A Text Block widget puts formatted text on a dashboard. Think of a page of notes beside the numbers: guidelines, a process, who to ask. You write the text in an editor with headings, links, lists, images and colors, and it saves as you type.

Here is the test: do readers need more than one line of explanation beside the data? If yes, add a Text Block. For a single line with a title, use a Heading widget. For a message on a colored strip with a button, use a Simple Banner widget.

Example: the Security lead adds a Text Block to the Vendor risk overview, renamed How to use this dashboard. Three short paragraphs tell Procurement and Finance what each widget answers and who to ask, with the program's diagram inserted under them.

The How to use this dashboard Text Block on the Vendor risk overview, with a heading, two short paragraphs and a bulleted list.

Plan Availability	All plan types.
Permissions	Solution Managers and members with Full Access add and change widgets on a public dashboard; the owner does on a private one.
Platform	Web
Related Reading	Heading widget FAQ widget SmartDoc Field Manage widgets on a dashboard.

Adding a Text Block widget

Set the View | Edit switch in the upper right to Edit.
Select + Add Widget in the toolbar. The Add New Widget sidebar opens on the right with a Search Widget box and thirteen collapsible categories. Page Display is open to start.
Open Page Display and select the Text Block card. Its info icon reads "Add rich text, images to add context to your Dashboards."
A modal editor opens. The toolbar runs across the top; Cancel and Add Widget sit at the foot. Write the text, then select Add Widget.

The widget lands on the dashboard with the header title Text Block. Drag it by its handle to move it.

The modal editor with the toolbar across the top and Cancel and Add Widget at the foot.

The editor

The toolbar across the top holds Text Style, Bold, Italic, Underline and Strikethrough. Then Text Align, Text Color, Highlight Color and Code. Then Add Link, Quote, Bulleted List, Numbered List and Insert Checklist.

Text Style

A list of nine styles, reading Normal Text to start. The styles are Normal Text, Small Text, Heading 1 through Heading 6 and Code Snippet. The overview's block uses Heading 2 for its first line and Normal Text for the rest.

Tip: Use one heading style for the sections and short paragraphs under each. A text longer than the screen belongs in a Document view, with a link to it from the Text Block.

Slash commands

An empty line shows the hint "Tip: Type '/' for commands". A focused line shows "Tip: Press 'Space' for AI, '/' for commands". Type / and a menu opens in two groups. Typing after the slash filters it.

The Basics: Insert Emoji, Insert Divider Line, Insert Image, Insert Video, Insert Attachment and Insert Date.
Advanced: Insert Code Block, Insert Checklist, Table of contents, Insert Table and Insert Callout.

Insert Image

Select Insert Image from the slash menu. A file picker opens, "Select Files to Upload", with drag and drop and paste. Its sources run down the left: My Device, Link, Take Photo, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, Unsplash, Facebook and Instagram. The overview's block holds the program's diagram this way.

The slash menu open with The Basics and Advanced, Insert Image highlighted.

Permissions

Solution Managers and members with Full Access add and change widgets on a public dashboard. The owner does so on a private one. Every member who can open the dashboard reads the text. See Dashboard Settings. A shared read-only page shows the text too; see Public Dashboard Sharing.

Using the widget

In View mode the Text Block reads like a page. Headings, lists, checklists, images and links show as you formatted them. A link opens in the browser.

A Filter widget and a Record Selector do not change a Text Block. It holds no records.

The widget shows in the SmartSuite mobile app for iOS and Android.

Editing a Text Block widget

In Edit mode, hover over the widget and select Edit in the strip that appears above it. The editor reopens as a modal titled with the widget's name, with a three-dot menu, a help icon and an X in its header. The foot shows a Connected status on the left and one Close button on the right: the text saves as you type, and there is no Save Changes.

Note: The editor autosaves. Every change to the text is live for every viewer as soon as it is made, so draft a long rewrite elsewhere and paste it in.

The header's three-dot menu holds Exit Fullscreen, Highlight Color, Settings, Rename, Add Description, Duplicate Widget and Export. Rename sets the widget's title; Add Description adds a line under it. The strip's own menu offers Delete Widget; see Managing Widgets.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change or hide the widget title?

Change it with Rename in the editor's three-dot menu.

Who can change the text?

Anyone who can edit the dashboard: Solution Managers and members with Full Access on a public dashboard, the owner on a private one.

Can I add an image?

Yes. Type / and choose Insert Image, then upload a file, paste a link or pick from a connected drive.

Can I paste text from a document?

Yes. Paste into the editor. Headings, lists and links are kept where the editor has a matching style.

Does the Text Block show on the phone?

Yes. The widget is supported in the mobile app for iOS and Android.

Last verified 30 Oct 2026.

Text block widget