You rarely need to start a board from nothing. Templates lay out cards for a common job, and board files move a finished board between organisations or keep a copy of it. This page covers both.
Start from a template
- Open Dashboards and select New dashboard, or open an empty board and select Start from a template.
- Pick a template. Each tile shows its sections, cards and pages, for example “3 sections · 12 cards” and “2 pages”.
- Answer the template’s question, if it asks one (see below).
- Select Apply.
“A template arranges cards this workspace already has. You can move, add or remove anything afterwards — applying one is a starting point, not a lock.” Cards whose widgets you may not use are left out: “N widget(s) are not available to you and were left out.”
The IoT templates
| Template | What it lays out | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Devices and alarms | A device table and an alarm table, both live, with four count cards. A click on a device or an alarm row sets the board’s device parameter, which narrows the alarm table to that device; clearing the parameter in the filter bar shows all again. | Devices and alarms |
| Sites | Page 1: a table of your sites (name, status, devices, open alarms, last seen) and a map with each site in its status colour, plus a count of devices that have a place but no site with a button to Sites & Assets. Page 2 (a click on a site): the site’s header, its view (3D, or the 2D drawing), the live values and open alarms of its devices, and a trend of one of its devices, with a Device filter. | Sites and assets, telemetry |
| Sites with process diagrams | The same with the site’s process diagram as its view | Sites and assets, telemetry, process diagrams |
| Weather stations, Sensor regions, Remote sites, Personnel tracking, Water site | The boards of the ready solutions, with the profiles turned into pickers | The solution’s profiles |
Sites asks Which sites?: All sites, The sites of one type or The sites under one parent. The answer becomes the board’s assets parameter.
A template’s cards carry no compute script. Cards of a ready solution that need one (a tracker’s route map, a weather readings table) or that read relations (the pumps a tank controls) are only on the board the solution installs. To get the full boards, install the solution: see Install a solution.
Sample process boards
With the SCADA module, sample process boards are added for the core symbol set and for every symbol library your organisation holds. After you get a new library, the diagram editor offers Add sample boards. A sample board you deleted is not offered again. See Symbols and industry packs.
Export a board to a file
- Open the board and select Export in the board menu.
- Choose Export for this board only (
.board.json), or Export with linked to also include the boards this one opens (.boards.json), so the links keep working after an import.
The file holds the board’s title, description, icon, time window and parameters, and for each card its place, title, refresh interval, settings, data bindings, actions and script. It names each widget by its kind and type, not by an id.
It does not hold: your organisation, people, board ids, sharing, revision history, or the definition of your own widgets (move those with the widget library’s export, see Your own widgets). A card whose widget you cannot open is left out and named: “N widget(s) you cannot open were left out of the file.”
Import a board file
- In Dashboards, select Import and choose the file (“A .board.json or .boards.json file exported from a dashboard.”).
- Read the dry run. Nothing is written yet.
- Optional: change the Title of the first dashboard.
- Select Import.
The dry run shows “N of M widgets will be imported” and a table of Skipped and repaired items (Card, Outcome, Reason), and What this package points at:
| Points at | Shown as |
|---|---|
| Dashboards an action opens | In this file, Found here, or Missing: the link is removed |
| Data sources | Available, or Not available: the binding is removed |
| Commands | Can be used, Not found here, Not permitted for you, Takes different params here |
What the import does with what does not fit:
| Case | Outcome |
|---|---|
| The widget does not exist here, or is private on a shared board | Skipped and named |
| A data source this organisation does not have, a slot the widget does not declare, a parameter the board lacks, a board that does not exist here, a command you may not set up | Repaired: that part is dropped, the rest of the card is imported |
| Settings the widget refuses | Dropped |
| A script over the length limit | Dropped and reported |
The import creates a new, plain board: personal, unless you may manage shared boards and import it as shared. Your plan’s board limits apply. A file of several boards creates each as a new board and points their links at the new ones.
Troubleshooting
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| “That file is not valid JSON.” | The file is damaged or not a board file. |
| “That file is not a dashboard package this version understands.” | The file was not exported from a dashboard, or by a newer version. |
| “That file is too large to be a dashboard package.” | Export fewer boards at once. |
| “Nothing in this package can be imported here.” | Every card’s widget is missing here. Install the modules or widgets it needs first. |