Baserow Dashboards overview

Baserow Dashboards help you visualize and analyze your data through customizable widgets. Create visual representations of your metrics, monitor trends, and present information clearly to stakeholders. Dashboards automatically update when your data changes, ensuring you always see current information.

This guide covers how to use Dashboards in Baserow to create insightful visualizations that meet your needs.

Baserow Dashboards

What are dashboards?

Dashboards are collections of visual widgets that display data from your Baserow tables. You can combine multiple widgets on a single dashboard to create comprehensive views of your data. Each widget connects to a data source and updates automatically when your underlying data changes.

Dashboards work well for:

  • Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) across teams
  • Monitoring project progress and milestones
  • Analyzing sales trends and customer metrics
  • Presenting data to stakeholders in meetings
  • Creating reports that update in real-time

Learn how to create a new dashboard.

Understanding widgets

Widgets are the building blocks of dashboards that determine how your data is visualized. Each widget type serves a different purpose and works best with specific kinds of data.

Baserow Dashboard Widgets

Summary widget

The summary widget displays key metrics like totals, averages, and counts for quick insights at a glance. This widget is ideal when you need to highlight a single important number.

The summary widget is best for displaying the total revenue or sales figures, number of active customers or projects, average order value or response time, or completion rates or success metrics

Bar chart widget

The bar chart widget shows data as vertical or horizontal bars, perfect for comparing values across categories. You can add up to three series per chart to compare multiple metrics side by side.

The bar chart widget is best for comparing performance across teams, products, or time periods, showing rankings or top performers, tracking changes over time with multiple data series, or visualizing survey results or categorical data

Line chart widget

The line chart widget displays data as connected points over time, making it easy to spot trends and patterns. You can include up to three series per chart to compare multiple metrics simultaneously.

The line chart widget is best for tracking metrics over time (daily, weekly, monthly), identifying trends and patterns in historical data, comparing growth rates across different categories, or monitoring changes and fluctuations

Pie chart widget

The pie chart widget displays data as slices of a circle, where each slice represents a proportion of the whole. The size of each slice corresponds to its value, making it easy to see relative contributions at a glance.

The pie chart widget is best for showing how parts make up a whole, displaying market share or budget allocation, visualizing distribution across categories (5-7 categories maximum), or presenting percentage breakdowns.

Doughnut chart widget

The doughnut chart widget works like a pie chart but features a hollow center. This design creates a cleaner, more modern look while still showing proportions effectively. The center space can be used to display totals or additional context.

The doughnut chart widget is best for modern, clean visualizations of proportions, showing part-to-whole relationships with visual emphasis, displaying percentages with room for central labels, or creating visually appealing dashboards.

Choosing the right widget

Widget Type Best For Data Type Typical Use
Summary Single metrics Numbers, counts, averages KPIs, totals, key figures
Bar Chart Comparisons Categories with values Rankings, team performance
Line Chart Trends over time Time series data Growth, patterns, changes
Pie Chart Proportions (few categories) Percentages, shares Distribution, allocation
Doughnut Chart Proportions (modern style) Percentages, shares Status, breakdown, shares

Customizing widgets

Each widget can be customized to display exactly the information you need:

Title and description: Give each widget a clear title and optional description to provide context for viewers.

Data source: Connect each widget to a specific table or database. You can pull data from multiple sources across different databases on the same dashboard.

Grouping options: Organize your data by specific fields to create categories or segments. For example, group sales by region or support tickets by priority.

Sorting preferences: Control how data is ordered in your visualizations. Sort by value, alphabetically, or by custom criteria.

Color schemes: Customize colors to match your brand or to highlight specific data points.

How dashboards update

Dashboards automatically refresh when your Baserow tables change. This means:

  • Add a new row, and it appears in your widgets immediately
  • Update a value, and your charts reflect the change
  • Delete data, and your visualizations adjust automatically

This real-time updating ensures your dashboards always show current information without manual refreshes or recalculations.

Frequently asked questions

Can I combine data from multiple tables on one dashboard?

Yes, you can add widgets from different tables and databases to the same dashboard. Each widget connects to its own data source, allowing you to create comprehensive views that pull from multiple locations.

Do dashboards update automatically?

Dashboards refresh automatically when your underlying data changes. You don’t need to manually refresh or recalculate widgets—they always show current information.

How many widgets can I add to a dashboard?

There’s no hard limit on widget count, but we recommend keeping dashboards focused. Too many widgets can make dashboards difficult to scan and understand. If you need to display many metrics, consider creating multiple dashboards organized by theme or department.

Can I control who sees my dashboards?

Dashboard visibility follows Baserow’s standard permission system. Users need appropriate access to the underlying databases and tables to view dashboard widgets. Learn more about permissions in Baserow.

What happens if I delete a table that’s used in a dashboard widget?

If you delete a table or database that a widget uses as its data source, the widget will show an error. You’ll need to either restore the deleted data or remove the widget from your dashboard.

Need help? Visit the Baserow community or contact support for assistance with dashboards.