Non-data components: text, embed, inputs and date pickers
The blocks on a dashboard that aren't bound to a table — headings and captions, an embedded web page, a text box for viewers, dropdowns and multi-selects, a date picker. They turn a dashboard from a display into something you can operate.
Where to add them
The second button on the right of the dashboard editor, Create basic views:
| Component | Settings | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Text Element | Content, Default Styles, Text Styling, background colour, horizontal and vertical alignment, Editable in Preview Mode | Heading, a note on definitions, a last-updated stamp |
| Embed | A URL, plus Embed Type | A page from another system, a map, an online document |
| Text Input | Input Format: unrestricted, phone number or email; Default Text | A viewer typing a keyword or a value to submit |
| Dropdown / Radio / Checkbox | Options typed in by hand (Add New Option), Max Option Values | Letting a viewer pick a region or a status |
| Date Picker | Format (year-month-day, year-month, hour:minute:second, or the full stamp) and a default | Letting a viewer pick a month or a date |
Where their values go
The current value of an input or selector can become a dashboard parameter. Other components filter on that parameter, so the moment a viewer changes it the charts recompute. That is the mechanism behind interaction; the recipe is in Interaction and actions.
Paired with the Insert Row action, an input's value can also be written into a table — which makes the dashboard a small entry page.
Editable in Preview Mode on a text element
Tick it and a viewer can edit that text directly — a note from whoever is on shift, say — without entering edit mode. It changes what is displayed, not the table.
The limits of Embed
You are embedding somebody else's page, and whether it displays is up to them; plenty of sites forbid being framed. When nothing appears, swap it for a Navigate action to an external link and let the viewer click through.