# Build a custom dashboard

**Category:** [Analytics](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/analytics-1)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## Why build your own

Custom dashboards let you put exactly the metrics you care about on one page — mixing native TotalCtrl data with external sources like Google Analytics, Datadog, Snowflake, and BigQuery.
## Create a dashboard

Go to **Dashboards** in Analytics and create a new one. Give it a **name** (required) and an optional **description**. Your dashboards are listed newest-first.
## Add panels

Open a dashboard and use **Add Panel** to add a widget. For each panel you choose:

- **Source** — native, Google Analytics, Datadog, Snowflake, or BigQuery.
- **Metric or query** — pick a native metric from the catalogue, or enter the query for an external source.
- **Chart type** — line, bar, doughnut, pie, or a single KPI value.
- **Width** — one third, half, two thirds, or full width.
- **Title** — an optional heading for the panel.

Native metrics include the same building blocks as the built-in dashboards, grouped by source app. Each panel loads its own data when the dashboard opens, so a panel pointing at a disconnected source will show a "not connected" message rather than breaking the page.
## Manage and clean up

You can **delete** individual panels or remove an entire dashboard. Creating and deleting dashboards and panels is recorded in your audit log and fires account webhooks (such as `analytics.dashboard.created` and `analytics.panel.created`) so other tools can react. To prototype a query before adding it as a panel, try the [Query Console](run-queries-in-the-query-console) first.

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## Related Articles

- [Explore the built-in app dashboards](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/explore-built-in-dashboards)
- [Analytics overview & the native data layer](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/analytics-overview-2)
- [Build a dashboard and add panels](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/build-a-dashboard)
- [Connect external data sources](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/connect-external-sources)
- [Share a dashboard](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/share-a-dashboard)

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