Skip to content
Book a demo Try the demo MacWindows

Room portal widget

Show one room on a dashboard with its most recently edited desks, and open the room or any of its desks in one click.

All plansUpdated

A room holds the desks that belong together, such as every desk for one client or one project. The Room portal widget keeps one room on your dashboard, with its desks laid out as tiles, so getting back into that work takes one click.

What the widget shows

  • The room's name as the widget's title.
  • Open at the top right, which opens the room itself.
  • A tile for each desk in the room, with the desk's name and when it was last edited, for example Edited 2h ago. The most recently edited desks come first.

How many desks you see depends on the size:

  • Medium (two cells wide, one tall) shows the two most recently edited desks.
  • Large (two cells wide, two tall) shows up to six. New widgets start at Large.

The widget shows the desks that sit directly in the room. If the room has rooms inside it, their desks are not shown here; add a Room portal for each of those rooms too.

Before you start

Add the widget

You can add a Room portal to Home, Office Home, People Home and Brain Home, and you can add as many as you like, one room each.

  1. Open the dashboard you want, for example Home from the side menu.
  2. Click Customize at the top right, then click Add widget.
  3. Find Room portal. Type in Search widgets, or choose the Navigation category.
  4. Click Room portal. A list headed Open which room? opens.
  5. Choose a room. Your most recently changed rooms are listed first, and Search rooms… finds one by name.
  6. Choose a size. A live preview shows the widget with your room in it. Use the arrows beside the preview, or the dots under it, to switch between Medium and Large.
  7. Click Add widget. The widget is added at the end of the board.
  8. Drag it to where you want it, then click Done.

Use the widget

  • Open a desk: click its tile. The desk opens on its canvas.
  • Open the room: click Open at the top right. You see the room with all of its desks, not just the ones that fit in the widget.

The widget keeps itself up to date. When you add a desk to the room, rename one or move one out, the tiles change to match.

Show a different room, resize or remove the widget

All three happen in Customize mode.

  1. On the dashboard, click Customize. Small buttons appear at the top right corner of each widget.
  2. Then:
    • To show a different room, click the pencil (Edit Room portal) and choose another room from Open which room?.
    • To change the size, click the size button. It shows the current size, such as LG; click it to switch between Medium and Large.
    • To remove the widget, click × (Remove Room portal). This removes the widget only. The room and its desks are not touched.
  3. Click Done.

Messages you may see

  • No desks in this room yet. The room has no desks of its own. Click Open and add a desk to the room; it appears in the widget straight away. See Create a desk.
  • This room is gone. Remove the widget or open another. The room has been archived, moved to Trash or deleted. The widget's title changes to Room portal. Use the pencil in Customize mode to choose another room, or remove the widget. If you bring the room back, the widget shows it again.

Good ways to use it

  • One portal per client or project. Put the rooms you work in every week on Home, each in its own portal.
  • A busy room at Large size. Six desks at a glance, newest first, shows you where the work in that room is happening.
  • A quiet room at Medium size. Two tiles are enough for a room you dip into now and then.
  • Pair it with Shortcuts. Use a Room portal for the room's desks, and a Shortcuts box for the documents and websites that go with it. See Shortcuts widget.

Common questions

Why are some of the room's desks missing from the widget? The widget shows as many desks as its size allows, newest first: two at Medium, six at Large. Click Open to see them all, including the desks in rooms inside it.

Can I see every room at once instead? Yes. The Rooms and desks widget lists all your rooms with their desks. See Rooms and desks widget.

I only care about one desk. Is there a smaller widget for that? Yes. The Pinned desk widget keeps a single desk one click away. See Pinned desk widget.

Will the widget look the same on my other computer? Each computer keeps its own dashboard layout, so add the widget on each computer where you want it. Your rooms and desks are the same everywhere.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].