Adding a Datablock to a Databoard is just the starting point — it still needs to be pointed at the right metric, date range, and comparison before it actually tells you anything. The Datablock Editor is the panel where you make all of that happen, letting you configure a Datablock's data and appearance without ever leaving the Designer.
- Open the Databoard you want to customize in the Designer.
- Click the Datablock you want to configure. The Datablock Editor opens on the right side of the screen, split into the Visualization, Metrics, and Additional Settings sections covered below — the exact fields in each depend on the visualization type you've selected.
The Visualization section sets the chart type and its basic framing.
| Field | Description | Available on |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Select the visualization type from the drop-down list. | All |
| Title | Enter a name for the Datablock. This appears at the top of the Datablock on the Databoard, and is typically named the same as the metric you select. Click Remove to clear the title. | All |
| Date range | Select the date range the Datablock first loads to. Choose the range that's most significant for the metric, and keep it consistent across the Datablocks on a Databoard. You can switch to a different date range later while viewing the Databoard. | All |
| Graph by | Select the granularity used to plot the data, such as Day, Week, or Month. Options depend on the data available for the selected metric. | Line, Bar, and Heatmap |
| Cumulative | Toggle this on to display a cumulative chart. This may be disabled for metrics or date ranges where summing unique values would produce inaccurate data. | Line and Bar |
The Metrics section is where you pick the data that populates the Datablock and add any metric-level context.
| Field | Description | Available on |
|---|---|---|
| Add Metric | Adds another metric to the Datablock. | All except Heatmap and Gauge |
| Advanced metric settings | Opens the Advanced metric settings window, where you can change the format, scale, and other display options for this metric. | All |
| Breakdown by | Break the metric down by a dimension, or leave it set to None. | All |
| Compare with | Select what to measure the current value against, such as Previous period or a goal. Some visualizations let you click + to add multiple comparison periods. | All except Progress, Radial Progress, and Gauge |
| Delete | Removes the metric from the Datablock. | All |
| Filters | Click + or the filter selector to add one or more filters that define which data is included in the metric. | All |
| Max # of dim. / units | Set the maximum number of dimension values or units to display when Breakdown by is set. Values beyond this limit can be grouped using Show more items as 'Other', where available. | All except Gauge, Heatmap, and Data Story |
| Max value | Choose how the upper bound is calculated: Auto, Goal, Manual, or Metric. The Gauge visualization doesn't include the Goal option, since it uses Select goal instead. | Progress, Radial Progress, and Gauge |
| Metric | Click to open the metric picker and select the metric to add to this Datablock. | All |
| Metric color | Click the color swatch next to the metric to choose a color that distinguishes it from other metrics. | Number, Line, Bar, Pie, Radial Progress, Horizontal Bar, Data Story, Bubble, and Spiderweb |
| Metric name | Defaults to the metric's name when it's added, and also sets the label shown in the legend, if the visualization has one. Edit this field to rename the metric — for dimensional metrics, the dimension value in the legend, table rows, and similar elements is then prefixed by this name, e.g. Renamed Metrc / Dimension A. | All |
| Min value | Enter the lower bound of the progress indicator. Defaults to 0. | Progress, Radial Progress, and Gauge |
| Select goal | Choose the goal to measure progress against. | Gauge |
| Show additional lines | Add a Compare, Average, Trend, Median, or Goal line to the chart for extra context. | Line and Bar |
| Show small chart | Toggle this on to display a small trend chart behind the number. | Number |
| Show total number above | Toggle this on to display the combined metric total above the chart. | Line and Bar |
| Show values | Toggle this on to display each data point's value directly on the chart. Pie, Radial Progress, Heatmap, Bubble, and Spiderweb have their own version of this field under Additional Settings instead. | Line and Bar |
| Stack lines / Stack bars | Toggle this on to stack multiple metrics on top of each other. Labeled Stack lines on the Line visualization and Stack bars on the Bar visualization. | Line and Bar |
Additional Settings covers the fine-tuning for each visualization — sorting, styling, and formatting. The fields vary by type, grouped below.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Sort by | Choose how metrics are arranged: Value, Name, Change, or Custom (drag and drop your own order). |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Sort by | Choose how metrics are arranged: Value, Name, Change, or Custom (drag and drop your own order). |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Legend position | Choose whether to display the chart legend below the chart, or hide it. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Y-axis scaling | Choose Off, Auto, or Manual. Auto-scaling adjusts the y-axis based on the metric's values, while Manual lets you set your own minimum and maximum. |
| Inverted y-axis | Toggle this on to flip the y-axis. Useful for metrics where a lower value indicates better performance. |
| Smooth lines | Line visualization only. Toggle this on to smooth the line's edges, making trends easier to read. |
| Add 2nd Y axis | Toggle this on to plot a metric on a separate y-axis. Useful when metric values differ by more than 3x, so fluctuations in both metrics remain visible. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Show more items as 'Other' | Toggle this on to group smaller values into a single Other category, keeping the chart readable when a breakdown returns many results. |
| Sort by | Choose how metrics are arranged: Value, Name, Change, or Custom (drag and drop your own order). |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Legend position | Choose whether to display the legend, and where it appears relative to the pie chart. |
| Show Aggregate | Choose whether to display a combined value across all segments, and which calculation to use: Off, SUM, AVG, MED, MIN, or MAX. |
| Show values | Toggle this on to display each segment's value directly on the chart. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Show columns | Choose whether to add extra columns to the table beyond the metric value. Off lists one row per dimension value (or a single row if there's no Breakdown by); if multiple metrics are added, they appear as additional rows instead of columns. Metrics adds one column per metric, matching rows by the value in the first column — typically the dimension, like country or campaign name. Granulations adds one column per unit of the Graph by granularity — for example, Month adds a column for each month. |
| Show more items as 'Other' | Toggle this on to group smaller values into a single Other category, keeping the table readable when a breakdown returns many results. |
| Sort by | Choose how rows are arranged: Value, Name, Change, or Custom (drag and drop your own order). |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Show Aggregate | Choose whether to display a combined value across all rows, and which calculation to use: Off, SUM, AVG, MED, MIN, or MAX. |
| Number rows | Toggle this on to display a row number next to each entry. |
| Label header | Enter the text that appears at the top of the table's first column, which lists the metric name or dimension values. Defaults to Metric or Dimension. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Stack dimension values | Toggle this on to stack the values of a Breakdown by dimension within each stage instead of listing them separately. |
| Show more items as 'Other' | Toggle this on to group smaller values into a single Other category, keeping the visualization readable when a breakdown returns many results. |
| Sort by | Choose how metrics are arranged: Value, Name, Change, or Custom (drag and drop your own order). |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Legend position | Choose whether to display the chart legend below the chart, or hide it. |
| Step conversion | Choose how conversion percentages are calculated between stages. Step by step compares each stage to the stage before it. From first value compares every stage back to the first stage. |
| Show percent | Toggle this on to display the conversion percentage at each stage. |
| Show overall conversion rate | Toggle this on to display the total conversion rate from the first stage to the last. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Use traffic light colors | Toggle this on to color the progress indicator red, yellow, or green based on how close the value is to the target. |
| Hide time left | Toggle this on to hide the countdown of remaining time on the progress bar. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Legend position | Choose whether to display the chart legend below the chart, or hide it. |
| Show values | Toggle this on to display the metric's value directly on the visualization. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Show current number above | Toggle this on to display the current metric value above the gauge. |
| Use traffic light colors | Toggle this on to color the progress indicator red, yellow, or green based on how close the value is to the target. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| # of items per line | Choose how many items display per row of the grid: Auto or Custom. |
| Show values | Toggle this on to display each value directly on the grid. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Column to sort | Choose which metric column determines the sort order for the bars. |
| Stack bars | Toggle this on to stack multiple metrics on top of each other. |
| Sort by | Rank bars by Value, Name, or Custom order to highlight top performers or organize categories your way. |
| Sort order | Choose Ascending or Descending. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
Data Story's Additional Settings includes only Font size, to adjust the readability of the generated narrative.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Show more items as 'Other' | Toggle this on to group smaller values into a single Other category, keeping the visualization readable when a breakdown returns many results. |
| Legend position | Choose whether to display the chart legend below the chart, or hide it. |
| Show values | On Spiderweb, this is a toggle that displays each value directly on the visualization. On Bubble, it's a three-way choice instead: Off, Value, or Name — letting you label each floating bubble. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Show performance indicator | Toggle this on to display a performance indicator alongside the generated summary. |
| Language | Select the language the summary is written in. |
| Narrative style | Choose the tone of the summary: Data-focused, Balanced, or Descriptive. |
| Summary length | Choose how long the summary is: Shorter, Normal, or Longer. |
| Font size | Choose Small, Normal, or Large. |
FAQ
Can I change a Datablock's visualization type after I've configured it?
Yes. Changing the Type field switches the Datablock to the new visualization's layout, carrying over any fields the new visualization also supports.
What's the difference between Show Aggregate and Show total number above?
Show total number above, available on Line and Bar charts, displays the metric's value for the selected date range as a whole — depending on the metric type, that value is either pulled directly from the source's API or calculated by Databox. Show Aggregate, available on Pie and Table, instead lets you choose the calculation — sum, average, median, minimum, or maximum — applied across the rows or metrics shown.
