What the KPI widget shows, when to reach for its card, graph, or tab mode, and how it reads comparison
A KPI widget shows one key metric on a dashboard, such as sent volume, open rate, or revenue, drawn from one dataset over the board’s date range. Use it when you want a number to be easy to read quickly. It comes in three display modes that trade detail for space in different ways.
Choosing a display mode
Section titled “Choosing a display mode”The three modes answer different questions. A card shows a metric’s current value; a graph shows how it changes over time; a tab collects several related metrics into one tile. All three read from the same dataset and the board’s date range, and differ only in what they show on screen.
A card shows one metric as a large, clear number, with its change against the comparison period and an optional sparkline (a small inline trend line). One number, little distraction. Use it when a metric is clearly good or bad on its own (an open rate, 30-day revenue, or active subscribers), and you want it visible the moment the dashboard loads.
Zooming in
Section titled “Zooming in”A card has a zoom control that opens it in a larger detail drawer, without leaving the dashboard. The metric fills a full graph, a slider adjusts the date range, and a table breaks the number down by a dimension you choose, so you can see what causes it. It lets you look closely at one number, then close it and read the board again.
A graph draws one metric as a line or bar chart over time, so you see movement and seasonality instead of only the latest value. Use it when the trend matters more than the number, such as an open rate moving week over week, or sending volume as bars across the month. Percentage metrics can use autoscale: turn it on to make small changes easier to see, or off to keep the scale starting at zero.
A tab collects several metrics into one tile as a row of tabs. Each tab shows its metric with the current value and change; selecting one opens its full trend below. It gives a viewer several related metrics (sent, opens, clicks, revenue) in the space of one, and lets each person open the metric that matters most to them without crowding the board.
How comparison reads
Section titled “How comparison reads”When the dashboard has a comparison period turned on, every KPI mode shows the change against it. How it reads depends on the mode:
- Card and tab: the current value sits next to its previous-period value, with the percentage difference between them.
- Graph: the previous period is drawn as a second line, so you read the change off the chart.
The colour reflects whether the change helps you, not only whether the number rose: an increase shows green or red depending on the metric, so a rising open rate is green and a rising unsubscribe rate red. With no comparison period set, the widget shows the current value on its own.
Set up the widget
Section titled “Set up the widget”Each KPI widget is set up on its own, in an editor you open from the widget. Every mode shares the basics: the one or more metrics it shows, the dataset and any filter it reads from, a Group by dimension that breaks a graph or tab into separate lines or bars, the Period by date field, and the granularity (day, week, month) of the chart. Opening the editor and saving work the same way for every widget, and are covered on the Dashboards page.
Beyond those, each mode has its own settings:
A card shows one metric as a single number, so the line-or-bar choice and the chart layout settings don’t apply to it.
- Sparkline: show or hide the small inline trend line beneath the number. Hiding it also removes the Colour option, since there is no line left to colour.
Each metric you add becomes a tab in the tile, in the order you list them.
- Type: draw each metric’s chart as a line or as bars.
- Autoscale percentage metrics: on, the axis zooms to the data so small changes are easy to see; off, it stays fixed from zero.
Bars add a few more controls, all with sensible defaults:
- Orientation: stand the bars up from the axis, or lay them across it.
- X-axis mode: spread the bars along time, or group them into categories by the Group by dimension.
- Secondary dimension: break each bar into segments by a second dimension — for example, one bar per week, split by channel.
- Group mode: with a secondary dimension, stack its segments in one bar or set them side by side.
- Show bar label as: print each bar’s value on it, show its share of the total, or leave the bars unlabelled.
A graph shows one metric over time. Its settings are otherwise the same as a Tab’s.