# 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. Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-metrics Section: Widgets > Numbers and data Plans: All plans Updated: 2026-10-10 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-stat-card) instead. More about this widget ## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table). - 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help). 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-number-from-table). > **Tip:** > Set **Trend by** to a date column, such as the date of each order, and choose **month**. That gives the number its readings, and the widget can then show how much it has changed. ## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar) and [Right-click menus](https://plexiidesk.com/help/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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai). ## Sharing, import and export - **Live view.** When you publish a live view of a desk, a Metrics widget shows as a placeholder rather than its numbers. See [Publish a live view of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view). - **Import.** Metrics has no data of its own to import. To bring figures in, import them into the table it reads. See [Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-import). - **Export.** To take the data out, copy it from the table the numbers come from. See [Move around a table and copy cells](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-keyboard). ## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-chart) of the same table so the totals and the shape sit together. See [Build a dashboard on a desk from a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-dashboard). ## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-number-from-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. ## Related tasks - [Connect a number to a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-number-from-table) - [Stat card widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-stat-card) - [Table widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table) - [Chart widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-chart) - [Build a dashboard on a desk from a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-dashboard) - [Numbers and data widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-numbers-and-data)