you can use to partition or group the measured value. You can specify multiple dimensions.
    • Time dimensions - Time dimensions are properties you can use to partition or group date or time values.
    • Order by - Specifies the order of the measured values within the chart when a dimension is applied.
    • Filter results - You can filter which query results are used by the widget based on specific properties and values.
    • Legend - Controls the existence and location of the graph legend.
    • Color palette - Controls the color palette for the widget.
  8. Click Save.

Now that the widget is created, you can click Manage dashboards to add it to one or more existing dashboards.

Managing dashboards

A dashboard contains widgets. When you create or edit a dashboard, you choose from existing widgets. To ensure you're getting the most relevant results, make each dashboard specific to a team or a purpose. For example, you can create strategic dashboards to track high-level metrics and group-level tactical dashboards to help drive and prioritize day-to-day operations and tasks. You can use colors and sections to make it easier for users to see relevant data quickly. You can also pin dashboards to add them to the Surface Command home page and generate PDFs from dashboards.

To create a dashboard:

  1. Navigate to Surface Command > Dashboards.
  2. Click + Dashboard.
  3. Enter a descriptive name for the dashboard.
  4. Optionally, provide a description and tags.
  5. Click + Widgets. The Add widgets side panel expands.
  6. Search for widgets as necessary.
  7. For each widget, click Add to Dashboard.
  8. When you have added all the widgets that you need, click anywhere in the dashboard to close the side panel.
  9. Optionally, if you have multiple widgets, click Add Section. The widget and any widgets after it are moved to the next line and the section title and description fields appear.
  10. Optionally, provide a title and description.
  11. Add more sections as needed.
  12. Move the widgets in any order you choose by clicking the left and right arrows in each widget.
  13. If needed, you can modify how widgets display data for the dashboard:
    1. Click the edit icon in the widget.
    2. Modify the settings. The settings that you can modify depend on the type of graph on the data retrieved by the query. See Managing widgets for detailed information. Any changes you make to a widget affects this dashboard only. It does not impact the original widget or other dashboards that use the same widget. To undo the customized settings, click Revert to original.
  14. Click Save.