Building a widget takes three pieces: a source report, a widget type, and the configuration that maps report data to the visualization.
- Build the source report
A widget renders one report. Build the report first with the right groupings, filters, and columns to feed the visualization you want.
- Create or open the dashboard
From the Dashboards tab, New Dashboard (or open an existing one). Click Edit to enter the dashboard editor.
- Add the widget
Click Component or Widget. Pick the source report. Pick the widget type (bar, donut, metric, and others). Configure axis, color, sort, and any widget-specific options.
- Position and resize
Drag the widget into the dashboard layout. Resize as needed. Most dashboards have 4 to 12 widgets; fewer is usually better for cognitive load.
- Configure dashboard filters
Add up to three dashboard-level filters that propagate to every widget. Common filters: time range, region, business unit.
- Schedule a refresh and subscriptions
Set the refresh schedule and any email subscriptions. Save and activate the dashboard.
- Each widget pulls from one report only. Cross-report computations need a custom Lightning component or a pre-aggregated report type.
- Refresh is scheduled or manual, not real-time. Users sometimes expect data to be live; train them on the refresh cadence.
- Dashboards have a cap on widgets per dashboard (currently 20). For larger needs, split into multiple dashboards or use Tableau.
- Dynamic dashboards count against a per-org limit. Plan their use; do not make every dashboard dynamic.
- Widget formatting (colors, axes) is per widget; building dashboard-wide consistency requires manual effort or use of a shared template.