# Build a dashboard

Create a dashboard or start from a copy, add widgets with the live preview, set their data, display and options, arrange the board, and show a figure above the list of an app.

A dashboard is a board of widgets; each widget reads one kind of record, such as activities or invoices, and shows a figure, a chart or a table. This page builds one from scratch.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- Dashboards are created from **Configuration**, which needs the **Supervisor** or **Manager** access right on **Analysis**.
- You change the dashboards you own; a **Supervisor** also those where an access line makes them editor or whose team they manage, a **Manager** all.

## Create the dashboard {#create}

1. Open **Analysis/Configuration/Manage Analysis** and click **New**.
2. Type the name `Analysis demo: Office follow-up`. **Kind** stays **Personal**: only you and the managers see it while you build it. Save.

![A new dashboard is Personal, so only you and the managers see it.](https://jaah.app/web/image/12989-bf7f1afe/analysis-build-a-dashboard-new_dashboard-en.png)

3. Open it from the list of dashboards of **Analysis/Analysis**, or with **Actions** then **Open** on its form. It is empty.

![The new dashboard is empty; Edit opens the edit mode where widgets are added.](https://jaah.app/web/image/12997-72004fce/analysis-build-a-dashboard-empty_board-en.png)

## Start from a copy instead {#from-a-copy}

On any dashboard's form, **Actions** then **Duplicate to Personal** copies its widgets and filters into a personal draft of yours, without its access lines and share links. A copy of a ready-made dashboard also takes the small tiles the original shows above the lists of its app: the rows with an **On Board** switch on the copy's **Widgets** tab. Delete them, or the lists show each tile twice.

## Add a widget {#add-a-widget}

1. Click **Edit**, then **+ Widget**.
2. Type the name `Analysis demo: Open activities`, keep **KPI / Scorecard** in **Widget** and choose **Activity** in **Model**. **Aggregate** stays **Count**; type `50` in **Target**.

![The Data tab of a KPI that counts the open activities against a target of 50.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13004-fe6f4b09/analysis-build-a-dashboard-widget_data-en.png)

On the **Data** tab, **Aggregate** offers **Count**, **Sum**, **Average**, **Minimum**, **Maximum** and **Distinct count**; all but **Count** need a numeric **Measure**. Charts need a **Group By** (with a **Granularity** for a date), and **Then by / Series** adds a second grouping, required by **Pivot**, **Heatmap**, **Sunburst** and **Sankey**. **Table / List** takes **Columns**, **Geo Map** a **Location Field**, **Gauge** a target. **Filter Domain** keeps the matching records; switch **Include archived** on to count archived ones too, such as done activities. **Date Filter Field** is the date the board's **Date Filter** uses.

3. On **Display**, choose a **Background**. The tab also holds the icon, **Subtitle**, **Font color**, **Accent bar**, **Unit**, **Decimals**, **Layout** and, for a KPI, **Target style** and **Show trend sparkline**. The preview follows each change.

![The Display tab sets the colors and layout; the preview shows the figure against its target.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13008-839ae55d/analysis-build-a-dashboard-widget_display-en.png)

4. **Advanced** offers **Max groups** (1 to 100), **Sort Order**, **Multiplier**, **Running total**, **Fill empty periods** and **Compare to previous period**.
5. Save, then click **Analysis** in the breadcrumbs. The widget is on the board.

![The KPI on the dashboard, with the buttons that configure, duplicate or remove it in edit mode.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13012-949a8c45/analysis-build-a-dashboard-board_kpi-en.png)

## Arrange the board {#arrange}

In edit mode, drag a tile to move it and its corner to resize it. Each tile carries **Configure**, **Duplicate** and **Remove**; **Remove** deletes the widget at once, without a question. **Save** leaves edit mode. On a **Shared** or **Team** dashboard, moving and resizing change your own view only; the undo button, **Reset my layout to the shared layout**, brings the shared one back.

## Show a figure above the list of an app {#kpi-bar}

Set the **Layout** of a KPI or Single Value to **Small**: the **KPI bar** group appears on **Display**. Choose a menu in its **Show Under Menu**: after the browser page is reloaded, the tile shows above the lists and kanbans of that menu and its submenus instead of on the dashboard; tick **Show on Board** to keep it on the dashboard too. See [How dashboards work](how-dashboards-work#kpi-bar).

## FAQ {#faq}

### Why does my widget say it needs a group-by field? {#needs-group-by}

Every chart but the KPI, Single Value, Gauge and Geo Map groups records: choose a **Group By**.

### Why is my count lower than the list of the app? {#lower-count}

Archived records are left out until **Include archived** is on, a widget counts only the records you may read, and the **Date Filter** may narrow it.

### Why can't I find a field in Measure or Group By? {#missing-field}

Only fields stored in the database are offered, and **Measure** lists numeric fields only.

### What does Compare as do? {#compare-as}

**Compare as**, on the **Data** tab of a KPI, keeps a second measure, but the tile shows the main figure only.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/analysis/build-a-dashboard
- Updated: 2026-10-27
- Version: Analysis 19.0.1.6.2
- Verified: 2026-10-27