KPI Formula, Trend & Big Number Dashboard Documentation

KPI Formula, Trend & Big Number Dashboard for Jira renders big-number KPI cards on a Jira dashboard. Each card defines its own metrics — labelled A, B, C… — where a metric is one JQL query plus one aggregation: count, sum, average, min or max of a numeric field, or a derived per-issue value such as cycle time (date difference), age (days since) or runway (days until). The card then shows one metric or a formula over them — {Done} / {Total} * 100 — formatted as a number or a duration, optionally compared to the previous period (▲ 12 %, ▲ 9, or "was 33"), coloured by threshold rules, and laid out on a drag-and-drop grid or as a list.

Getting Started

1. 1 On a Jira dashboard, Add gadget → KPI Formula, Trend & Big Number Dashboard, then ··· → Configure.
2. 2 Click + Add card. The card modal opens on the Data tab.
3. 3 Under Define your metrics, give metric A a JQL and an aggregation; add B if you need a ratio.
4. 4 Under Choose what to show, pick a single metric or write a formula; optionally turn on Compare.
5. 5 Set the format on the result bar, style the card on the Style tab, close the modal, arrange the grid, Save.

Cards

The Cards panel lists every card with its accent swatch and title, plus Edit, Hide from dashboard / Show on dashboard and Delete. Cards are self-contained: each carries its own metrics, so a card can be understood — and copied — on its own. Identical queries across cards are fetched once.

Metrics

Each metric row has a label, an aggregation, a JQL, and a date-filter choice.

Derived values

The field list ends with four values Jira doesn't store but two dates imply:

Filter by date

Don't filter (count all) leaves the JQL as written. Choosing a date field under Within the dashboard date range, by… makes the metric follow the gadget's period picker: the window is added to the JQL on that field, and the previous period becomes available for comparison. Use it for anything that should move with time — created, resolved, due — and leave it off for point-in-time counts like "open bugs right now".

What to Show

Formulas

Reference metrics by label in braces and combine them with + - * / ( ). Click a metric chip to insert it; typing { opens autocomplete with live values.

• {Done} / {Total} * 100 — completion percentage.
• {Created} - {Resolved} — net flow for the period.
• {Points} / {People} — load per person.

Division by zero or a missing operand renders as -, never as a wrong number. Formula changes recompute instantly without re-querying Jira.

Compare to previous period

The badge compares the card's value with the same formula evaluated over the previous period — the window immediately before the selected one, of the same length in the picker's granularity (This month → last month; Last 4 weeks → the four weeks before). % change reads ▲ 12 %; absolute reads ▲ 9 in the card's format; show previous reads "was 33". Every metric the formula uses must have Filter by date set — the editor warns if one doesn't, because an unfiltered metric is the same in both periods and the comparison would stay flat.

The Period Picker

Once any metric has Filter by date set, a period picker appears above the cards — in the editor and on the dashboard. Pick a granularity (Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year) and a preset, or a custom range:

Presets that include today carry a ~ badge — "current period, may be incomplete". The period is one setting for the whole gadget; viewers can change it on the dashboard for their session, and the gadget reopens on the period you saved.

Style

Format

Colouring

Rules of the form Value ≥ / > / ≤ / < / = / ≠ threshold → colour, added with + Add Rule. When several rules match, the one whose threshold is closest to the value wins, so ≥ 0 green, ≥ 50 yellow, ≥ 80 red behaves as bands. The rule colours the big number.

Shape, accent, description

The number auto-shrinks to fit its card, so long values never truncate. The Style tab has a live preview at the card's true proportions.

Gadget Layout

Drill-down

Click a card's number (or its View issues in Jira icon) and a popup lists every metric behind the value with a Current button — and, when comparing, a Previous button — each opening the exact JQL, period included, in Jira's issue navigator in a new tab.

Troubleshooting

A card shows "-"

The formula couldn't produce a finite number: division by zero, or a reference to a metric that no longer exists. Check the metric labels the formula uses.

A metric shows 0 although the JQL matches issues

Three usual causes: the aggregation is Sum/Average/Min/Max but no field is selected; the JQL is one Jira rejects (paste it into the issue navigator); or Filter by date is on and the current period contains none of the matching issues.

The comparison badge stays at 0 % or —

A metric the card uses has no date filter, so its value is identical in both periods; or the previous period's value is zero, so a percentage change is undefined. Set Filter by date on every metric, or switch to the absolute or "show previous" badge.

The period picker isn't showing

It appears once at least one metric on any card has Filter by date set.

Durations look wrong

Duration format expects seconds. Time-tracking fields and Date difference are seconds; Days since / Days until are days — show those as Numbers with a "d" suffix.

Data isn't refreshing

The gadget queries Jira when it loads and when the period changes. Reload the dashboard for fresh numbers.

Related reading

• Plugio Suite — Number widget — the same values-and-formula model on a full-page dashboard builder: one scope, period and filter bar shared by every widget, previous-period baselines everywhere, viewer-editable filters, and a Text widget that weaves the same values into live sentences.
• Plugio Panels — KPI widget — the same metric rows and formulas on the Jira issue itself, each value with its own source: sub-tasks, children, the full hierarchy, linked work or JQL relative to the issue.
• 12 things native Jira dashboards can't do.

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