How to show a live dashboard on an office TV
You can put live numbers on an office TV three ways in NowBoard: Live figures fed from a Google Sheet, Ranked lists for a league table, or an existing web dashboard shown in a frame. This how-to covers all three, then explains what makes a dashboard readable from across the room.
Pick the numbers before the tool
A wall dashboard is for the numbers your team acts on during the day: calls waiting, orders to dispatch, this month's sales against target, days since the last safety incident. A figure that only matters at the month-end meeting can stay in the report.
Write the list on paper first and cut it to six figures or fewer. For each one, note where it comes from today (a spreadsheet, a system, a person) and how often it changes. That tells you which of the three methods below fits.
Method 1: Live figures from a Google Sheet
A Live figures set is a group of numbers, each with a label, a value, a unit, and an optional target and trend arrow. If someone in the team already keeps the numbers in a Google Sheet, a Data Source can read it on a schedule.
- In Google Sheets, open File, then Share, then Publish to web.
- Pick the tab with your figures and choose Comma-separated values (.csv). Click Publish and copy the link; it ends in
output=csv. - In NowBoard, go to Feeds, Data Sources, and click New. Choose Google Sheets, give it a name and paste the link.
- Set the Poll interval in minutes. Your plan sets the shortest interval.
- Under Send to, choose Live figures and the set to fill.
- Click Test connection, then Suggest mapping, check each column goes to the right field, and save.
Lay the sheet out with one row per figure and columns for Label, Value, Unit, Target and Trend (up, down or flat). NowBoard strips £, $, €, commas and % from values, so "£12,400" reads as a number. Google can take up to 5 minutes to publish a change, and NowBoard picks it up at the next poll.
Two errors that catch most people
- Pasting the link from the address bar or the Share button. That opens a web page, and NowBoard reports "This address returns a web page, not data". Use the Publish to web link.
- Editing a figure by hand in NowBoard when a Data Source fills it. The next sync replaces your change. Edit the sheet.
To show the figures, use a Board such as Figures Grid, or build your own and add a Live figures block. The block can show the set as tiles, cards, one big figure, a dial, or a chart (pie, donut, bars or line). If no sheet exists, type the values into the Live figures set and update them from a phone or laptop.
Method 2: Ranked lists for league tables
A sales league or a team challenge needs an order, not a single number. A Ranked list holds entries with a name, a score and an optional team, second line and picture. Choose whether scores are a Number, Money, Time in seconds or Text, and whether the highest or lowest comes first. NowBoard sorts the entries by score, so nobody has to reorder the table by hand.
Show the list on a Leaderboard, League Table or Podium Board; each marks the top three. A Data Source can fill a Ranked list from a sheet in the same way as Live figures.
Method 3: Embed a dashboard you already have
If the team already has a status page or dashboard on the web, show it as it is. Add it under Content, Web URLs: give it a name, paste the address and set the Refresh interval (1 to 1,440 minutes). Then create a Board from the Webpage Embed template and select that page on its Content tab.
Some websites refuse to appear inside another page's frame. The website controls this setting, and NowBoard cannot change it. If the Board shows an empty area, open the address in a normal browser tab. If it loads there and not on the Board, that site blocks frames and you will need method 1 or 2 instead.
Use a public address that starts with http:// or https://. A dashboard behind a company sign-in is a poor fit for a TV with nobody there to log in. Leave the iframe sandbox setting at its default unless the page stops working.
Make it readable from across the room
Most business dashboards are designed for a laptop at arm's length. On a wall, the person reading it is several metres away and walking past.
Readability checklist
- Six figures or fewer on a Board; split the rest onto a second Board
- Label each figure in plain words ("Orders to pick", not "OTP_Q")
- Show a target where one exists, so the reader knows if the number is good
- Use the trend arrow for direction instead of a second chart
- Stand at the far side of the room and read it; if you squint, cut something
- Mount the screen where people pause: the kettle, the printer, the route to the meeting rooms
Refresh, rotation and timing
Match the refresh to the number. A Data Source polling every few minutes suits calls waiting; a sales total updated each hour is fine on a longer interval. For embedded pages, set a short Refresh interval for a page that changes often, such as a live dashboard.
A dashboard Board can share the Channel's Playlist with company announcements and a welcome screen; set each Board's duration in seconds. If you want the figures alone during the morning stand-up, add a time-of-day slot from 09:00 to 09:30 with its own Playlist. Set display hours so the screen sleeps overnight and at weekends.
Next steps
See live dashboards for Board examples and office digital signage for the rest of an office setup. The Free plan runs one TV, and paid plans start at £10 a month per TV, ex VAT (see pricing). To try your own sheet on a screen, book a demo.
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