topic Re: How can I tell my Dashboard visualizations aren't stale? in Community Articles

How can I tell my Dashboard visualizations aren't stale?

mark_ott — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 18:53:32 GMT

With AI/BI Dashboards, a best practice is for the creator/owner to 'Schedule' the Dashboard to rerun the underlying datasets when changes have occurred. This ensures the Visualizations are rendered with the freshest data. But users still will question if the Charts are fresh.

How about putting in a Visualization confirming the data is fresh? I created a simple 'Counter' Visualization with the code seen in below screen shot. This table sources from one of the Dashboard datasets most likely to be stale. I then created a 'Conditional Style' and entered a simple equation to color code the date the Dashboard was last Refreshed. If the date displays 'Green', users know there is no stale Dashboard charts. If the date displays 'Red', the user simply clicks the 'Dashboard Refresh' button to re-render the Visualizations.

Viola. Problem solved. Users now definitively know they can trust the Charts. Who knew?

Re: How can I tell my Dashboard visualizations aren't stale?

Louis_Frolio — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:28:30 GMT

@mark_ott , really nice work here. You tackled the “is this data fresh?” question in a way that’s simple and genuinely useful. The color-coded timestamp gives users quick confidence without forcing them to dig or second-guess what they’re seeing.

The conditional styling is intuitive and practical — it complements scheduled refreshes by adding the transparency people actually want when they’re making decisions off a dashboard. Clean, thoughtful solution to a very real pain point.

Cheers, Louis.

Re: How can I tell my Dashboard visualizations aren't stale?

Michael_Appiah — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:40:50 GMT

@mark_ott That is a nice idea and quite useful. Quick question: how did you define 'stale' data in your case? So what is the threshold at which your 'conditional equation' color codes the date red? did you somehow link that to the refresh schedule?