Jira Gadgets: The Best Dashboard Gadgets and How to Add Them

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You open the team dashboard on Monday and it shows a pie chart nobody reads, a filter that broke when someone renamed a project, and an activity stream scrolling past faster than anyone can follow. The gadgets are there; they just don't answer the questions you have.

Here's the short answer: a Jira dashboard is only as useful as the gadgets on it, and the right ones depend on the question. Below is what gadgets are, the 12 built-in gadgets worth your dashboard space, how to add and configure them, and what to do when you need numbers Jira's gadgets don't have.

What is a Jira gadget?

A Jira gadget is a configurable block on a Jira dashboard that shows data from your Jira site: a list of issues, a chart, a table or a single number. Most gadgets take a saved filter or a project as their source, so they update on their own as issues change. A dashboard can hold several gadgets in columns, and each person who opens it sees only the issues they have permission to see.

Jira Cloud includes 29 gadgets out of the box. More come from Marketplace apps, which add their own gadgets to the same list.

Which Jira gadgets are the most useful?

Two more are handy for layout: Introduction for a short note at the top ("this dashboard is for the Checkout team, updated by Maria"), and Wallboard Spacer for empty space on a TV wallboard.

The full list of built-in gadgets is in Atlassian's documentation.

How do you add a gadget to a Jira dashboard?

1. Save the filter first. Write the JQL for the question, for example project = CHK AND status != Done AND duedate < now(), and save it with a clear name such as "CHK overdue".
2. Open Dashboards and choose the dashboard (or create one).
3. Click Edit in the top right corner.
4. In the Add gadget panel, search for the gadget and click Add.
5. Configure it: pick the saved filter or project, the field to group by, and the number of results.
6. Click Save, then drag the gadget to where people look first.

If you share the dashboard, share the filter too. A gadget built on a private filter shows an error to everyone but you.

Which gadgets should each dashboard have?

A dashboard works when it answers one audience's questions. Three combinations that cover most teams:

• Team stand-up: Sprint Health, Sprint Burndown, Days Remaining in Sprint, Filter Results for blockers.
• Team lead weekly: Two Dimensional Filter Statistics (assignee by status), Created vs Resolved, Average Age, Filter Results for overdue issues.
• Personal: Assigned To Me, Filter Results for issues you're watching, Activity Stream.

Keep it under ten gadgets. A dashboard nobody can read at a glance gets ignored, and then someone builds a spreadsheet next to it.

What can't Jira's built-in gadgets show?

They count issues, not hours or people. Two Dimensional Filter Statistics tells you that Maria has 14 open issues; it can't tell you whether those 14 issues fit into her next two weeks, that she's on vacation on Thursday, or that she logged 30 hours on another project last week. None of the built-in gadgets shows capacity, time off, work logs per person, or planned vs actual time.

That's the gap Marketplace gadgets fill. Look for gadgets from the apps your team already uses for time tracking or planning, so the numbers on the dashboard match the numbers in the app.

How to add ActivityTimeline reports as Jira gadgets

ActivityTimeline  is a Jira app for capacity planning, time tracking and reports, on Cloud and Data Center. Its reports and charts can sit on a Jira dashboard next to the built-in gadgets:

1. Open your dashboard and click Edit.
2. In Add gadget, search for ActivityTimeline and add the gadget.
3. Choose the report or chart, the team or Jira filter, the period and the units, and save.

This feature enhances your existing dashboard by embedding highly visual and customizable ActivityTimeline reports and charts, providing a unified and intelligent overview of your entire operation in a single, accessible location.

Useful ones to start with: the Team Capacity Chart (how full the team is over the next weeks), the Planned vs Actual Chart (estimates against logged time), and the Team Utilization Pie Chart (where the team's hours go by project or epic).

The gadgets refresh on the same schedule as the rest of the dashboard, and you can refresh one by hand at any time. Each gadget also has a link icon to embed the same report on a Confluence page.

One limit to know: there's no gadget that lists raw work logs. For logged time, add the Planned vs Actual Chart, or save a report configuration in Reports and add that as a gadget.

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As for ActivityTimeline app, you can choose the report you want to see as a gadget and add it using our widgets.

How to Add Gadgets in ActivityTimeline

The process for adding gadgets from ActivityTimeline is designed to be as straightforward as using native Jira tools. Whether you’re using Jira Cloud or Data Center, the steps are the same:

1. Navigate to Your Dashboard: First, navigate to your Jira dashboard of choice.
2. Access the Edit Function: On the top-right corner of the dashboard, you will find an “Edit” button. Click it to enter the customization mode.
3. Add a Gadget: A menu will appear on the right side of the screen. Click “add a gadget” to open a list of available widgets. You can browse the available gadgets before selecting the one you want to add.
4. Find ActivityTimeline Gadgets: In the list, you can search for and select the ActivityTimeline Report or ActivityTimeline Chart gadget.
5. Configure and Save: A configuration screen will prompt you to choose a specific report or chart to display. You can set the time period, units, and other filters before saving it to your dashboard. From this configuration screen, you can also generate reports or charts directly, allowing for real-time updates and efficient dashboard reporting.

This simple, step-by-step process ensures you can have your specialized report or chart up and running in just a few minutes. For troubleshooting or advanced configuration, refer to the available documentation for your Jira environment.

Customization and Real-time Insights

Once an ActivityTimeline report is on your Jira dashboard, it’s far from static. The true power of this integration is the ability to customize each gadget to suit your specific needs and maintain a real-time pulse on your projects.

• Tailor the View: You can configure each gadget to display the exact data you need. For instance, you can select custom fields, a date field, and a statistic type when configuring a gadget. You can also choose to visualize data as a bar chart, line chart, or table—these gadgets display and summarize key values and provide a clear summary of your data. Gadgets can display links to detailed issue lists or related pages, and you can configure a message to communicate important information to the user. Additionally, versions, average time, created vs resolved, and issue statistics can be displayed using these tools for deeper insights into jira issues and all the issues in a project. These tools add value for the user, and configuring them properly ensures accurate and actionable data.
• Automatic Refresh: To ensure the information is always up-to-date, the gadgets refresh with the same frequency as all the gadgets on the dashboard. This refresh frequency can be manually set within the dashboard’s configuration.
• On-Demand Data: For immediate updates, simply click the refresh button on each gadget to get real-time data.

This combination of customization and real-time data ensures that your Jira dashboard remains a single source of truth for all your crucial metrics.

Best Practices for Jira Dashboards

To maximize the effectiveness of your Jira dashboards, it’s important to follow best practices when creating and configuring dashboard gadgets.

• Start by defining a clear purpose for your dashboard and identifying the target audience, whether it’s a project team, management, or stakeholders.
• Select the most relevant gadgets that align with your project goals and ensure the dashboard layout is organized and easy to navigate.
• Make use of customization options to tailor gadgets to your team’s needs, and regularly update the dashboard to keep data current and actionable.

By following these best practices, you can create Jira dashboards that provide relevant insights, enhance collaboration, and support better project management outcomes.

Conclusion

Integrating ActivityTimeline Reports as Jira Gadgets transforms a basic dashboard into an intelligent command center for project management. It provides a holistic, consolidated view of your team’s performance by bringing rich resource planning and time-tracking data directly into Jira's native interface. This streamlined access to specialized analytics enhances decision-making and allows you to proactively monitor project progress, ultimately driving greater efficiency and successful project outcomes.

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