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Building dashboards

Your provider usually sets up dashboards for you. But if your plan includes dashboard editing, you can also build and tailor your own: a screen of numbers, charts, gauges, and status tiles for exactly the devices and readings you care about.

This page is about building dashboards. For how to read and interact with a finished one, see Reading your dashboards.

note

Do you have this? Dashboard editing is a plan feature. If you don't see + New Dashboard on the Dashboards list, or an Edit toggle when you open a dashboard, your provider hasn't enabled it for your workspace. Ask them if you'd like it turned on. Building and editing dashboards needs Workspace Admin access; your provider can also grant Operators the ability to manage dashboards. Viewers can always read dashboards but never edit them.

What you can build​

  • Workspace dashboards are the main case: a dashboard for your whole workspace, whose widgets can bind to any device you can see. These are what most of your team opens day to day.
  • Per-device dashboards are a bespoke view for one specific device, for when a device needs instrumentation that doesn't fit your general dashboards. Available if your plan includes it.
  • Profile dashboards are the default layout shown for every device on a device profile you've copied. Lay it out once and every device on that copy shows it.

The dashboards your provider builds for the whole product line stay with them. Everything you build lives in your workspace and only ever shows your own devices.

Creating a dashboard​

  1. Go to Dashboards in the sidebar.
  2. Click + New Dashboard.
  3. Give it a name (for example, "Cold Store Overview" or "Daily Production").
  4. Click Create.

You land on an empty dashboard, ready for widgets.

note

Plan limits. Your plan may cap how many dashboards you can have. If you hit the limit, you'll see a message when you try to create another. Remove one you no longer use, or ask your provider about a higher allowance.

Adding widgets​

The editor is a drag-and-drop grid. There's no Save button for the layout itself; your changes commit as you make them.

  1. Turn on Edit (top right of the dashboard).
  2. Click + Add widget.
  3. Pick a widget type. If a type is grayed out with a "Plan" label, it isn't part of your plan yet, ask your provider about enabling it.
  4. The widget drops into the next open slot.
  5. Click its settings (gear) icon to open the config panel: choose the device and reading it shows, set colors and thresholds, and tune its appearance.
  6. Save the widget's settings. Then drag the widget to move it, or drag a corner to resize.

The widget types you can choose from are the same ones described in the shape of a dashboard: Value, Gauge, Chart, Status, State Timeline, Gateways, Count, Table, History, and Map, plus the Image, Text, Button, and Toggle helpers. (Some types, like Toggle, may be limited by your plan.)

tip

State readings that only change occasionally (a valve open or closed, a door, a relay) always show the device's last known value, even when the last report landed before the selected time range. On a Table column set to Last, you can also turn on Show value age to print how long ago the value was reported, e.g. (5d ago). If a state tile stays blank because the device leaves the reading out of most of its check-ins, turn on "retain last value" for that reading on its profile if you manage the profile, or ask your provider to.

Adding a visualization​

If your plan includes Analytics (Beta), a dashboard can also show a saved visualization as a tile, next to the live widgets: a 90-day trend, a ranking of sites, a heatmap by hour of day.

  1. Turn on Edit.
  2. Click + Add visualization, next to + Add widget.
  3. Pick a visualization from your workspace's library. The tile drops into the next open slot.
  4. Open its settings (gear) to change which visualization it shows, how often it refreshes, and whether it prints the period. Viewers can click into the chart to drill down when its author allows it.

The tile shows the visualization at its saved period and refreshes on its own schedule; it does not follow the dashboard's time-range picker, though its author can let viewers change the tile's own period from a calendar button on the tile. See Putting a visualization on a dashboard.

Arranging the grid​

  • Widgets snap to a grid. Drag the body of a widget to move it; drag the bottom-right corner to resize.
  • The layout reflows on smaller screens, so it stays usable on a phone or tablet.
  • Your changes save automatically as you drag and resize. Turn Edit off when you're done; what you see is what everyone else sees.

Tabs​

A dashboard can have several tabs across the top. They help when one screen would be too crowded, or when you want to separate concerns ("Overview", "Detail", "Alerts").

  1. In Edit mode, click + Add tab.
  2. Name it.
  3. Build that tab's widgets. Each tab has its own set, and the time range is shared across them.

Time range​

The time-range picker at the top (15 minutes through 30 days) drives every widget that follows the dashboard range. Individual widgets can pin their own window in their settings, which is useful for showing "right now" next to "last 30 days" on the same screen. See Choosing the time range.

Who can see it​

A new dashboard is visible to everyone in your workspace by default. To narrow that, open the dashboard's three-dot menu -> Access and choose:

  • All members (the default).
  • Only selected members: pick specific people.
  • Members of selected sites: if your workspace uses sites, tie the dashboard to a site so only that site's members see it.

You can't widen visibility beyond your workspace, and admins always keep access, so you can't lock yourself out.

Some people who need a dashboard don't have an account: a screen on the shop floor, a customer who wants to see their own site, a contractor checking a reading before they drive out. A public link opens the dashboard in any browser, with no sign-in.

Open the dashboard's three-dot menu -> Share and choose how the link is protected before you create it:

  • Anyone with the link can view. Best for a wallboard on a screen only your team walks past. Treat the link like a key: anyone you send it to, and anyone they forward it to, can open the dashboard.
  • Require a password. Viewers have to enter the password before the dashboard loads.

Then select Create link. The full link is shown once, right after it's created, so copy it then. After that the window shows only the first few characters, enough to recognize which link is active.

Sharing is available on your own account's dashboards. If you don't see Share in the menu, your plan may not include it; ask your provider.

Open Share again on the same dashboard:

  • Change password (password-protected links only). The link itself stays the same, and anyone viewing it right now has to enter the new password.
  • Replace link. Creates a new link and stops the old one working immediately. Use this to switch a link between open and password-protected, or when a link has travelled further than you intended.
  • Turn off link. Anyone using it loses access straight away.

A link is either open or password-protected for its whole life. To change that, you replace it. This is deliberate: a link you already sent out can never quietly change who is allowed to use it.

Letting viewers make changes​

A shared dashboard is read-only by default: viewers can look, but not touch. If you need them to act, for example a supervisor setting a target on a wallboard, turn on the actions you want under Viewer actions:

  • Set values. Viewers can change values on Set Value widgets.
  • Send commands to devices. Viewers can use Buttons and Toggles that send a command.

Viewer actions are only available on a password-protected link, and each one is off until you turn it on. If you turn an action off, anyone already viewing loses it on their next refresh.

What viewers see​

  • The dashboard name, its tabs, and the time range picker. Nothing else from the platform: no sidebar, no menus, and no way to reach any other page.
  • Readings refresh on a timer rather than instantly.
  • Device and gateway names appear where a widget shows them, but nothing links through to a device or gateway page, and technical identifiers such as EUIs are not included. The Gateways widget shows names, health, and stats only, and Geo map pins show the positions saved with the dashboard (set by the dashboard author, or taken from each device's saved location when the dashboard was last saved), with their live state and readings.
  • A few widget types don't appear on a shared dashboard and show Not available on shared dashboards in their place: Tracker map, Status widgets in the alert-state style, and widgets bound to a multicast group or the uplink-count preset.
  • Search engines are told not to index the page, but the link is still the only thing protecting it, so share it deliberately.

Make it the first thing you see​

Star a dashboard on the Dashboards list (or use Set as home dashboard in its menu) to land on it each time you open Dashboards. That's a personal choice and doesn't change anything for anyone else. See Setting your home dashboard.

Removing a dashboard​

Open the Dashboards list, use the row's three-dot menu -> Delete, and confirm. If you remove one by mistake, ask your provider; deleted dashboards can be restored.

Frequently asked​

Who on my team can build dashboards? By default, Workspace Admins. Your provider can also let Operators manage dashboards. Viewers can always read dashboards but never edit them.

Can I copy a dashboard? Not with a one-click copy yet. For now, create a new one and add the same widgets.

Why is a widget type grayed out? It isn't part of your plan. Ask your provider about enabling it.

A teammate sees my dashboard as empty. Why? They may be limited to a site whose devices your widgets don't use, or they may not have access to the dashboard. Check the dashboard's Access setting and which devices its widgets point at.

What's next​