The instructions here only apply to Salesfoce. If you're seeing a similar error on another data source, follow the steps in this guide.
Occasionally, your Salesforce widgets may get stuck showing the error message We were unable to build your widget. This is usually caused by an issue within the Salesforce API, which prevents Geckoboard from fetching your data.
Why does this error happen with my Salesforce widgets?
Geckoboard retrieves data from reports you've built using Salesforce's REST Analytics API. Due to the length of time it takes to run some reports, we use the asynchronous method of execution. We first issue a request to begin the execution of a report, which returns to us an instance identifier. Next, we poll the API with the given identifier until the instance’s status is either Success (and results are available) or Error.
Historically, we’ve seen report-instances seem to be “stuck” and their status is perpetually New or Running, no matter how long ago we started the execution of a report. In these cases, attempting to re-run the report by issuing another request doesn't help and, in fact, returns the same instance identifier.
We've reported this bug to Salesforce and will continue to work with them to help them fix the issue permanently on their side.
How can I fix the 'We were unable to build your widget' error with Salesforce widgets?
There are several ways to get your widgets working again. We suggest trying one step at a time, and checking your widgets before moving to the next option.
First, try re-saving your report in Salesforce, then edit an affected widget in Geckoboard and wait for it to load.
Try using a different Salesforce user account to connect to the report in Geckoboard.
If you don't have another Salesforce account, try either:
Cloning your report. Then changing parameters and its filename to make the report unique.
Changing the format of your report (formats include tabular, summary, matrix and joined). Then return the format to its original format.
For both methods, save and run the report, then edit the affected widget and wait for it to load.