Dashboard Widgets
You can use dashboard widgets to summarize data in helpful ways. This article includes methods to create and edit widgets, in addition to a description of each type of widget.
Table of contents:
Creating and editing dashboard widgets
Jump to a method for creating a dashboard widget:
Create a new dashboard widget
From the dashboard, click on '+ Add Widget' at the top of the dashboard.
Choose 'Create new widget'
You can now start building the widget. Once you're done, click on the back button to be taken back to the dashboard. Your new widget will be shown at the bottom of the dashboard. You may have to scroll down to see it.
Copy and edit a widget
To copy and then edit a widget, click on the three dots to the upper left of the widget and choose 'Copy and Edit'.
The widget editor will open. From here you can change what is displayed by the widget the same way you edit a view.
Rename the copied widget something descriptive by changing the view name field:
Then press the back button to the left of the name to go back to the dashboard. The widget will now appear in place of the widget you copied. Note that since you altered the default dashboard, the name of your dashboard now appears as 'Unsaved Layout'. You can choose to save this dashboard layout and give it a name.
Save a view as a widget
You can save a view as a widget to make it available on your dashboard layouts.
Starting from Data Viewer, you can develop your query and then save that query as a dashboard widget.
After you create a view to see the summary data you want in your widget, click 'Save':
Change the 'Save As' drop down menu to 'Dashboard'. Then give the widget a name and click 'OK'.
You can then navigate back to the dashboard and add your new widget (it will not appear automatically).
Edit an existing widget
You can edit widgets that belong to you, or, if you are an Administrator, you can edit default widgets. Edits made to default widgets will change the widgets for all other users.
To edit a widget, click the more button in the top right corner of a widget and select "Edit".
Adding a widget to a dashboard layout
Once your widget is created, you'll need to add it to the dashboard. From the dashboard, click on '+ Add Widget' at the top of the dashboard.
Choose 'Add existing widget', then choose the widget you want to add from the drop down menu. If you don't see the widget you're looking for, then it's possible it may not have been shared by the user that created it.
Using the widget menu
Once your widget is added to the dashboard, you can click on the three dots next to it to see additional options:
To hide the widget select 'Remove from layout'. This will remove the widget from the layout, but you can always add it back again by using the 'add widget' menu.
Copy and edit will create a copy of the widget for editing -- useful if you want to preserve the widget but make something new based off of it.
Edit will edit the widget. This is only available if you are the creator of the widget or you are an administrator and it's a built-in widget.
Shared indicates whether the widget has been shared with your organization.
If any of these are greyed out, it means they are unavailable because you do not have the privileges to make changes. Copy the widget to make your own copy, then save it as something new and add it to your dashboard. You should then have access to the inaccessible menu items.
Types of dashboard widgets
- Count widget
- Grouped count widget
- Chart widget
- Line chart widget
- Map widget
- List widget
- Timeline widget
Count widget
The count widget displays the count of records as well as a sum field, if applicable. To make your own count widget, just create a view with a countable item (anything!) and a field which can be summed (optional). If you don't include the sum field, it won't be displayed on the widget. You can incorporate as many summed columns as you need in a widget by clicking the sum button at the bottom of any countable field in a view.
Sums and Counts do not check for duplicate data! It is easy to create a view that counts things twice, so use caution when creating your widgets. For example, a view of 'All Portfolio Records' that sums up size will return overlapping parcels, properties, and groups as separate rows and will sum up the values as if they are not related, resulting in double or even triple-counting of certain acreages. What you probably want to do in most cases is restrict these types of overall record summary views to property records only. You can do this by adding a Type = 'Property' query to your Portfolio Records view.
Here's a video of how I created a widget that displays the total purchase price of all of our acquisitions:
Grouped count widget
This widget is made in the same way as the count widget, but adds the values of a selected field.
In the example above, the widget groups results based on values in the field "Property Interest".
Here's a video on how to group the results of a count widget:
Chart widget
Chart widgets work similar to Grouped count widgets. First, edit the query to display the type of results you would like to summarize. Then, group the results based on the values of a field using the method described in grouped count widgets. Then, display the results as a chart by changing 'Display as Table' to 'Display as Chart'.
Just like with count widgets, you can opt to include a count or sum field.
The widget will be displayed as a chart. By default, it will choose a bar chart, however, if you want it to display as a pie chart, change the chart type by clicking 'Bar' and change the drop down menu to 'Pie'.
Once you select the kind of chart you want, you can add some colors by clicking on the squares next to the group name.
The chart above has an outer and inner circle to display both the count of the categories and the sum of the donated value, respectively. If you only want the count to display, toggle the sum button at the bottom of the results table to deactivate sum.
If you'd like the chart to hide the count information and show only the summed field(s), uncheck 'Show Count'
Line graph
A line graph widget is best utilized to show progress over time. In order to create a line graph widget, you'll need to have a date/time field in your view and then group that field. Select 'Display as Chart' and choose "Line" as the chart type.
Map widget
A map widget can be used to show map data from your Landscape account. They can be used to navigate directly to an item by clicking on it and selecting the link in the map popup.
Any item that has geography associated with it can be shown on a map widget. For example, you could have a map widget to track all known active issues, or a map widget to display all current leases.
Note: The fields you have activated in the table view are the fields which will appear in the popup when you click an item in map view.
For more on how to create and style a map widget, see this article:
How to Create a Map of Property Interests
List widget
List widgets display the full details of results from your query. The result row height is fixed and field/column width is dependent on the size of the widget and the number of other columns.
To make a list widget, first make a widget as described above. If it's not already set, change the settings to 'Display as Table', and check the box that says 'Show list of results in widget'.
List widgets respect grouping, counting, and sums.
Timeline widgets
To create a timeline widget, use a query to get project or task results. Then, choose "Display as Timeline".