Dashboard Widgets
Workspace-level widgets that provide analytics, visualizations, shortcuts, and insights across your entire laboratory data ecosystem
Overview
Dashboard widgets provide workspace-level tools for monitoring, analyzing, and accessing laboratory data across your entire Labii organization. Unlike column widgets that operate within table cells or section widgets that function within individual records, dashboard widgets offer a bird's-eye view of your data landscape, enabling administrators, managers, and researchers to track trends, identify patterns, access shortcuts, and make data-driven decisions. From comprehensive reports that visualize record creation patterns and data distributions, to productivity tools that streamline common tasks, to integration capabilities that connect external systems, to convenient shortcuts for rapid navigation—dashboard widgets transform your dashboard into a powerful command center for laboratory operations. These widgets are installed and arranged on personalized or shared dashboards, providing customizable views tailored to different roles, teams, or analytical needs.
Understanding Dashboard Widgets
What are Dashboard Widgets?
Dashboard widgets are modular components that can be added to your Labii dashboard to display information, provide quick access to features, or visualize data from across your workspace. Each widget serves a specific purpose, from showing aggregate statistics to providing shortcuts to frequently used functions, to monitoring system health and compliance.
Key Characteristics
Workspace Scope: Dashboard widgets operate at the organization or workspace level, aggregating and analyzing data across all projects, tables, and records you have access to
Configurable: Most widgets offer configuration options to customize what data they display, how it's filtered, and how it's visualized
Role-Based: Different dashboard widgets serve different user roles—executives need high-level summaries, lab managers need operational metrics, researchers need quick access to their work
Real-Time: Widgets reflect current data, updating to show the latest information when you refresh your dashboard
Shareable: Dashboards with configured widgets can be shared with team members or made organization-wide
Dashboard Widget vs. Section Widget
It's important to understand the distinction between dashboard widgets and similarly named section widgets:
Dashboard Widget (this category): Operates at workspace level on dashboards, shows aggregate data across multiple records, primarily for analysis and monitoring
Section Widget: Operates at record level within individual records, shows data specific to that record, primarily for documentation and data entry
Some widgets like "Record Summary" exist in both forms—a section widget version shows patterns within a single record, while the dashboard widget version shows patterns across your entire workspace.
Widget Categories
Dashboard widgets are organized into functional categories based on their primary purpose:
Reports
Comprehensive data analysis and visualization tools for tracking laboratory productivity, monitoring trends, and generating insights from your data.
Reports - Record summaries, data-driven charts, matrix views, and audit tools for workspace-wide analytics
Productivity
Tools designed to enhance efficiency, track changes, and streamline common laboratory workflows.
Productivity - Section status tracking, summaries, office integration, flowcharts, and project management tools
Shortcut
Quick-access widgets that provide convenient navigation to frequently used features, applications, and filters.
Shortcut - Applications menu, custom links, and saved filter access
Integration
Connect external platforms and systems to import data, synchronize information, and extend Labii's capabilities.
Integration - QuickBooks integration and other third-party platform connections
Labii Platform
Official Labii widgets that help users get started, stay informed about updates, provide feedback, and access resources.
Labii - Welcome guide, platform exploration, demos, announcements, referral program, and feedback submission
Getting Started
For Users
Access Your Dashboard: Navigate to Dashboard from the side menu to view your personal dashboard
Add Widgets: Click the "Add Widget" button (if you have permission) to browse available dashboard widgets
Configure Widgets: After adding a widget, click its Configure button to set filtering, display options, or data sources
Arrange Widgets: Drag and drop widgets to organize your dashboard layout according to your preferences
Refresh Data: Most widgets update automatically, but you can manually refresh if needed to see the latest data
For Administrators
Plan Dashboard Strategy: Consider what information different roles need—executives, managers, researchers, compliance officers
Create Role-Based Dashboards: Set up dashboards tailored to specific roles or teams with relevant widgets
Configure Data Access: Ensure widgets respect data permissions and only show information users are authorized to see
Share Dashboards: Make configured dashboards available to appropriate user groups
Monitor Usage: Track which widgets provide value and adjust dashboard configurations based on user feedback
Maintain Performance: Be mindful of widget count and data volume—too many complex widgets can slow dashboard loading
Use Cases
Executive Overview Dashboard
Combine Record Summary widgets to track laboratory productivity, Audit widgets to monitor compliance, and Latest Announcements to stay informed about platform updates.
Lab Manager Dashboard
Use Data Driven Charts to analyze experimental results trends, Matrix widgets to view sample inventory status, Section widgets to track document approval status, and Shortcut widgets for quick access to frequently used applications.
Researcher Dashboard
Add Shortcut widgets for quick access to your projects and experiments, Summary widgets to track your recent work, and Links widgets to frequently referenced protocols or resources.
Compliance Dashboard
Deploy Audit widgets to monitor data integrity, Signature Status tracking widgets to ensure proper approval workflows, and Record Summary widgets to verify documentation completeness.
Best Practices
Start Simple: Begin with a few essential widgets and add more as you understand your needs
Group Related Widgets: Organize widgets logically on your dashboard—put all reporting widgets together, all shortcuts together, etc.
Configure Filters: Use widget configuration to filter data to what's relevant for your role or team
Limit Widget Count: Too many widgets can overwhelm users and slow dashboard loading—aim for 5-10 key widgets
Update Regularly: Review your dashboard configuration periodically and remove widgets you're not using
Share Knowledge: When you create an effective dashboard layout, share it with colleagues in similar roles
Use Multiple Dashboards: Create separate dashboards for different purposes—daily work vs. monthly reporting vs. strategic planning
Respect Data Security: Configure widgets to respect data permissions and avoid exposing sensitive information inappropriately
Configuration Tips
Date Ranges: Many report widgets allow filtering by date range—adjust these to show relevant time periods (last week, last month, year-to-date)
Project Filtering: Filter widgets to show only data from specific projects relevant to your team
Aggregation Levels: Choose appropriate aggregation—by day for operational monitoring, by month for strategic analysis
Visualization Types: Different chart types serve different purposes—choose bar charts for comparisons, line charts for trends, pie charts for distributions
Refresh Frequency: Consider how often data needs to be current—some widgets may need real-time data, others can be refreshed daily
Technical Notes
Performance: Dashboard widgets query workspace data, which can be resource-intensive for large organizations. Limit widget count and use appropriate filters to maintain performance.
Permissions: Dashboard widgets respect Labii's permission system and only display data users have access to view.
Caching: Some widgets cache data to improve loading speed. If you don't see recent changes, try refreshing the dashboard.
Mobile Support: Dashboard widgets are optimized for desktop viewing. Mobile support varies by widget type.
Last updated