Adding and Configuring Cards
~5 min readAdding and Configuring Cards
Adding a Card
- Open the Edit Dashboard page.
- Click Add Card to open the card picker.
- Choose a preset from the gallery, or select Custom to start from a blank SmashGL query.
- The card appears in your dashboard with its default configuration.
Configuring a Card
Click the Edit button next to any card to open the card editor. You'll see two tabs:
Simple Tab
The Simple tab lets you configure your card using plain controls — no code required.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Card title | The label shown at the top of the card on the dashboard |
| Visualization | How the data is displayed (see Choosing the Right Visualization) |
| Time Window | The period of data to show (e.g. "Last 30 days", "This month") |
| Compare with | Which period to compare against for the % change calculation |
| Goal | Optional target value — enables the OKR progress bar |
| Goal commitment | Hard (default, strict bands) or Soft (lenient bands for aspirational/stretch goals — progress bar renders with a dashed border) |
| Metric type | Cumulative (period total, Forecast extrapolates linearly), Ratio (running value IS the Forecast — uptime %, refund rate, conversion rate), or Level (snapshot count). Usually auto-detected from the column name. |
| Direction | Higher is better (default — goal is a minimum) or Lower is better (goal is a maximum not to exceed). Set manually for refund rate, return rate, cost per click, churn. Usually auto-detected. |
| Number format | Auto (default — inferred from the metric column), Percentage (shows 1.80%, no compact abbreviation), Currency (prefixes store currency symbol), or Number (plain count). Use Percentage for rate metrics that return a raw decimal. |
| Compact notation | When enabled (default), large numbers are abbreviated as 1.2k, 3.4M. Uncheck to always show full numbers. Has no effect on Percentage format. |
| Alert | RAG (red/amber/green) pulse on the card border, keyed to goal Status |
| Trend | Show a sparkline chart of the metric over time |
| Smooth | Smooth the sparkline line to reduce day-to-day noise |
Code Tab
The Code tab shows the underlying SmashGL query. Advanced users can edit it directly. For full syntax details, see the SmashGL Reference.
Advanced: The Code tab unlocks the full SmashGL language — custom comparison periods, compound goals, threshold goals, gross profit queries, and any metric not available in the Simple tab. See The Code Tab and SmashGL Queries.
Time Window Options
What is "today"? All time windows are based on your store's timezone, as configured in your Shopify admin's timezone settings.
Rolling windows (most common):
| Option | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Last 7 days | Rolling 7 days ending today |
| Last 14 days | Rolling 14 days ending today |
| Last 30 days | Rolling 30 days ending today |
| Last 90 days | Rolling 90 days ending today |
Calendar periods — automatically adjust as time passes:
| Option | What it covers |
|---|---|
| This week | From the start of the current week to today |
| This month | From the 1st of the current month to today |
| This quarter | From the start of the current quarter to today |
| This year | From January 1st to today |
Custom date range — a fixed range you specify by date. Useful for campaigns and seasonal windows.
Calendar periods vs. rolling windows: Calendar periods (This month, This quarter) have a defined end date, which enables the Forecast and Time Left indicators. Rolling windows (Last 30 days) have no end date — Forecast shows "—" for those. See Reading Your Card.
Compare With Options
| Option | How the comparison is calculated |
|---|---|
| Previous period (default) | An equal-length window immediately before the current window |
| Previous year | The same date range but 12 months earlier |
| Same day last week | The same date range shifted back 7 days |
| Same period last year (calendar periods only) | Same named period last year — e.g. this month vs. the same month last year |
| Same period last month (calendar periods only) | Same weekday-anchored range last month |
Goal Types
| Goal type | How to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| No goal | No target — card shows metric and vs-prior comparison only | — |
| Grow by % | Target is N% above the comparison period's value | "Grow 10% vs last period" |
| Reach a target | Fixed number you want to hit | "Hit 500 orders this period" |
| Threshold | Binary pass/fail for ratio metrics. Code tab only: use the THRESHOLD clause. |
"Uptime ≥ 99.98%" |
| Compound | Two or more conditions joined by AND or OR. Code tab only. | "Revenue ≥ $15k AND orders ≥ 300" |
When a goal is set, the card shows:
- An OKR-style goal statement in plain English
- A progress bar (fills as you get closer to the goal)
- A Gap indicator (how much more you need to reach the goal)
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