Custom text widgets let you add notes, targets, and context directly to your Peaks, right next to the numbers. Anyone viewing the dashboard can see not just what happened, but why. There are two kinds. Text widgets hold notes you write yourself, which stay exactly as written. Insight widgets are AI-written summaries that update automatically as your data changes.
Why add context to your dashboards?
A chart can show that revenue dropped 20% on a Tuesday, but it can't tell you that the tracking pixel broke that morning. Without that context, someone spots the dip, starts a Slack thread, and three people spend an afternoon working out what everyone already knew.
Text widgets and annotations keep that knowledge on the Peak where it belongs. Your targets, your campaign history, and any known data issues sit right alongside the numbers. The dashboard explains itself, including to new team members and to anyone who wasn't in the room when the decision was made.
What's the difference between text widgets and insight widgets?
Text widgets: notes you write
A text widget holds content you write yourself. It never changes unless you edit it. You can use bullet points, bold text, links, and file uploads, and the widget resizes to fit whatever you write, so it sits neatly among your charts.
Use it for anything human and lasting: targets, decisions, campaign notes, team processes, or known data caveats.
Insight widgets: summaries that stay current
An insight widget is an AI-written summary attached to a live piece of data. Whenever you change the date range, store, or other Peak settings, it rereads the data and rewrites its commentary to match.
Use it when the commentary needs to keep up with the numbers, like a weekly performance summary that should always describe the latest period.
The rule of thumb is simple. If you're writing it, use a text widget. If the data should be doing the talking, use an insight widget.
What can you use text widgets for?
Targets and executive briefings. Put monthly targets, quarterly goals, or current priorities at the top of a Peak so everyone reads the numbers against what you set out to achieve.
Campaign and event annotations. Record key moments like a Black Friday launch, an influencer drop, a site redesign, or a price increase. When a spike or dip shows up later, the explanation is already there.
Section dividers. Break a large Peak into clear sections, such as "New Customer Acquisition," "Product Profitability," and "Inventory Risk," each with a short line explaining what the section is for.
Team processes and data caveats. Add a quick checklist, like "Review Class A stockout risk every Tuesday. Pause ad sets below 1.5x CPROAS." You can also flag anything specific to your store's data, such as wholesale channels that are excluded from reporting.
What makes a good annotation?
Keep it short. Your charts and key metrics should stay the focus of the Peak. A few scannable lines work better than a paragraph.
Write it as soon as something happens. When a tracking outage, warehouse move, or stockout affects your numbers, add a note that day. It takes a minute and can save the team hours of confusion later.
Pick the right widget for the job. If the note is a decision, goal, or piece of history, use a text widget. If you want a running commentary on the data, use an insight widget.
What should you ask Sherpa?
"Summarize this widget's numbers and flag anything unusual."
"Draft a text widget summarizing this quarter's targets vs. actuals."
"Write an annotation explaining last week's drop in conversion rate."
Short description: Add notes, targets, and context to your dashboards so the numbers explain themselves.
Long description: Text widgets and insight widgets let you put context directly on your Peaks. Learn the difference between notes you write and AI summaries that update with your data, plus how to use annotations for targets, campaign history, and known data issues.