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Metrics widget

Show a few numbers from your tables side by side, each with the rows it counted and, once you add a trend, how much it has changed.

All plansUpdated

A Metrics widget shows a few numbers that you read together, such as this month's orders, sales and returns, in one tidy grid on your desk. Each number is worked out from a table, so it stays up to date as the table changes. Under each number you can see how many rows it was measured from, and once you give it a trend, an arrow and a percentage show how much it has changed.

Use Metrics when several figures tell one story. For a single number with a line of its history, use a Stat card instead.

More about this widget Coming soon

Before you start

  • The Metrics widget is on every plan.
  • You need a desk open to add one.
  • Every number comes from a table, so you need a Table widget with your data in it. It can be on any desk in your workspace. See Table widget.
  • To describe a number in words and have AI set it up, AI needs to be available: PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon. Everything else works without AI.

Add a Metrics widget

  1. Open the desk you want it on.
  2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
  3. Click Metrics.

The Add widget menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. Metrics is in the Numbers & data column. You can also type metrics in the search box at the top of the menu and press Enter.

You can also press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows and choose Add Metrics, or pick Metrics under Tools in the tool rail's Add widget picker.

A new Metrics widget opens at 420 × 280 and is empty. It says No figures yet, with an Add a number button.

Add your first number

  1. Click Add a number. The widget turns into the Data source editor for that number.
  2. Choose where the number comes from. Either:
    • type what you want in the Describe it box, for example "total orders this month", and click Build; or
    • type part of a table's name or a column's name in …or search tables and columns, then click the table.
  3. Check the settings that appear: Measure, Column, Only rows where, Trend by and Show as. The Preview at the bottom shows the number you will get as you change them.
  4. Click Done (the tick at the top right of the editor).

Your number appears in the widget. Each setting is explained in Connect a number to a table.

Read the numbers

The numbers sit in a grid, two to a row. Each one shows:

  • Its label. The name of the table you picked, or the short title AI gave it when you used Build.
  • The number itself. It is worked out from every row that matches the number's filters.
  • The change. When the number has a trend with at least two readings, an arrow and a percentage show how the number has moved from the first reading to the latest one. A green up arrow means it has gone up, a red down arrow means it has gone down, and a grey dash means no change. If the first reading was zero, the arrow appears with a dash instead of a percentage, because no percentage can be worked out from zero.
  • The rows behind it. A small line such as 12/40 rows shows how many rows matched, out of all the rows in the table.

A dash in place of a number means there was nothing to measure, for example no matching row had a number in the column you chose.

Add more numbers

Click + Add a number under the grid. The Data source editor opens for the new number. Set it up the same way and click Done.

The numbers in one widget can come from different tables.

Change a number

  1. Rest the pointer on the number. A small tune icon appears to the right of its label.
  2. Click the tune icon. The Data source editor opens with that number's settings.
  3. Change what you need. The change is made as you go.
  4. Click Done to go back to the numbers.

Keeping up to date

You do not need to refresh anything. When a row is added, changed or removed in a table, every number connected to it is worked out again, including on other desks.

The title bar

The title bar's buttons appear when you rest the pointer on the widget. You can rename the widget, pin it to a corner of the screen, make it bigger or smaller, open it larger, or remove it. Right-click the title bar for the menu every widget shares. See The controls on every widget and Right-click menus.

The title bar starts with an AI button (the sparkle). Metrics has no AI of its own, so this button opens the Plexii panel with the widget attached to your message. Plexii can then read the figures, so you can ask about them. To have AI set up a number, use Build in the number's Data source editor. See Use a widget's AI button.

Sharing, import and export

Metrics or Stat card?

Both read a table through the same Data source editor.

  • Metrics holds several numbers in a grid, each with its change and row count. Use it for a scorecard: orders, sales, returns and new customers at a glance.
  • Stat card holds one number, larger, with a line underneath showing its readings. Use it for the one figure you want to watch closely.

Good uses

  • A weekly scorecard. Number of rows in a Leads table, how many of them are ticked as contacted, and the sum of the value column, each trending by week.
  • A project at a glance. Open tasks, tasks done and the average estimate from a project's table.
  • A sales desk. Orders this month, total sales shown as currency, and the largest single order.
  • Next to a chart. Put the headline numbers beside a Chart of the same table so the totals and the shape sit together. See Build a dashboard on a desk from a table.

Common questions

Where do the numbers come from? Each number in a Metrics widget is connected to a table, and is worked out from that table's rows. Keep your figures in a table and connect each number to it.

A number is labelled New figure. That number has not been connected to a table yet. Rest the pointer on it, click its tune icon and pick a table, or describe the number and click Build.

Why is there no arrow or percentage beside a number? The change is worked out from the number's readings, and a number only has readings when it has a trend. Open the number with its tune icon and set Trend by to a date column. You need rows in at least two periods, such as two different months, before a change can show.

What does the percentage compare? The first reading in the trend with the latest one, for example the first month in the table with the most recent month.

Why does a number show a dash? There was nothing to measure. Check the row count under it: if no rows match, loosen the filters; if rows match, check that the column you chose holds numbers. See Connect a number to a table.

The number did not change when I expected it to. Check the filters in Only rows where. The row count under the number shows how many rows are being measured.

Can one number read a table on another desk? Yes. The search in the Data source editor lists the tables in your whole workspace.

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