Salesforce dashboards and reports have been around for a very long time now, being leveraged daily by admins and end users alike. With tables and charts being the sole display option until recently, enhancements in this area are certainly more than welcome.
Following the introduction of dynamic gauge charts back in 2021, the ability to add images and text directly into Salesforce dashboards was initially made available just for Unlimited edition customers as of Summer ’23. Come Spring ‘24, these features are now included in all Salesforce editions, allowing every Salesforce customer to enhance their dashboards with just a few clicks.
Why Use Salesforce Dashboards?
While it may be obvious right from the get-go, the main reason to use a dashboard is certainly the possibility of combining multiple reports in one view. Regardless of the widgets you choose to use, the reality is that it’s much easier to navigate to one page rather than opening multiple tabs, each containing one report.
Secondly, dashboards, in general, allow you to build an end-to-end flow of the metrics being tracked or items reported on. For example, you could have a readily available comprehensive sales dashboard that contains various reports on leads, accounts, opportunities, and even reports based on other objects specific to your process and implementation. The point is, a comprehensive and unified view is bound to conquer the end users.
Available Widgets
As you might already know, a report chart added as a rectangle on a dashboard canvas is referred to as a widget. You may add the same report multiple times if needed; however, this will have to be done in separate, multiple widgets. Let’s take a closer look at the widget options that you or your users will be able to use when building a Salesforce dashboard following the new additions.
Chart or Table
Being the key component of any Salesforce dashboard, this widget type is what everyone has to use in order to embed their report(s) within a dashboard. With multiple display options to choose from depending on the contents of the report and number groupings, charts are certainly versatile, to say the least.
Additionally, the Lightning table can be used when needed, especially in a situation when the underlying report doesn’t have a grouping. As mentioned above, you may choose to add different reports or reuse the same report with a different display.
Click here to find details about all the display options.
Rich Text
The first of the two newly available widget types we will explore is the option to add text directly into the dashboard. This option now opens up the possibility to provide clear instructions, extra details, and reference links to the dashboard viewer. You can control the text size, color, and a few other properties.
Image
And finally, perhaps the most surprising dashboard-related update, the image widget. On top of report charts and help text, your users can now enjoy a branded dashboard or, why not, a quick visual instruction to help them better understand the dashboard or its components. With multiple formats being available, including GIFs, you can pick and choose where and what image to add to further enhance the experience.
When adding the image, various options become available, including the ability to decide the scale, alignment, and the option to add a tooltip and alternate text.
With the addition of a couple of image components, our test dashboard now displays all available widget types, including a quick GIF on how to create an opportunity using the global action.
Considerations
The great news is that alongside this change, the previous total widget limit was increased from 20 to 25, opening up the possibility of building even more detailed dashboards when needed. Every widget type, however, does have a maximum:
- You can add as many as 25 rich text widgets.
- According to the current release notes documentation, up to two image widgets can be added to a dashboard. While testing the component, you will notice that the maximum size of 2 MB is enforced. However, in the org itself, up to three image widgets are permitted. We’ll have to wait and see the exact number once the release hits production orgs – hopefully, it will indeed remain three.
- While it might have been nice in some scenarios to have the ability to add more chart or table components, the limit for these remains the same as in the past – a maximum of 20. This may not be a bad thing, considering that a high number of metrics can easily become overwhelming. Therefore, adding instructions until the total limit of 25 is reached might be a better option.
These numbers may be subject to change, as mentioned above, so make sure to verify the Salesforce documentation and conduct your testing.
Summary
Whether it’s a sales, service, marketing, or even administrative dashboard, you can pick and choose the use case, metrics, explanations, or images displayed to build the comprehensive experience everyone is looking for in user-friendly analytics.
Do you have a favorite dashboard widget you keep going back to? Share with us in the comments below!