Layout & Composition Widgets

Most widgets show one thing: one chart, one number, one table. The widgets on this page do something different. They compose: a combo chart overlays several measures on one set of axes, a stat grid packs several KPIs into one block, a divider adds visual structure, and tabs group widgets so a single area can hold more than one view. Use them when a plain chart or KPI is not enough to tell the story.

A combo chart, a stat grid, a section divider, and a tabs container all sit on this same 12-column grid alongside ordinary charts and KPIs, so you place, resize, and arrange them exactly like any other cell.

Combo chart: overlay measures on one chart#

A combo chart (called a layer internally) draws more than one kind of mark on the same horizontal axis. The classic example is revenue bars with a margin-percent trend line on top, where the two series use different scales. Instead of inventing a separate "bar-plus-line" chart kind, BankSync layers the marks: each layer is one mark (a line, bar, area, or scatter) plotted against a shared x axis.

How layers work#

• One shared x axis. Every layer is drawn against the same x field (for example, Month). You pick the x field once.
• Each layer plots its own measures. A layer carries one or more Y measures, and can have its own grouping (split into series) and color.
• Marks can mix. A bar layer and a line layer can sit on the same chart, so you get columns plus a trend line in one view.

Two y scales: shared or independent#

The most useful combo trick is putting two measures that live on different scales onto one chart, like dollars and percentages. That is controlled by the y-scale setting:

Each Y measure is tagged as primary or secondary. With the independent setting, primary measures share the left axis and secondary measures share the right axis, so a small percentage and a large dollar figure each get a readable scale.

Worked example: revenue bars and a margin-percent line#

This is the canonical combo. With your data grouped by month:

1. Set the shared x axis to Month.
2. Add a bar layer plotting Revenue, assigned to the primary axis.
3. Add a line layer plotting Margin %, assigned to the secondary axis, with smoothing on.
4. Set the y scale to Independent.

You now read revenue as columns against the left axis and the margin trend as a smooth line against the right axis, in one chart.

The finished chart reads as revenue columns against the left axis with a smoothed margin-percent line tracking against the right axis, both in a single view.

Stat grid: several KPIs in one block#

A stat grid is a tidy row or grid of KPI cards built from one query result. Where a single KPI shows one headline number, a stat grid shows several side by side: think "this month's income, expenses, net, and savings rate" as four cards in one widget rather than four separate widgets you have to line up by hand.

• Each cell is a KPI. Every metric in the grid carries the same controls a standalone KPI has: a value, a summary, a comparison delta, a sparkline, formatting, and so on. (See KPI, table & gauge widgets for those controls.)

• The grid handles the layout. Set the number of columns (or let it flow automatically), the gap between cells, and whether to draw dividers between cells. A shared variant (card, plain, outlined) and density apply to every cell unless a cell overrides it, and you can add a title above the whole grid.

Once rendering ships, a stat grid reads as a single block of evenly spaced KPI cards, for example a four-up row showing income, expenses, net, and savings rate together.

Divider: line, space, or section header#

A divider adds visual structure to a dashboard without showing any data. It is the simplest composition widget and renders immediately. It has three sub-kinds you switch between in its inspector:

Switching the sub-kind only shows the controls that apply to it, so the Header controls appear only when the sub-kind is Header, and so on. A divider spans the full width of the dashboard, which makes it ideal for breaking a long dashboard into labelled sections.

In the divider inspector you pick the sub-kind first, and the panel then shows only that sub-kind's controls: choosing Header, for example, reveals the text, alignment, font-size, weight, and color fields.

Tabs: more than one view in one area#

A tabs widget is a container that groups other widgets behind a tab strip, so one area of the dashboard can hold several views the reader switches between. Use it when you have, say, a "By month" chart and a "By category" chart that answer related questions but you do not want both on screen at once.

Building a tabs widget#

You configure the tabs themselves in the tabs inspector:

Putting widgets into a tab#

The tab inspector sets up the tabs; which widgets live in each tab is decided on the canvas, by dragging widgets into the active tab rather than in the inspector. A tab simply references the widgets assigned to it, so the same widget is never duplicated.

On the canvas a configured tabs widget shows its interactive strip (for example three pill-style tabs, one carrying a count badge) above a content area that, for now, displays the "Drop widgets into this tab from the canvas" prompt.

Which one do I reach for?#

Related guides#

• Dashboards & widgets overview: how the canvas, library, inspector, and filters fit together.
• Adding widgets: the everyday ways to put a widget on the canvas.
• Binding data: the Group by, Value, and series controls a combo chart's layers share with every chart.
• The chart kind catalog: the single-mark chart kinds a combo overlays.
• KPI, table & gauge widgets: the KPI controls each stat-grid cell reuses.
• Dashboard templates: templates are the easiest way to get a combo, stat grid, or tabs onto a dashboard today.