I. Intro
You can add metrics blocks to dashboards in Base to intuitively show key metrics, such as the total sales volume, inventory balance, and so on. You can also use metrics blocks to add change over time data to compare the level of development and configure trend charts to view changes to key metrics.
Note: Blocks can be viewed on the mobile app (Lark version 7.32 or above), but adding or editing them isn't supported.
II. Steps
Add a metrics block
- Open the base and click Dashboard on the left navigation bar.
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- At the top, click Add Block and select Metrics under Other.
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Configure a metrics block
After adding a metrics block, you can configure its block type, data, and style.
- You can configure the following settings under the Setup tab:
- Description: You can set a name for the block.
- Data source: You can select any table in the current base as the data source for the block. The number of records in the selected table or the value of a field will be counted. If your Lark plan supports multiple data sources, you can select Multi-source mode to select multiple tables to be used as the data source.
- Data range: You can select a view from the table or set a filter scope to filter for the data you need.
- Analyze data: You can select Number of records (default) or Field summary as the analytical method for the block.
- Number of records: The number of records is added up.
- Field summary: This option can only be selected if the table contains number fields, formula fields with numeric results, or lookup fields referencing numeric values. When this option is selected, you need to select the field to apply to and the calculation methods to use, such as Sum, Max, Min, or Average, under Select field.
- Change over time: This is unselected by default. If you select this option, you can configure the corresponding date and time field, time range, description, calculation method, and calculation type.
- Date and time field: You can select date, created at, and last updated fields, as well as formula fields in which the calculated result is a date.
- Time range: You can select Today, This week, This month, This quarter, This year, Week to date, Month to date, Quarter to date, Year to date, Yesterday, Last week, Last month, Last quarter, Last year, Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last 30 days, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 365 days, or a custom time range.
- Note: If you select This week, This month, This quarter, or This year, the range will include data for the entire cycle, including future dates within that cycle. If you select Week to date, Month to date, Quarter to date, or Year to date, the range will include data from the start of the current cycle up to and including today.
- Description: You can set a description, which will be displayed in the block.
- Calculation method: You can select Period-to-period (default), Week-over-week, Month-over-month, Year-over-year, or a custom comparison.
- Calculation type: You can select Discrepancy rate (default), Discrepancy, or Original value.
- Discrepancy: Data in the current period - Date in the same period some time ago
- Discrepancy rate: (Data in the current period - Data in the same period some time ago) ÷ Data in the same period some time ago × 100%
- Original value: Data in the same period some time ago
Note: For details on change over time settings, see below.
- Trend chart: This is unselected by default. If you select this option, you can configure the corresponding date and time field and time range. The date and time field will be used as the time axis in the chart, and the time range is the time period that will be covered by the chart. Once the configuration is complete, it will be displayed in the metrics block as a line chart.
- Date and time field: You can select date, created at, and last updated fields, as well as formula fields in which the calculated result is a date.
- Time range: You can select This week, This month, This quarter, This year, Week to date, Month to date, Quarter to date, Year to date, Last week, Last month, Last quarter, Last year, Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last 30 days, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 365 days, or a custom time range.
- Note:
- For trend charts to work, there must be at least three records within the selected time range.
- If you select This week, This month, This quarter, or This year, the range will include data for the entire cycle, including future dates within that cycle. If you select Week to date, Month to date, Quarter to date, or Year to date, the range will include data from the start of the current cycle up to and including today.
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- You can configure the following settings under the Customize tab:
- Background: You can set a custom background color for the block.
- Font color: You can select a font color for the text in the block.
- Number format: You can set the format for numbers in the block.
- Arrow style: You can select the icon style for trends (up, down, flat) of year-on-year and month-on-month data.
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After completing the settings, click Confirm in the lower-right corner to add the metrics block to your dashboard.
Note: You can add multiple data sources for a metrics block. For more information on configuring data sources, see Add multiple data sources to dashboard blocks.
Configure change over time
Under the Setup tab, you can select Change over time to configure period-to-period, period-over-period, or custom comparison methods. The definitions of these methods are as follows.
- Period-over-period: This is the rate of change from the same period some time ago, that is, the changes as compared to the same time period some time ago. Period-over-period can be divided into week-over-week, month-over-month, and year-over-year. Week-over-week refers to the rate of change calculated by comparing the current data to the data from the same time period a week ago. It is used to observe short-term trends. Month-over-month refers to the rate of change calculated by comparing the current data to the data from the same time period a month ago. It reflects the monthly development trends. Year-over-year compares the current data to the data from the same time period a year ago. It is an important metric for evaluating long-term development and annual changes. For instance, a comparison of the data from September 2024 and September 2023 is referred to as year-over-year.
The formulas for the calculation of period-over-period are:
- Period-over-period discrepancy rate = (Data in the current period - Data in the same period some time ago) ÷ Data in the same period some time ago × 100%
- Period-over-period discrepancy = Data in the current period - Data in the same period some time ago
- Original value = Data in the same period some time ago
- Period to period: This is the rate of change between two adjacent periods, which indicates the changes from one period to the next. For instance, a comparison of the data from September 2024 and August 2024 is referred to as period-to-period.
The formulas for the calculation of period-to-period are:
- Period-to-period discrepancy rate = (Data in the current period - Data in the previous period) ÷ Data in the previous period × 100%
- Period-to-period discrepancy = Data in the current period - Data in the previous period
- Original value = Data in the previous period
- Custom comparison: You can use a custom time period as needed to compare the data in the current time period to a certain custom time period, so as to meet personalized data analysis needs.
The formulas for calculation of custom comparison are:
- Custom discrepancy rate = (Data in the current period - Data in the specified period) ÷ Data in the specified period × 100%
- Custom discrepancy = Data in the current period - Data in the specified period
- Original value = Data in the specified period
When configuring change over time, the availability of calculation methods depends on the time range you select. In the following table, June 28, 2024 (Friday) is used as an example for today to show available calculation methods and the time range compared depending on the selected time range.
Note: When configuring change over time, the last day of a month will be selected if there is no corresponding date in that month for the selected time range. For instance, if today is 10/31/2024, the selected time range is Today, and the selected calculation method is Month-over-month, the compared time period will be 9/30/2024. If today is 03/31/2024, the selected time range is This month, and the selected calculation method is Month-over-month, the compared time range will be 2/1/2024–2/29/2024.
If you want to see the changes in the number of orders between this year and last year, after selecting Change over time, you can select This year as the time range, Year-over-year as the calculation method, and Discrepancy rate as the calculation type.
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Manage a metrics block
Click the ⋮ icon in the upper-right corner of the block to configure, duplicate, delete, change its background color, copy it to another dashboard, or move to a layout block.
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You can also select the block and drag the lower-right corner to adjust the block size or drag the top of the block to move it.
III. FAQs