Which widget form should I use?

Our powerful Analytics tool lets you gather, display and work with a wide variety of data in Widgets. Depending on what you want to do with this data, it can be displayed in various ways and filtered according to a slew of criteria.

It’s essential to use the right form when creating a new Widget in Borealis. Once it’s created, the widget can be modified in virtually endless ways. But you can’t change the form itself.

With so many options, the first question to ask is: “Which widget form should I use?”

When first creating a widget, you can easily explore the many available forms:

The following tips can help you choose the right form and approach.

Note: Depending on the relationships and information you want to appear in your widgets, you may need to “test drive” a few forms first to ensure they display the info you need. If you’re having trouble finding the right form, contact our support team at helpdesk@boreal-is.com.

Tip #1:

Phrase your need as a question.

• What communications have we had with Canadian mayors in the last month?
  • The Communications form can tell you.
    
    • “Stakeholder Management - Interactions - Communications”
  • Depending on the secondary information you also want to display, your best option might be to use the Individuals or Organisations form.
    • “Stakeholder Management - Stakeholders - Individuals”
    • “Stakeholder Management - Stakeholders - Organisations”
• Which stakeholders filed a grievance in the last year?
  • You should use the Grievances form:
    • “Stakeholder Management - Interactions - Grievances”
• Who was the last person on my team to have a communication with this stakeholder?
  • The Communications form will use a calculated value to tell you.
    • “Stakeholder Management - Interactions - Communications”
• Who are the stakeholders in this city?
  • The best form to use will depend on whether your stakeholders are organisations, individuals or households.
    • “Stakeholder Management - Stakeholders - Individuals”
    • "Stakeholder Management - Stakeholders - Organisations”

Tip #2:

Use the section of the menu containing the information you are looking for.

For example, if you want to display information related to the organisation's “Categorization” field:

• Open the page that display the information you’re looking for (e.g. the Organisation page)
• Look in the breadcrumb trail or directly in the menu to know which form to use:

Tip #3:

Make sure the right information is displayed before applying your filters.

If you’re not sure which form to use, try our two tips above and test them. Do they display the field you’re looking for? If not, it’s probably a sign that another form should be used.

Tip #4:

Avoid an all-inclusive solution.

Many users who haven’t yet identified their initial need will tend to choose a form that seems to include everything, such as:

• “Stakeholder Management - All Stakeholders”
• “Stakeholder Management - All Interactions”

This approach can be a double-edged sword. If you search for communications with a given stakeholder, for example, and your filters are not properly adjusted, your results will also contain all complaints, issues, commitments, etc. involving that stakeholder.

Tip #5:

Get help.

Our Borealis experts can help you set up the widgets and reports you need. Simply contact our support team at helpdesk@boreal-is.com or click the “Need help?” button at the bottom of the screen.