A dashboard gives you a way to share a curated set of data or a collection of resources in a highly visual way. You create the collections with widgets.
To learn more about each widget type and its capabilities, click its link:
To learn how to create and edit a dashboard, visit our Creating and Editing a Smartsheet Dashboard article.
Metric
The metric widget allows you to display content from one or more cells in a sheet. After selecting this widget type, click Add data to choose the sheet and cells that contain the data you'd like to display and then click OK.
In order to add data from a sheet using the metric widget, you must have Viewer permissions or higher on that sheet.
- If you want to display the data in a grid format, you'll need to first create a report and use the Report widget type.
- If you want to display new fields as they’re added to or deleted from the source sheet, then you’ll need to manually add or remove them from the metric widget as well.
Once you've chosen the data to display, use the steps below to make the widget look the way you want.
To do this | Follow these steps |
|---|---|
Change how the data in the widget is aligned | Click the align buttons to left-align or center-align the information in the widget. |
Add a title to the widget | Check the box next to Display Title. By default, this will display the title of the sheet. You can change the default by clicking in the field and typing in a new title. |
Adjust the formatting for each field in the widget | To do this, click the field in the widget and then choose from the available formatting options. |
Enable the formatting from the underlying sheet to show in a field | Click on the field and then click Use Cell Formatting: |
Edit the interaction of the widget (interaction is what happens when you click the widget) | Click Edit Interaction and choose one of the interaction options:
|
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
Chart
Add a live chart based on a table of data from your sheet.
Details on creating a Chart widget for your dashboard are available in the article Compare Live Data with a Chart.
To do this | Follow these steps |
|---|---|
Switch how columns and rows are plotted on your chart
| Click Switch rows/columns |
Change the chart type
| Click the tile of the chart type that you want to use |
| Add a title to your chart and/or axes | Expand the Title & Legend section and enter your titles as needed:
|
Add or move a legend on your chart
| Expand the Title & Legend section and select one of the following options:
|
Add gridlines to your chart (except Pie Charts)
| Expand the Horizontal Axis or Vertical Axis sections and check the Gridlines box |
Label slices of a pie chart with percentage of the whole or actual values | Expand the Pie Chart section, make sure that Slice Label is checked, and use the dropdown to select one of the following:
|
Change the colors of data or add labels to data plotted in your chart
| Expand the Series section and choose which item to apply formatting to. NOTE: the Default option will apply to all data in the chart. |
Ignore the text labels that you’ve typed in the cells of your table
| Check the box for Use column names as labels |
Edit the interaction of the widget (interaction is what happens when you click the widget)
| Click Edit Interaction and choose one of the interaction options:
|
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
Shortcut
The Shortcut widget allows you to create a link or a list of links to specific URLs, files, or Smartsheet items. After selecting this widget, click Add Shortcut. Next to Select Shortcut Type, choose one of the following:
- URL: Specify the destination link and display text. This can be any type of link - internal sites, external sites, forms, etc.
- File: Click Attach to choose the file that is stored online that you'd like to attach.
NOTE: Only files that are hosted on a supported online storage drive may be attached (Google Drive, One Drive, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Egnyte).
- Smartsheet Item: Choose which sheet, report, or dashboard to link to.
NOTE: When others view your dashboard, only those users who are shared to the item will be able to access it. (For more information, see dashboard Sharing.)
Once you've specified the shortcuts, use the steps below to make the widget look the way you want.
To do this | Follow these steps |
|---|---|
Change how the shortcuts in the widget are aligned | Click the align buttons to left-align or center-align the information in the widget. |
Add a title to the widget | Check the box next to Display Title. Click Edit Custom Title to type the widget title. |
Adjust the formatting for each link in the widget | To do this, click the field in the widget and then choose from the available formatting options. |
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
Rich Text
The Rich Text widget allows you to enter any text string that you want to use for titles, instructions, updates, or any other type of text.
After adding the text, you can:
- Add a title to the widget. To do this, check the box next to Display Title. Click Edit Custom Title to type the widget title.
- Adjust the formatting for the text. To do this, select the text and then choose from the available formatting options.
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
Report
The Report widget allows you to display a report in your dashboard. Users shared to the dashboard don't need access to the underlying sheets to see the content of the report. Click the widget and then click Select Report to choose a report.
You must have Admin-level sharing permissions or higher on the source report to add it to a dashboard with the Report widget.
After selecting the report, use the steps below to make the widget look the way you want.
To do this | Follow these steps |
|---|---|
Add a title to the widget | Check the box next to Display Title. |
Adjust the formatting for the title of the widget. | Click on the title field and then choose from the available formatting options. |
Remove formatting from the report | Click Remove Formatting |
Edit the interaction of the widget (interaction is what happens when you click the widget) | Click Edit Interaction and choose one of the interaction options:
|
| Show or Hide the Gantt chart | Edit the Report Widget and then select Show/Hide Gantt  . |
.Keep the following in mind when using the Report Widget:
- A maximum of 150 rows will appear from the report. If you need to display more than that on a dashboard, you'll need to consider creating multiple reports and report widgets.
- If you're using the Current user criterion in your report, the Report widget will always display tasks assigned to the person that added it to the dashboard. For more information on using Current user in reports, check out the article on Viewing Your Assigned Tasks.
- The Attachments and Comments columns from the report won't appear in the widget.
- Only Grid and Gantt Views can be displayed in the widget.
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
NOTE: If the person who created a report or chart widget becomes removed from sharing from the dashboard or from the source report of the widget, the report data will no longer be displayed and the widget will display an error message instead.
To resolve this, make one of the following adjustments:
- Create a copy of the dashboard
- Edit the widget and reselect the desired sheet or report. (Must be an Admin on the dashboard and a Viewer on the sheet or report)
Image
The Image widget allows you to add a company logo, employee photos, or other images to your dashboard. Click the widget and then click Insert Image to select an image. You can choose to upload an image from your computer or insert an image from Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or Dropbox. The accepted file types for images in the Image widget are jpg, gif, or png.
After inserting the image, use the steps below to make the widget look the way you want.
To do this | Follow these steps |
|---|---|
Add a title to the widget | Check the box next to Display Title. This will, by default, display the image filename. You can change the default by clicking the field and typing in a new title. |
Adjust the formatting for the title of the widget. | Click on the title field and then choose from the available formatting options. |
Edit the interaction of the widget (interaction is what happens when you click the widget) | Click Edit Interaction and choose one of the interaction options:
|
After editing the widget, click Done to close the window.
Title
With the Title widget, you can give a name to your dashboard and better organize your widgets.
When using the Title widget:
- Enter the text for your title and set your preferred formatting. Typically, title text will be a single line, but the widget will automatically expand to accommodate multiple lines as you type.
- Select Done in the lower-right corner to place the widget on your dashboard.
Web Content
Add interactive content to your dashboard, such as Tableau charts, Smartsheet Forms, YouTube videos, and more. For more information on this widget type please see Add Interactive Content to a Dashboard with the Web Content Widget.