Dashboard templates
A template here is not a file you download. It is a column contract: bring a CSV carrying the columns listed on the page and the dashboard assembles itself into that layout, with no configuration. Every template loads with its own realistic sample in one click, so you can judge the fit before you go and export anything.
Why a contract rather than a file
The usual dashboard template is a spreadsheet with formulas in it and a sheet at the back called Paste data here. It works exactly once. The second export has a column in a different order, or a renamed field, or a date format the formulas do not like, and somebody spends an afternoon repairing a workbook they did not write. A year later nobody can say which cell drives which chart.
Turning the template inside out fixes that. Instead of a file that expects your data to arrive in the right cells, the template is a statement about columns: bring these names, holding these kinds of values, and this layout will build itself. There is nothing to repair because there is no artifact. When your export changes, you change the export, and the same contract keeps working.
It also makes the template honest about what it needs. Each page lists every column, what it holds, the role it is read as, whether it is required, and specifically what breaks without it. A layout that promises a trend panel and a date column that never arrives should tell you which panel disappeared, not silently draw something else.
The three steps, on every template page
- i. Bring these columns. The contract table, with the exact names and the role each is read as. Roles matter more than types: a column read as currency renders as money everywhere at once, a column read as a percentage is averaged rather than summed.
- ii. Drop the file. One drop zone, no configuration screen. Load the sample first if you want to see the layout before you go hunting for an export, which is usually the faster order.
- iii. Adjust what you need. Every panel keeps its controls. A layout is a good opening position, not a locked one.
If none of the twelve fits, the individual chart tools take any file at all, and the examples gallery shows what several of these datasets look like once they are drawn.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does column contract mean?
It means the template is a promise about input rather than a file you download and fill in. Each template page lists the exact columns its layout expects, what each one holds and which role it is read as. Bring a CSV carrying those columns, under those names, and the dashboard assembles into that layout without any configuration. The contract is the whole product; there is no .xlsx to download and no starter file to overwrite.
Do my columns have to be named exactly like the contract?
For the layout to assemble without adjustment, yes, near enough. Names are matched case-insensitively and the role inference reads the values as well as the header, so a money column called amount is still read as money. Where a name differs, either rename the column in your export or set the measure and dimension by hand once the file is loaded. Renaming is usually faster, and it makes the next export work too.
What if my file has extra columns?
Extra columns are fine and often useful. The layout uses the contract columns to decide what to draw, and everything else stays available in the grid and in the chart dropdowns. A file missing a contract column still works, it just loses the panels that depended on it, and each template page says which ones those are.
Can I see a template before I find my own export?
Yes, and it is the right way round. Every template page carries a Load the template with sample data link that opens the layout with a realistic dataset already in it. That is the fastest way to find out whether the layout answers your question, before you spend twenty minutes exporting something from a system that makes exporting difficult.
Are the sample files real data?
They are synthetic, generated by a seeded script so every run produces byte identical files. No real people, companies or transactions are in them. The column names, value distributions and cardinalities are modeled on what real exports from each domain actually look like, which is what makes them useful for judging fit.
Which template should I start with?
Sales, if your file has a date, one or two categories and a money column, because that covers most business exports whatever the domain calls them. KPI if you are tracking targets against actuals rather than raw transactions. Inventory if your data has no date column at all, since that layout is built for the case where there is nothing to trend.
Can I build my own template?
Not as a saved artifact yet. What you can do today is shape a dashboard by hand in the app and share the view, or use the chart tools individually and export each chart. A template here is a documented contract plus a layout, so a user-defined one is a real feature rather than a settings page, and it is not shipped.
Does using a template upload my file?
No. The sample files are static files served from this site, and your own file is read in your browser. Every aggregation and every chart is computed in the tab. There is no upload endpoint behind any of this, which is also why templates cost nothing and require no account.