How to Build Your First Dashboard Widget with Tally AI

The fastest way to get a chart onto your dashboard isn't to configure it. It's to ask for it. Open the Tally AI builder on your dashboard, type what you want to see in plain English, and it builds the chart from your church's own data.

How it works: ask, preview, save

It's a short loop:

1. You ask — "Compare giving this year vs last year," or "How has kids attendance trended this year?"
2. Tally AI builds it — it figures out the right data, time window, and chart type, and shows you a preview right in the chat, with a plain-language note on exactly what it's counting.
3. You save it — if it looks right, save it, and it lands on your dashboard as a live card. If it's not quite right, just say so and it refines.

Nothing hits your dashboard until you've seen the preview and approved it.

It stays live, not frozen

When you ask for something like "this year" or "the last 12 months," Tally AI builds the widget so it recalculates every week with your latest numbers. You set it once and it keeps itself current, you're not rebuilding it next month. (If you ever want a fixed historical window, like "Q1 of 2023," just say so.)

One clear number per widget

Each widget answers one question. If you ask for attendance and giving on the same chart, Tally AI will build the first and offer to put the second right beside it as its own widget. That's on purpose: a card that says one thing clearly beats a cluttered one that says five things faintly.

Build your first one

1. Open the Tally AI builder from your dashboard.
2. Type a question — or tap one of the suggested starters to see how it works.
3. Read the preview. Tally AI shows the chart and explains what it's measuring; you can expand "Show SQL" if you want to see the exact query.
4. Refine or save. Ask for a tweak ("make it a line chart," "add a comparison to last year"), or save it.
5. It appears on your dashboard as a live card. To change it later, click the pencil on the card and tell Tally AI what to adjust.

Why this is the easy way

• No query building. You describe the question; Tally AI handles the data.
• You see it before you keep it. The preview means no surprise widgets on your board.
• It stays current on its own, because live windows recalculate each week.
• It's editable anytime, so your dashboard grows with the questions you're actually asking.

Frequently asked questions

Can one widget show attendance and giving together?

Each widget answers one question, so Tally AI builds one measure per card. Ask for the second and it'll add a separate widget right beside the first, which keeps both easy to read at a glance.

Will my widget go stale over time?

No. When you ask for a rolling window like "this year" or "last 12 months," the widget recalculates with live data every week. It only freezes to fixed dates if you specifically ask it to.

Can I change a widget after I save it?

Yes. Click the pencil on the widget's card and tell Tally AI what to change, a different chart type, a new comparison, a different window, and it updates the card in place.