How to Build Tag-Driven Dashboards That Auto-Populate

Overview

A tag-driven dashboard does not tie each widget to one fixed data point. The page reads a watch list that selects points by their tags, and each widget takes its point from whatever that watch list currently returns. Change the selected site or device and every widget follows. Add a new device, tag its points the same way as the others, and its tag value appears in the page's selector with no dashboard editing. That is how one page serves many sites.

Prerequisites

• A tagging strategy applied to your data points (see How to Design a Tagging Strategy for a Single Site and How to Design a Scalable Tagging Strategy for Multi-Site Deployments)
• At least two devices whose points carry the same tag keys with different values and the same point names — the dashboard finds each widget's point by name
• Permission to create pages in the Dashboard designer (superadmin by default)

How It Works

Three pieces work together:

1. A Tags watch list, built in Analytics > Watch list builder. Each tag you add to it becomes a parameter — for example a site tag and a device tag — and the watch list returns the points whose tags match the values chosen.
2. The page's watch list. In the Dashboard designer, the Choose a watch list control above the canvas links the page to that watch list. Mango by Radix IoT adds a <ma-watch-list-get> element to the page markup that loads the watch list, passes it the page's parameters, and makes its points available to every widget.
3. Widgets that take their point from the watch list. Once a watch list is chosen, each data-point attribute in the designer's attribute panel becomes a Point from watchlist drop-down listing the watch list's point names, filtered to the attribute's data type. A gauge set to Temperature shows the Temperature point of whichever device is selected.

The selector users see is the Watch list parameters component, in the designer's Watch lists component group. It shows one input per watch list parameter and feeds the chosen values back to the watch list.

Step-by-Step: Building a Tag-Driven Dashboard

Step 1: Plan Tags and Point Names

List the widgets you want and the point name each will show. Every device of the same kind must use exactly the same point names, because a widget stores a name, not a particular point:

Step 2: Build the Tags Watch List

1. Open Analytics > Watch list builder and click New
2. Under Watch list settings, give it a Name and set the type to Tags
3. On Select tags, click Add a tag for each tag you will select by — for example site, then device. Give each a Label (what users will see) and choose its tag key
4. The gear icon on each row offers Fixed tag value, Select multiple and Required
5. Use Query preview to confirm the watch list returns the points you expect
6. Click Save

Step 3: Create the Page and Choose the Watch List

1. Open Platform management > Dashboard designer and create a new page. It needs a Page name before it can be saved
2. In Choose a watch list, above the canvas, pick the watch list from Step 2

Step 4: Add the Selector

From the Watch lists component group, drag Watch list parameters onto the canvas. Its defaults already bind it to the page's watch list, so it shows one input per tag you added in Step 2, listing the values that tag key has in your system.

Step 5: Add Widgets That Take a Point from the Watch List

1. Drag a gauge, indicator or value display onto the canvas
2. In the attribute panel, set its point with Point from watchlist and choose the point name, for example Temperature
3. Set the display attributes (ranges, colors, labels)

For a trend of everything the watch list returns, use Watch list chart from the same component group; it charts all of the watch list's points.

Step 6: Save and Test with Multiple Devices

1. Save the page, and add it to the menu under Platform management > Edit menu so users can reach it
2. Change the selector between devices and confirm every widget follows
3. Tag a new device's points the same way and confirm its value appears in the selector without editing the page

Common Patterns

Single Device Detail

Tags site and device in the watch list; one widget per point name. The selector narrows to exactly one device, so each point name matches one point.

Site Summary

Tag site only. The watch list returns every point at the site, and a Watch list chart shows them together.

Cross-Site Comparison

Tick Select multiple on the site tag so users can choose several sites at once, and chart the result.

Best Practices

• Check the watch list first. Query preview in the Watch list builder shows exactly which points a selection returns, before any page depends on it
• Keep point names identical across devices. The designer binds a widget to designer.points | filter:{name:'Temperature'}:true | maFirst — an exact, case-sensitive name match that takes the first matching point
• Select narrowly enough for one match. If two points in the current selection share a name, a widget silently shows whichever comes first. Add the tag that tells them apart
• Document the required tags in a text element on the page, so future admins know what tagging a new device needs
• Let permissions do the multi-tenant work. A watch list returns only the points the viewing user may read, so one page can serve several tenants when point read permissions are set per site
• Reuse the watch list in Platform Manager. A device type's layout can include a Watchlist tile, giving operators the same tag-filtered table beside their device views

Troubleshooting

Summary

Tag-driven dashboards replace fixed point references with a Tags watch list and widgets that take their point by name from it. The key is consistency: the same tag keys and the same point names on every device. Build the page once, and new devices appear in its selector as soon as they are tagged.