Creating Widgets

This guide walks through creating widgets, from picking a type to configuring data and saving.

From a dashboard

Open a dashboard in edit mode (click the pencil icon)
Click + Widget in the header
The Widget Editor opens, starting with widget type selection

Hover over any widget
Click the menu icon (three dots)
Select Edit

The settings menu appears on any widget you have permission to edit. You must have Staff role or higher, and the dashboard must not be shared via public link. Snapshot widgets do not show the settings menu.

Pick what kind of widget you want. They’re organized into two categories:

Data visualizations

Widget	Description	Best for
Bar Chart	Compare values side-by-side	Category comparisons, rankings
Line Chart	Track trends over time	Time series, performance tracking
Pie Chart	Show proportions at a glance	Part-to-whole relationships
Table	Rows and columns of data	Detailed records, drilldown
Query Widget	Author SQL-backed widgets in YAML	Custom queries, Query Datasets
Number	One big KPI display	Single metrics, goals
Gauge	Visualize progress to a goal	Percentages, capacity
Matrix	Multi-metric scorecards	Multiple KPIs per entity
Funnel	Conversion stage breakdown	Pipelines, drop-off analysis

Content widgets

Widget	Description	Best for
Static Value	Custom text or markdown	Headlines, announcements
Dynamic Value	Pull live text from data	Status updates, latest record
Image	Display logos or graphics	Branding, diagrams
External Website	Embed any web page	Third-party tools
Button	Navigate with a click	Dashboard links

After selecting the type, you’ll see a three-panel layout:

Widget Settings

Global settings like title, description, display options

Data Layers (data visualization widgets only)

Each layer is a separate calculation
Multiple layers let you compare different datasets or filters
Drag to reorder, duplicate or delete as needed

Center panel: Live preview

See how your widget looks as you configure it.

For data widgets (charts, tables, numbers, gauges, and other dataset-backed types), preview stays unavailable until every data layer has a dataset selected. The Preview button in the header stays disabled until then. Widgets that do not use a dataset (Static Value, Image, External Website, Button) can preview without one.

Once datasets are set, the preview usually refreshes in the background when you change settings. You can also click Preview (or use the keyboard shortcut shown on the button) to refresh it yourself. A manual preview shows a loading state while results load.

Right panel: Configuration

Options change based on what’s selected in the left panel:

Widget Settings selected: Global options like title, colors, axes
Data Layer selected: Data-specific options like dataset, calculations, filters

Configuring data layers

Each data layer defines a calculation for your widget.

Selecting a dataset

Click Select Dataset in a data layer
Choose from:
- Datasets: Direct sync from integrations (standard tables)
- Modified Datasets: Transformed or filtered data
Columns load automatically

Configuring the calculation

Each data layer needs:

Setting	Description	Required
Name	Label for this data layer	Yes
Dataset	Source of data	Yes
Function	How to aggregate the data (Row Count, Sum, Average, etc.)	Yes
Column	Which column to calculate (if required by function type)	Varies

Available functions

Function	Description	Requires column
Row Count	Count of records in the dataset	No
Sum	Total of all values	Yes
Average	Mean value	Yes
Median	Middle value	Yes
Max	Largest value	Yes
Min	Smallest value	Yes
Mode	Most common value	Yes
Range	Difference between max and min	Yes
Custom	Create your own formula	No
Percentage	Percentage matching a filter	No

Adding filters

Limit which data is included:

In the data layer config, click Filter
A filter dialog opens
Select the column to filter
Choose the operator (equals, contains, greater than, etc.)
Set the filter value
Add multiple conditions as needed
Click Done to apply the filter and close the dialog

You can create complex logic with groups and AND/OR operators. See Filtering Data for the full guide.

Setting the X-Axis

For chart widgets, define what appears on the X-axis:

Select the X-Axis field
Choose a column from your dataset
Common choices:
- Date/time columns for trends
- Category columns for comparisons
- Status or type columns for breakdowns

General settings

Setting	Description
Title	Widget display name
Description	Optional markdown description
Show Title	Toggle title visibility
No Data Message	Text shown when widget has no data (max 255 chars)

Customizing the no data message

Widgets show a message when there’s no data to display. You can customize this text:

Open the widget editor
Select Widget Settings in the left panel
Find the No Data Message field under General settings
Enter your custom text (up to 255 characters)

Default values:

Chart widgets (bar, line, pie, gauge, funnel, table, matrix, dynamicString): “No Data”
Number widgets: “0” (number widgets always display 0 when there’s no data, so this setting is not available for them)

Formatting numeric messages

If you enter a number as the no data message, it follows your widget’s formatting rules. For example, if your widget has the $ Prefix toggle enabled and you set the no data message to “0”, it displays as “$0”. Similarly, % Suffix and Abbreviate Numbers settings apply to numeric no data messages.

This works well for KPI-style widgets where you want empty states to show “$0” or “0%” instead of “No Data”.

Chart widgets

Legend & labels

Setting	Description
Show Legend	Display chart legend
Legend Position	Top, bottom, left, or right
X Label	Custom X-axis label
Y Label	Custom Y-axis label
Font Size	Override default text size

Axes & scale

Setting	Description
Show X Axis	Toggle X-axis visibility
Show Y Axis	Toggle Y-axis visibility
Y Min/Max	Set fixed axis range
Cumulative X Axis	Show running totals
Log Scale (Y)	Use logarithmic scale
Horizontal Chart	Rotate bar charts
Fill Empty Points	Add zeros for missing time periods
Show Area	Fill area under line charts
X Axis Label Rotation	Rotate X-axis labels (degrees)

Setting	Description
Rounding	Decimal places (0-10)
% Suffix	Add percent sign
$ Prefix	Add dollar sign
Abbreviate Numbers	Show 1.2K instead of 1,200
Compare Points	Show comparison to previous/custom value

Setting	Description
Min Value	Scale minimum (default: 0)
Max Value	Scale maximum (default: 100), fallback when dynamic max absent
Show Interval Labels	Display value labels along the gauge scale
Dynamic Max Layer	Add a second data layer to drive max value from live data

Dynamic maximum: Add a second data layer to calculate the max value from your data. The gauge shows a hint explaining this when you have one data layer configured. Click Add Max Data Layer to enable it. If the second layer has no data, the static Max Value is used instead.

Setting	Description
Transpose Table Data	Swap rows and columns
Pivot Table Data	Create cross-tabulation
Enable Drilldown	Show detailed data on click
Drilldown Date Format	Control date display format

Pie/Funnel widgets

Setting	Description
Pie Label Format	Value, percentage, label, or combinations
Pie Radius	Size of the pie (%)
Inner Radius	Create doughnut chart (set to 40 for standard doughnut)

Setting	Description
Transpose Table Data	Swap rows and columns
Enable Drilldown	Show detailed data on click
Matrix Index	Column to use as row labels
Fit Grid to Widget Width	Auto-size columns to fill available space
% Suffix Data Layers	Which calculations show percent sign
$ Prefix Data Layers	Which calculations show dollar sign
Abbreviate Numbers Data Layers	Which calculations use compact notation (1.2K instead of 1,200)

Per-calculation formatting

Matrix widgets can apply different formatting to each data layer. Instead of using global toggles that affect all values, you pick which calculations get which format:

Add multiple data layers to your matrix widget
In Widget Settings, find the Matrix Options section
Use the multi-select dropdowns to assign formatting:
- % Suffix Data Layers: Select calculations that should show percentages
- $ Prefix Data Layers: Select calculations that should show currency
- Abbreviate Numbers Data Layers: Select calculations to display as 1.2K, 3.4M, etc.

Example use case: You have a matrix showing revenue, ticket count, and satisfaction score for each client. You want revenue formatted as currency ($50K), ticket count abbreviated (1.2K tickets), and satisfaction as a percentage (95%). Select the revenue calculation in the $ Prefix dropdown, ticket count in the Abbreviate Numbers dropdown, and satisfaction in the % Suffix dropdown.

Threshold label formatting

When you use threshold colors on bar, line, or matrix widgets, the same prefix or suffix is used in threshold labels when all visible series share it. If visible series use different units, the shared threshold label leaves the prefix or suffix blank to avoid mixed formatting.

Per-layer formatting for bar and line charts

Bar and line charts can override the widget’s % suffix and $ prefix for each data layer.

Open a bar or line chart in the widget editor.
In a data layer, go to Data Layer Settings.
Set % Suffix to one of these values:
- Inherit (widget setting): Use the widget-level % suffix toggle.
- On: Always show % for that data layer.
- Off: Never show % for that data layer.
Set $ Prefix the same way:
- Inherit (widget setting): Use the widget-level $ prefix toggle.
- On: Always show $ for that data layer.
- Off: Never show $ for that data layer.

These per-layer settings apply to chart values in labels and tooltips. If all visible series resolve to the same prefix or suffix, the shared Y-axis and threshold labels use it too. If series use different units, the shared axis leaves the prefix or suffix blank to avoid mixed labels.

Colors and thresholds

Color types

Choose how colors apply to your widget:

Default Colors

Follow the widget’s color palette
Override colors per data layer

Threshold Colors

Color based on data values
Define rules like “green until 100, red after”

Configuring thresholds

Set Colors to Use threshold colors in the Widget Settings panel
Click Configure Thresholds to open the threshold editor dialog
For single-layer widgets (Number, Bar, Line):
- Add conditions by clicking the + button
- Each condition specifies: value, color, and comparators
- Visual Comparator (≥, ≤, or =): Controls when the color is applied (default: ≥)
- Sound Comparator (≥, ≤, or =): Controls when the alert sound triggers (default: ≤)
- Optionally assign a sound and configure repeat intervals
For multi-column widgets (Table, Matrix):
- Add a threshold set for each column or data layer you want to configure
- Each data layer on matrix widgets can have its own set of thresholds
- Each column on table widgets can have its own set of thresholds
- They require multiple sets of thresholds because a common use case is to set something like:
  - amount column: [visual: value ≤ 100: red] [visual: value ≤ 500: yellow] [visual: value ≥ 100: green]
  - hours column: [visual: value ≤ 5: red] [visual: value ≤ 7: yellow] [visual: value = 8: green] [visual: value ≥ 9: red]
- Select the target column/layer, then add conditions
Configure global sound settings:
- Click the settings icon to set Allow Mute and Snooze Duration

Optional color effects

Each threshold condition includes a toggle to control whether the threshold color affects the widget value. Turn it off when you want the rule to remain available without changing the displayed color.

Time and grouping

Time configuration

Setting	Description
Time Increment	Group time-based data by minute, hour, day, week, month, quarter, or year
Timezone	View data in any timezone
Use Fiscal Calendar	Replace natural calendar boundaries with your company’s fiscal periods (see below)

On datetime x-axis widgets, you can switch the time increment directly from the dashboard without opening the editor.

Hover over the widget to reveal the footer action icons
Click the clock icon to open the time increment menu
Choose an option: Auto, Minute, Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year
The widget refreshes with the new grouping applied

Auto lets Resplendent pick the increment based on your date range. When Auto is active, the resolved increment is shown in parentheses (for example, “Auto (Day)”)
The clock icon only appears on widgets with a datetime x-axis and only when you have edit access
Selections made from the footer update the widget immediately and persist after you leave the dashboard

Use Fiscal Calendar

If your company has a fiscal calendar configured, a Use Fiscal Calendar toggle appears in the widget editor when fiscal calendar support is available. For number widgets, the toggle is shown in the Compare section. For other supported widgets, it stays in Time & Grouping. Enabling it makes the widget resolve month, quarter, and year boundaries from your fiscal period definitions instead of the natural calendar.

The toggle is only shown when all of these are true:

The widget is data-based and has a dataset selected
The widget has exactly one data layer
The widget filter includes a date range (between_dates) or a date-range filter variable
Compare With Previous Period is set

When the toggle is on, previous-period calculations also follow fiscal boundaries: “Previous Period” steps back by the same number of fiscal periods, and “Period Last Year” finds the matching period(s) in the prior fiscal year. If no fiscal period covers the target date, the widget falls back to the natural calendar.

Grouping

Setting	Description
Grouping	Stack bars or create multiple series
Sort	Control data order (alphabetical, highest, lowest)
Value Limit	Limit number of values displayed

Comparisons

Compare points

Show how current values compare to previous or custom values:

Enable Compare Points
Choose comparison type:
- Previous: Compare to previous data point
- Custom: Compare to a fixed value
Choose method:
- Percent: Show percentage change
- Difference: Show absolute difference

Previous period comparison

For widgets with time-based filters:

Requires exactly one data layer
Filter must use date range or filter variable
Choose comparison:
- Previous Period: Compare to immediately preceding period
- Period Last Year: Compare to same period last year

Static Value

Display Mode: Text or Markdown
Enter your content directly in the editor

Dynamic Value

Dataset: Select a data source
Column: Which column to display
Function: How to select the value (first record, etc.)
Formatting: $ prefix, % suffix, abbreviate numbers

Image

Image URL: Link to a publicly hosted image

External Website

IFrame URL: Link to embed

Button

Button Text: Label text
Button Mode: Dashboard link or external URL
Select dashboard or enter URL

Saving and managing widgets

Click Save & Close to save
The widget appears on the dashboard
Drag to reposition if needed

Hover over the widget and click the menu icon (three dots)
Select Duplicate
The widget shows a “Duplicating widget…” loading indicator while the copy is being created. The Duplicate button is disabled during this time to prevent double-submissions.
A success notification appears when the copy is ready. If something goes wrong, a failure notification tells you the duplication did not complete.
The new widget appears on the dashboard. Edit the copy as needed.

Hover over the widget and click the menu icon (three dots)
Select Delete
Confirm deletion

Common patterns

Top N chart

Show top performers:

Create a bar chart
Set sorting to “Highest”
Set Value Limit to 10
Displays top 10 items

Time series trend

Track changes over time:

Create a line chart
Set X-axis to a date/time field
Set Time Increment appropriately
Enable Show Area for emphasis

Monthly comparison

Compare this month vs. last month:

Create a number widget
Add filter: This Month
Enable Compare With Previous Period
Select “Previous Period”

Troubleshooting

Check if the dataset has data
Verify filters aren’t excluding all records
Ensure selected columns exist
Customize the No Data Message in Widget Settings if you want different text (for example, “$0” instead of “No Data”)

Wrong aggregation

Review the calculation settings
Check the correct column is selected
Verify aggregation type matches your intent

Preview button is disabled

Select a dataset on every data layer
Content widgets without a dataset (Static Value, Image, External Website, Button) do not need one for preview
Query Widgets use their own Preview control in the YAML editor. See Query Widgets.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Click the widget menu (three dots) and select Duplicate. The widget shows a loading indicator while the copy is being created, and a notification confirms success or failure. Once done, the new widget appears on the dashboard.

What chart type should I use?

Number for single KPIs. Bar Chart for category comparisons. Line Chart for trends over time. Table for detailed records. Pie Chart for part-to-whole (5 or fewer categories). See Chart Types for the full guide.

Yes. Add multiple data layers, each connected to a different dataset. This is useful for comparing metrics from different sources side-by-side.

Common causes: the dataset has no records, filters exclude all data, or the selected columns don’t exist. Check the dataset first, then review widget filters.

You can also customize what text appears when there’s no data. In the widget editor, go to Widget Settings and change the No Data Message field. For number widgets, this defaults to “0”; for other widgets it defaults to “No Data”.

How do I show a percentage?

Use the Percentage function in the data layer. It calculates what percentage of records match your filter conditions. Alternatively, use Custom formula for more complex calculations.

Can I change a widget’s type after creating it?

No. Widget type is set at creation. To change types, create a new widget with the desired type and delete the old one.