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 or Engagement by site 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 individual board needs the Publish to Digital Signage checkbox turned on in its drawer. 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 — a different view of the same table has the same columns. But once a board has at least one visualization, you cannot switch its underlying table or source type (Power Tables, Recognition, Engagement). Each visualization references columns from the current source, so switching would break them. Duplicate the board onto the new source instead.
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. Admins (app admins, or business admins and above) additionally control app settings, archive and restore boards, and manage the tokens that publish a board or a playlist to the open web. Placing a board onto a dashboard requires dashboard admin authority, which is separate from either Live Boards tier.
Why can’t some of my employees see a board?
Check the board’s audience group. Each board can be scoped to a recipient group — only members of that group see it on dashboards. Signage, present-mode screens, and external embeds have no viewer identity at all, so the audience group does not apply there. On those surfaces, the name masking policy is what protects people’s identities.
Day-to-day
What are the 13 board visualization 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 board carries one of three policies: Full names, First name last initial, or Anonymized ranks. A tenant-wide default for new boards 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 board ranking stores, products, or sites always shows their real names.
How do I put a board on a break-room TV without signing in?
Two options. Present mode opens any board (or a set of boards in rotation) as a full-screen page that refreshes itself every 2 minutes using a plain page refresh — no JavaScript and no signage player needed. Playlists group up to 20 boards into a named rotation with a configurable interval (15–600 seconds, default 60 seconds). Enable sharing on the playlist to mint a tokenized URL, then paste that URL into the TV’s kiosk browser. The screen loops indefinitely with no account behind it.
How do alerts and notifications work?
Alerts fire on single-value (scalar) boards when the board’s value crosses a goal band — you are told when it goes off target and again when it recovers. Only a band change triggers a notification, not every fluctuation. Recipients are the board’s creator, anyone in the board’s configured alert recipient group, and anyone who is watching the board — all filtered to people who still have access. You can optionally have a task created automatically while the board is off target by enabling Also open a task while off target in the board drawer.
How do rank-entry notifications work?
On boards that rank people, you can turn on Notify members who enter the top 3 in the board drawer. 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 board and only applies to boards whose entities are people (not locations, stores, or products).
Can I embed a board on an external page?
Yes, per board and off by default. Turn on Allow external embed in the board drawer to mint an unguessable URL that renders the board read-only with masking applied and no login required. An optional Embed origins field restricts which sites may frame the board — one origin per line, up to 10. Rotating the token invalidates every link already shared. Playlists can be shared the same way, so a whole rotation can run on one public URL.
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 board’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. Boards marked as intraday are 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 board drawer. Describe what you want in plain language (up to 500 characters) and the AI proposes a visualization type, entity and score columns, aggregate, and ordering. It reads column names and types only — never 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. Fix it by restoring the source or duplicating the board onto a different table.
“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 board’s own Publish to Digital Signage checkbox, 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 weekly digest is opt-in — it is off by default for every user. Each person must enable the Live Boards digest notification category in their own notification preferences. The digest sends on Monday mornings and includes up to 12 boards the recipient can actually open, with watched boards listed first. If a recipient has no accessible boards, no email is sent for that week.
Licensing and limits
How is Live Boards billed?
Live Boards is pay-as-you-go per active board per year: $60 each for the first 10 active boards, $48 each up to 50, and $36 each above that. There is no per-seat charge and no minimum floor — you pay only for boards that exist and are active. Archived boards are free. 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 board |
| Playlist boards | Up to 20 |
| Playlist interval | 15–600 seconds (default 60) |
| Present-mode refresh | Every 2 minutes |
| Embed origin allowlist | Up to 10 origins per board |
| History windows | 7, 30, 90, 365 days |
| Intraday snapshot retention | 7 days |
| Movement delta windows | 1, 7, 14, 30 days back |
| Weekly digest boards | 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.