Dashboards
Learn how to create effective dashboards for monitoring and visualizing your application metrics, performance data, and business analytics.
Prerequisites
- Understanding of metrics and monitoring
- Familiarity with data visualization
- Basic knowledge of query languages
- Experience with monitoring tools
Dashboard Overview

Visual representation of dashboard components and data flow.
1
Dashboard Planning
Plan your dashboard structure and metrics:
// Dashboard configuration
const dashboardConfig = {
// Dashboard types
types: {
operational: {
refreshRate: 60, // seconds
timeRanges: ['1h', '6h', '24h', '7d'],
defaultTimeRange: '24h'
},
analytical: {
refreshRate: 3600, // seconds
timeRanges: ['7d', '30d', '90d', '1y'],
defaultTimeRange: '30d'
},
strategic: {
refreshRate: 86400, // seconds
timeRanges: ['30d', '90d', '1y', 'ytd'],
defaultTimeRange: '90d'
}
},
// Dashboard layout
layout: {
grid: {
columns: 12,
rowHeight: 80,
margin: 10,
containerPadding: 20
},
// Panel sizes
panelSizes: {
small: { w: 3, h: 2 },
medium: { w: 6, h: 3 },
large: { w: 9, h: 4 },
full: { w: 12, h: 6 }
}
},
// Create dashboard configuration
createDashboard(name, type, description) {
return {
id: this.generateId(),
name,
type,
description,
timeRange: this.types[type].defaultTimeRange,
refreshRate: this.types[type].refreshRate,
panels: [],
layout: this.layout,
created: new Date(),
updated: new Date()
};
}
}
2
Data Source Integration
Configure data sources for your dashboard:
// Data source configuration
const dataSources = {
// Source types
types: {
prometheus: {
type: 'time-series',
connection: {
url: 'http://prometheus:9090',
auth: 'token'
},
queryLanguage: 'PromQL'
},
elasticsearch: {
type: 'document',
connection: {
url: 'http://elasticsearch:9200',
auth: 'basic'
},
queryLanguage: 'Lucene'
},
postgres: {
type: 'sql',
connection: {
host: 'postgres',
port: 5432,
auth: 'user-pass'
},
queryLanguage: 'SQL'
},
rest: {
type: 'api',
connection: {
baseUrl: 'https://api.example.com',
auth: 'oauth2'
},
queryLanguage: 'JSON'
}
},
// Register a data source
async registerDataSource(name, type, config) {
const sourceType = this.types[type];
if (!sourceType) {
throw new Error(`Unknown data source type: ${type}`);
}
const dataSource = {
id: this.generateId(),
name,
type,
config: {
...sourceType.connection,
...config
},
status: 'pending',
created: new Date()
};
// Test connection
const connectionStatus = await this.testConnection(dataSource);
dataSource.status = connectionStatus.success ? 'active' : 'error';
dataSource.lastError = connectionStatus.error;
await this.saveDataSource(dataSource);
return dataSource;
},
// Query data source
async queryDataSource(sourceId, query, options = {}) {
const source = await this.getDataSource(sourceId);
if (!source || source.status !== 'active') {
throw new Error(`Data source ${sourceId} is not available`);
}
const queryRunner = this.getQueryRunner(source.type);
return await queryRunner.execute(source, query, options);
}
}
3
Panel Creation
Create visualization panels for your dashboard:
// Panel configuration
const panelBuilder = {
// Panel types
types: {
timeSeries: {
dataTypes: ['time-series'],
options: {
lineWidth: 1,
fillOpacity: 0.1,
showPoints: 'auto',
stacking: { mode: 'none' },
legend: { placement: 'bottom' }
}
},
gauge: {
dataTypes: ['single-value'],
options: {
minValue: 0,
maxValue: 100,
thresholds: [
{ value: 30, color: 'green' },
{ value: 60, color: 'orange' },
{ value: 90, color: 'red' }
]
}
},
stat: {
dataTypes: ['single-value'],
options: {
textMode: 'value',
colorMode: 'value',
graphMode: 'area',
reduceOptions: { calcs: ['lastNotNull'] }
}
},
table: {
dataTypes: ['table', 'time-series'],
options: {
showHeader: true,
footer: { show: false },
pagination: { show: true, pageSize: 10 }
}
},
pieChart: {
dataTypes: ['table'],
options: {
legendType: 'list',
legendPlacement: 'right',
tooltipMode: 'single'
}
}
},
// Create panel
createPanel(title, type, dataSource, query) {
if (!this.types[type]) {
throw new Error(`Unknown panel type: ${type}`);
}
return {
id: this.generateId(),
title,
type,
dataSource,
query,
options: { ...this.types[type].options },
gridPos: { ...dashboardConfig.layout.panelSizes.medium },
created: new Date(),
updated: new Date()
};
},
// Update panel options
updatePanelOptions(panel, options) {
return {
...panel,
options: {
...panel.options,
...options
},
updated: new Date()
};
}
}
4
Dashboard Interactivity
Implement interactive features for your dashboard:
// Dashboard interactivity
const dashboardInteractivity = {
// Variable types
variableTypes: {
query: {
name: 'Query variable',
description: 'Variable values are fetched from a data source query'
},
custom: {
name: 'Custom variable',
description: 'Variable values are defined manually'
},
textbox: {
name: 'Text box',
description: 'Free text input field'
},
constant: {
name: 'Constant',
description: 'Define a hidden constant variable'
},
datasource: {
name: 'Data source',
description: 'Select a data source'
}
},
// Create dashboard variable
createVariable(dashboard, config) {
const variable = {
id: this.generateId(),
name: config.name,
type: config.type,
label: config.label || config.name,
description: config.description || '',
options: config.options || [],
current: config.current || null,
query: config.query || null,
datasource: config.datasource || null,
refresh: config.refresh || 0,
hide: config.hide || false,
multi: config.multi || false,
includeAll: config.includeAll || false
};
dashboard.variables = dashboard.variables || [];
dashboard.variables.push(variable);
return dashboard;
},
// Add time range selector
addTimeRangeSelector(dashboard, options = {}) {
dashboard.timeOptions = {
now: true,
refresh: options.refresh || '1m',
timeZone: options.timeZone || 'browser',
ranges: options.ranges || dashboardConfig.types[dashboard.type].timeRanges
};
return dashboard;
},
// Add dashboard filters
addFilters(dashboard, filters) {
dashboard.filters = filters.map(filter => ({
id: this.generateId(),
name: filter.name,
label: filter.label || filter.name,
type: filter.type || 'string',
datasource: filter.datasource,
query: filter.query,
options: filter.options || [],
current: filter.current || null,
multi: filter.multi || false
}));
return dashboard;
}
}
Best Practices
Dashboard Design
Best practices for effective dashboards:
- Focus on key metrics
- Use appropriate visualizations
- Group related metrics
- Consistent color scheme
Performance
Optimize dashboard performance:
- Efficient queries
- Appropriate refresh rates
- Data aggregation
- Resource caching
User Experience
Enhance dashboard usability:
- Intuitive layout
- Clear labels and units
- Interactive filters
- Mobile responsiveness
Dashboard Examples
System Monitoring Dashboard
A comprehensive dashboard for monitoring system health and performance:
- CPU, memory, and disk usage metrics
- Network traffic and latency
- Error rates and log volume
- Service health status
System Monitoring
Last 24 hours Auto refresh: 1m
CPU Usage
Memory Usage
Disk I/O
Network Traffic
Application Performance Dashboard
A dashboard focused on application performance metrics:
- Request rates and response times
- Error rates by endpoint
- Database query performance
- Cache hit rates
Application Performance
Last 6 hours Auto refresh: 30s
Request Rate
Response Time
Error Rate
Database Performance
Business Metrics Dashboard
A dashboard for tracking key business metrics:
- User acquisition and retention
- Conversion rates and funnel analysis
- Revenue and transaction metrics
- User engagement statistics
Business Metrics
Last 30 days Auto refresh: 1h
User Acquisition
Conversion Rate
Revenue
User Engagement
Common Issues
Data Source Issues
Common data source problems:
- Connection failures
- Query timeouts
- Authentication errors
- Rate limiting
Visualization Issues
Visualization-related challenges:
- Incorrect data formats
- Performance bottlenecks
- Rendering errors
- Scale and unit problems