Live Boards FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Live Boards.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Live Boards Overview.
Setup
Does Live Boards require Power Tables?
Only for boards backed by a Power Tables saved view, which is the most common kind. Boards can also read Recognition activity, Engagement by site, or Coverage gaps by site (when Shifts & Scheduling is enabled) directly, so you can build a board without creating a table first. Each app meters independently — rows on the Power Tables side, active boards on the Live Boards side.
What do I need to configure before boards appear on Digital Signage?
Two things must be on. In Live Boards Settings, the Show boards on Digital Signage toggle must be enabled (it is on by default). Then each visualization needs Publish to Digital Signage turned on in its own drawer (board editor → the pencil on its row → Advanced) — a switch only Live Boards admins see. A visualization limited to an Audience cannot be published to signage. Signage screens also have their own per-screen content-type gate — if Live Board content is disabled on a particular screen, that screen skips boards even when the app-level switch is on.
Can I change a board’s data source after I create it?
You can change which saved view a board reads at any time — Board settings → Saved view (visualizations already on the board keep their view unless you tick the box to switch them). But while a board has any visualization, archived ones included, its Data source and Source table are locked: each visualization reads columns from the current source, so switching would break them. To point a working board at different data, remove its visualizations first — each one’s snapshot history goes with it — and the source unlocks in Board settings, or build a new board on the other table. Duplicating does not help: the copy reads the same source and is locked on arrival.
Permissions and access
Who can create boards, and who can manage settings?
Two tiers. Contributors (anyone with app contributor access, or an admin) can create, edit, duplicate, and preview boards and their visualizations, and build playlists. Admins (app admins and company admins) additionally control app settings, archive and restore boards, publish visualizations to Digital Signage, and switch on the public links that put a visualization or a playlist on the open web. A company admin grants Contributor access at Admin → Apps → All Apps → Live Boards → the Admins & Contributors card → Manage Admins & Contributors. Placing a visualization onto a dashboard needs a company admin, which is separate from either Live Boards tier.
Why can’t some of my employees see a board?
Work through the causes in this order:
- The app is not published to users. A newly enabled app is open to admins only, and members are told “Live Boards hasn’t been published to users yet. Ask a company admin to publish it.” A company admin goes to Admin → Apps → All Apps → Live Boards and clicks Publish to users (or Publish to specific groups).
- The source app is not published to them. A board that reads Power Tables also needs Power Tables published to the same people.
- A visualization’s Audience excludes them. Audience (optional) is set on each visualization (its drawer → Advanced), not on the board — only members of that group see it.
- It reads a Power Table restricted to specific people, and they are not among them.
- It is switched off in the Widget Gallery.
- The board is archived.
A visualization limited to an Audience cannot be published to Digital Signage or a public embed at all; on those surfaces, which have no viewer, the name masking policy is what protects people’s identities.
Day-to-day
What are the 13 chart types?
Ranked list, Table, Chart, Movers, Status grid, Share (100% bar), Calendar (agenda by date), Stat, Line, Gauge, Streak (days since), Pace (are we on track?), and Scorecard (2–4 metrics). A scorecard holds 2 to 4 unrelated metrics side by side, each against its own target.
How does name masking work, and where is it applied?
Each visualization carries one of three Name masking policies: Full names, First name last initial, or Anonymized ranks. A tenant-wide default for new ones is set in Settings under Default name masking for new boards. Masking is applied once in the rendering pipeline, so every surface — dashboards, signage, present mode, embeds, mobile — shows the same treatment. Masking governs people columns only; a visualization ranking stores, products, or sites always shows their real names.
How do I put a board on a break-room TV without signing in?
Use a public link, which a Live Boards admin sets up. For one visualization, turn on Allow external embed in its drawer and open its link on the TV. For several in turn, build a Playlist — a named rotation of up to 20 visualizations with a configurable Seconds per visualization (15–600 seconds, default 60 seconds) — turn on Share a link for screens that can’t sign in, then paste that link into the TV’s kiosk browser. The screen loops indefinitely with no account behind it. A shared playlist shows only visualizations that have Allow external embed on themselves, and both kinds of link stop while Allow public board embed links is off in Settings. Present is not a no-sign-in path: it is a full-screen page that refreshes itself every 2 minutes — no JavaScript and no signage player needed — but the TV’s browser must be signed in as someone who can open the board, and it shows what that person may see.
How do alerts and notifications work?
Alerts are per visualization and off until its author ticks Notify when this visualization crosses its goal and sets a Goal. The switch is offered on Stat, Line, and Gauge only — Streak, Pace, and every ranked type never alert. You are told once when the value goes off target, once if it moves further off target (only when a warning threshold is set), and once when it recovers — only a band change triggers a notification, not every fluctuation. Recipients are the person who added that visualization, the group chosen under Who to notify, and everyone who watches it — all filtered to people who can still open it. Values are checked every night (hourly on a Line with intraday updates on), and sample boards never notify. You can optionally have a task created automatically while the value is off target by enabling Also open a task while off target in the visualization’s drawer (board editor → the pencil on its row → Advanced).
How do rank-entry notifications work?
On a visualization that ranks people, you can turn on Notify members who enter the top 3 in its drawer (board editor → the pencil on its row → Advanced). When the nightly snapshot detects a person who was not previously in the top 3, that person receives a notification. This is opt-in per visualization and only applies where the entities are people (not locations, stores, or products).
Can I embed a board on an external page?
Yes, per visualization and off by default. A Live Boards admin turns on Allow external embed in the visualization’s drawer (board editor → the pencil on its row → Advanced) to create an unguessable link that renders it read-only with masking applied and no login required. The Embed origins (optional) field restricts which sites may frame it — one origin per line, up to 10. Rotate link cuts off every link already shared. A visualization limited to an Audience cannot be embedded. Playlists can be shared the same way, so a whole rotation can run on one public link.
How current is a board, and where does its history come from?
Boards read live data on every page load. Present mode refreshes every 2 minutes. History is separate: a nightly capture stores each visualization’s values, which is what powers movement deltas (against 1, 7, 14, or 30 days back), movers trend lines, streak counts, and the history page. The history page offers 7, 30, 90, and 365-day windows (defaulting to 90 days) and can export to CSV. Daily history is kept for 13 months. A Line marked as intraday is also captured hourly; intraday detail is kept for 7 days.
What does “Suggest with AI” do?
When enabled in Settings (Enable AI board suggestions), a Suggest with AI button appears in the visualization drawer, in the box Describe this visualization (optional) — on boards that read a Power Tables view, for Contributors and admins. Describe what you want in plain language (up to 500 characters) and the AI drafts a leaderboard — a ranked list, table or chart — proposing the chart type, entity and score columns, aggregate, and ordering. The table’s name and description, its column names and types, and whatever you type in the box are sent to the AI — never any row data. Goal values are accepted only when the number appears literally in your description.
When something looks wrong
“My board says its data source is unavailable”
The board’s underlying table or saved view has been archived, deleted, or made personal. The board renders a “source unavailable” message on every surface rather than going blank. Open the Analytics tab to see every board in this state alongside what it was bound to. If the table was archived, fix it by restoring the table in Power Tables, or open the board’s Board settings and pick a replacement table — every visualization moves with it, columns matched to the new table by name; if any cannot be matched, the change is refused and nothing is altered. Duplicating the board does not repair it: the copy reads the same source.
“The board I just created isn’t showing on Digital Signage”
Three gates must all be on: the app-level Show boards on Digital Signage toggle in Settings, the visualization’s own Publish to Digital Signage switch (set by a Live Boards admin), and the per-screen content-type setting on the signage screen itself. Check all three. Also confirm the board’s status is active — archived boards are not displayed anywhere.
“My weekly digest email didn’t arrive”
The digest goes to people who watch at least one visualization, so check in this order. Do you watch one? Open a board and click Watch. Is a watched visualization still visible to you, with a value this week? Rows with no value are left out, and if nothing has a value no email is sent. Is there an exception for Live Boards · Weekly Digest under Account Settings → Notifications → Current Exceptions? Remove it. Is your Email channel on? The digest is on by default, sends every Monday, and includes up to 12 visualizations the recipient can actually open, with watched ones listed first.
Licensing and limits
How is Live Boards billed?
Live Boards is pay-as-you-go from your credit wallet, billed per active board per month — 500 credits per active board a month, drawn on the 1st in advance. There is no per-seat charge and no minimum — you pay only for boards that exist and are active. Archived boards, sample boards, and boards with no active visualization are not billed; archiving a board stops the next month’s draw, not the current one. An admin must enable the app before it can be used; it does not turn on automatically.
Are there limits I should know about?
| What | Limit |
|---|---|
| Visualizations per board | 12 |
| Top-N ranking range | 1–100 |
| Board name length | 120 characters |
| Scorecard metrics | 2–4 per scorecard |
| Playlist visualizations | Up to 20 |
| Playlist seconds per board | 15–600 seconds (default 60) |
| Present-mode refresh | Every 2 minutes |
| Embed origin allowlist | Up to 10 origins per visualization or playlist |
| History windows | 7, 30, 90, 365 days |
| Daily snapshot retention | 13 months |
| Intraday snapshot retention | 7 days |
| Movement delta windows | 1, 7, 14, 30 days back |
| Weekly digest visualizations | Up to 12 per email |
| AI description length | 500 characters |
More help
- Live Boards Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Live Boards questions from these articles.