Use dashboard widgets

Widgets turn a dashboard into a live working view

Widgets are the blocks on a dashboard. They can show status, activity, resources, summaries, or other structured information depending on the widget type. People with edit permission can add, configure, move, resize, rename, or remove widgets.

Widgets make dashboards useful only when they answer a real question. Add widgets that help the dashboard's audience decide what to do next.

Availability

Add a widget

Open the dashboard, choose the add-widget action, select the widget type, and configure the required options. Some widgets are useful immediately. Others need a connected resource, filter, date range, or display setting before they show anything meaningful.

If the add action is missing, you may only have view access, the workspace may not include dashboard editing, or you may be on a surface that does not support widget editing. Use Share a dashboard when the issue is edit permission.

Configure a widget

Configuration controls what the widget displays. Depending on the widget, configuration may include a title, resource, filter, sort order, display mode, time range, or visibility setting.

Before changing a shared dashboard widget, think about the audience. A filter that helps you personally can make the dashboard useless for everyone else. If you need a personal view, create or request a separate dashboard instead of quietly changing the team dashboard.

Move and resize widgets

Move widgets to put the most important information first. Resize widgets when content needs more room or when a dashboard is becoming hard to scan. Keep a clear visual rhythm: a dashboard with ten equally loud widgets stops being useful as a review page.

After rearranging, check the dashboard at normal laptop size. A layout that looks fine on a huge monitor can become cramped for teammates.

Rename widgets

Rename widgets when the default title does not explain the information. Good widget titles tell the viewer what they are looking at, not just the widget type.

Remove a widget

Removing a widget removes it from the dashboard. It does not usually delete the underlying project, canvas, file, or resource the widget referenced. If you are removing a pinboard or resource widget, confirm whether the resource itself still needs to exist elsewhere.

If you remove the wrong widget, recreate it and reconnect the resource. If the whole dashboard was archived or deleted, see Archive and restore dashboards.

Widget data and permissions

A dashboard viewer may be able to open the dashboard but not see everything inside a widget. Widgets should respect underlying permissions. If a widget points to restricted resources, some viewers may see empty, limited, or unavailable content.

When a widget looks empty for one user but not another, compare their dashboard permission, workspace role, and access to the underlying resource. Use Share a dashboard and Roles and access.

Live updates and stale widgets

Widgets can update as workspace data changes, but not every change appears instantly. If a widget looks stale, refresh the dashboard or reopen it. If a teammate just changed permissions, wait a moment and refresh.

If the widget is still wrong after refresh, check whether the underlying resource changed, was archived, deleted, moved, or restricted.

Pinboard widgets

Pinboard widgets connect important projects, canvases, files, and links to the dashboard. They are useful when the dashboard is meant to be a launch point, not only a summary page.

For pinboard details, see Connect resources to a dashboard.

Troubleshooting widgets

When to contact support

Contact support when widgets fail to save for an editor, a widget repeatedly loses configuration, a widget shows different data to users with the same permission after refresh, or the dashboard becomes unusable after widget edits. Include workspace name, dashboard link, widget title, user role, expected data, and screenshots.