1 Dashboard widgets

Overview

This section provides the details of parameters that are common for dashboard widgets.

Common parameters

The following parameters are common for every single widget:

Name Enter a widget name.
Refresh interval Configure the default refresh interval.

Default refresh intervals for widgets range from No refresh to 15 minutes depending on the type of the widget. For example:
- No refresh for URL widget;
- 1 minute for Action log widget;
- 15 minutes for Clock widget.

Refresh intervals can be set to a default value for all users. Switch the dashboard to editing mode, click the edit a widget button and select the desired refresh interval from the dropdown list.

Each user can also set their own widget refresh interval. In dashboard viewing mode, click the three dots button on a widget and select the desired refresh interval from the dropdown list. Note that a user's unique refresh interval takes priority over the widget setting and is preserved even when the widget's setting is modified.
Show header Mark the checkbox to permanently display the widget header.
When unmarked, the header is hidden to save space and becomes visible only on widget mouseover (both in view and edit modes). The header is also semi-visible when dragging a widget to a new place.

Specific parameters

To see specific parameters for each widget, go to individual widget pages:

Dynamic parameters

Multiple widgets have parameters that enable them to share configuration data between other widgets or the dashboard.

Host groups, Hosts, Item

The Host groups, Hosts and Item parameters allow selecting either the respective entities or a data source containing either host groups, hosts or items for which the widget can display data.

For Host groups and Item parameters, the data source can be a compatible widget from the same dashboard.

For Hosts parameter, the data source can be a compatible widget from the same dashboard or the dashboard itself.

The Map widget can also broadcast host group and host data to compatible widgets. For more information, see Widget behavior.

Override host

The Override host parameter allows selecting a data source containing a host for which the widget can display data. The data source can be a compatible widget from the same dashboard or the dashboard itself.

  • To specify a compatible widget, enter its name and select it. Alternatively, click the Select button (or the dropdown button, then "Widget") to open a pop-up of available widgets.

  • To specify a dashboard, click the dropdown button, then "Dashboard". After saving the dashboard, the Host selector will appear at the top of the dashboard.

Time period

The Time period parameter allows selecting a data source containing a time period for which the widget can display data. The data source can be a compatible widget from the same dashboard, the dashboard itself, or the time period configured on the widget itself.

  • To specify a compatible widget, set Time period to "Widget", enter its name and select it. Alternatively, click the Select button to open a pop-up of available widgets.

  • To specify a dashboard, set Time period to "Dashboard". After saving the dashboard, the Time period selector will appear at the top of the dashboard.

  • To configure the time period on the widget itself, set Time period to "Custom" and enter or select the start and end of the time period.

Regardless of the widget's Time period configuration, compatible widgets can use it as a data source for the time period.

Widget behavior

Widgets vary in their behavior when broadcasting data. Some widgets immediately broadcast data, while others require an entity to be selected.

For instance, the Graph widget always broadcasts time period data to listening widgets.

In contrast, the Item navigator widget broadcasts item data only when a specific item is selected within it. On mouseover, the item is highlighted in light blue color, while on selection it is highlighted in yellow color and broadcasted to a listening widget.

Similarly, the Map widget broadcasts host data when a host is selected. However, by default, it immediately broadcasts the first available host in it. On mouseover, the entity is highlighted in light blue color, while on selection it is highlighted in dark blue color.

For the broadcasting and listening capabilities of each widget, see Widget compatibility.

Widgets also vary in their behavior when listening for data:

  • If the data source (widget) is not broadcasting data, the listening widget enters the Awaiting data state.
  • If the data source (widget) has been deleted, replaced with an incompatible widget, or moved to another dashboard page, the listening widget enters the Referred widget is unavailable state.
  • If the specified host in the data source (widget or dashboard) lacks the entity configured in the listening widget (item, graph, map, etc.) or if the user lacks permissions to access the host, the listening widget displays the following message: "No permissions to referred object or it does not exist!"

Widget compatibility

Some widgets can broadcast configuration data to other widgets, some can listen for data, and some can do both. For example:

  • The Action log widget can only retrieve time period data from Graph, Graph (classic), and Graph prototype widgets.
  • The Geomap widget can broadcast host data to widgets that listen for it (Data overview, Honeycomb, etc.) and can also listen for host group and host data from widgets that broadcast it (Honeycomb, Problem hosts, etc.).
  • The Clock widget cannot broadcast or listen for any data.

The following table outlines the broadcasting and listening capabilities of each widget.

Widget Broadcasts Listens
Action log - Time period
Clock - -
Data overview - Host groups, Hosts
Discovery status - -
Favorite graphs - -
Favorite maps - -
Gauge - Hosts, Items
Geomap Hosts Host groups, Hosts
Graph Time period (immediately) Time period
Graph (classic) Time period (immediately) Hosts, Items, Graphs, Time period
Graph prototype Time period (immediately) Hosts, Time period
Honeycomb Hosts (on select), Items (on select) Host groups, Hosts
Host availability - Host groups
Host navigator Hosts (on select) Host groups
Item history Items (on select) Hosts, Time period
Item navigator Items (on select) Host groups, Hosts
Item value - Hosts, Items, Time period
Map Host groups (immediately; on select),
Hosts (immediately; on select)
Maps
Map navigation tree Maps (immediately; on select) -
Pie chart - Time period
Problem hosts Host groups (immediately; on select) Host groups, Hosts
Problems Events Host groups, Hosts
Problems by severity Host groups (immediately; on select) Host groups, Hosts
SLA report - -
System information - -
Top hosts Hosts (immediately; on select) Host groups, Hosts
Top triggers - Time period
Trigger overview - Host groups, Hosts
URL - Hosts
Web monitoring Host groups (immediately; on select) Host groups, Hosts