This guide walks you through the various options available when creating number widgets from your spreadsheet data.

Select at least one numeric column from your connected spreadsheet.

You'll then see highlighted visualization options for your selection. Click the number icon. A preview shows how your widget will look.

When you're happy with your selection, click Continue >.

If you need to make any edits to your spreadsheet you can manually refresh it from the bottom left corner of the screen. For example, you might need to remove currency or other symbols from your numeric data to avoid errors – you can always add these when you format your widget later.

From the bottom left corner, you can also switch to a different sheet.

If your source spreadsheet is large and complex you might benefit from extracting the data you need to another spreadsheet specifically for powering your dashboard widgets. For more information, see preparing your spreadsheet for Geckoboard.

Adding success and/or negative values to your number widgets allows you to draw attention to changes as they happen.

The number widget allows you to visually compare the primary metric with a choice of four comparison visualizations: goal, number, percentage, and sparkline.

Click the Comparison visualization panel to display the options. Your spreadsheet canvas will automatically appear for you to select your comparison range.

Displays a goal progress bar below the primary metric.

Enter your goal target value and, optionally, your starting value to define where your goal progress starts from.

Displays the number change from your initial selected cell. Click the up or down arrows to indicate whether an increased or deceased change is good.

Displays the percentage change from the your initial selected cell. Click the up or down arrows to indicate whether an increased or deceased percentage change is good.

Displays a small line chart of the values in the selected range (top to bottom or left to right). The more cells in your selected range, the more detailed your sparkline will be.

The Formatting menu allows you to overrule the automatically set number of decimal places used, or add additional information about the values on your widget. For more information, see our guide to using the data formatting options.

The Dynamic selection menu enables you expand your initial single cell selection to a whole column or row. Your number widget will always display the last numeric value added.