Notebooks
Write up findings next to live charts, funnels, and Sankeys in a block-based document.
Notebooks are documents that live next to your dashboards. Use them to write up an investigation, a weekly report, or a launch review, and add the charts, funnels, and Sankeys that back it up. They stay live, so the numbers update as new data comes in.
Creating a notebook
- Open the Dashboards page of your project
- Click New and choose Notebook (if you’re inside a folder, the notebook is created there)
- Give it a name by typing in the title at the top
A new notebook starts blank and offers a few ways to start:
- Investigation outline: adds Question, What we found, Evidence, and Next steps headings to fill in
- Chart, Funnel, Sankey, or Dashboard link: adds one straight away
Or just start typing.
Notebooks save automatically about a second after you stop typing. The status in the top right shows Saving…, Saved, or Not saved · Retry if a save failed. If you try to leave the page while a save is still pending, your browser asks you to confirm.
Blocks
A notebook is a list of blocks. Type / anywhere to open the block menu, then keep typing to filter it, for example /todo or /sql. Use the arrow keys and Enter to pick a block.
| Block | Use it for | Markdown shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Plain writing | |
| Heading 1 | A section heading | # |
| Heading 2 | A smaller heading | ## |
| Heading 3 | The smallest heading | ### |
| Bulleted list | A simple list | - , * , + |
| Numbered list | Steps in order | 1. or 1) |
| To-do list | Follow-ups to check off | [] or [x] |
| Quote | Feedback or a citation | > |
| Callout | Making a finding stand out | |
| Code | SQL, JSON, or other code | ``` |
| Divider | Separating sections | --- |
Markdown shortcuts work when typed at the start of a text block. Press Tab to indent a block one level deeper than the block above it, and Shift Tab to outdent it.
Formatting text
Select text to show the formatting toolbar, or type the Markdown directly and it is applied as you close it:
| Format | Markdown | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Bold | **bold** | Mod B |
| Italic | *italic*, _italic_ | Mod I |
| Underline | Mod U | |
| Strikethrough | ~~strike~~ | Mod Shift S |
| Inline code | `code` | Mod E |
| Link | [text](url) | Mod K |
Links can point to http, https, and mailto addresses, or to a path within FastStats such as /project/my-project/dashboards. Hold Mod and click a link to open it while editing.
Pasting Markdown
Pasting Markdown or plain text turns each line into a block: headings, lists, to-dos, quotes, fenced code, and dividers are all recognized. Copying blocks from one notebook and pasting them into another keeps them exactly as they were, charts included.
Charts
Charts, funnels, and Sankeys bring live data from your project into a notebook. Add one from the / menu under From this project:
| Block | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Chart | A saved chart or table, kept live |
| Funnel | Conversion between steps |
| Sankey | Paths between pages and events (web projects) |
| Dashboard link | A card that opens one of your dashboards |
When you add a chart, funnel, or Sankey, a picker opens. Search for an existing chart, funnel, or Sankey by name, or choose New chart, New funnel, or New Sankey at the bottom of the list. Creating something new opens the builder, and when you save you’re brought back to the notebook with it already added.
Hover a chart to see where it lives, Replace it with a different one, or Open it in its own page.
Charts, funnels, and Sankeys created from a notebook belong to that notebook. They don’t show up in the Dashboards library on their own, but you can find them under the notebook in the sidebar. Deleting the notebook deletes them too, and duplicating the notebook makes copies of them for the new notebook.
If a chart is deleted, or you don’t have access to it, the notebook shows a placeholder where you can Choose another or Remove it.
Organizing blocks
Hover a block to show its handle on the left:
- Drag the handle to move the block
- Click the handle to open its menu: Turn into another block type, Duplicate, Move up, Move down, or Delete
Press Esc while typing to select the current block. With blocks selected, you can extend the selection with Shift ↑ / Shift ↓, and then move, indent, duplicate, or delete them all at once.
Keyboard shortcuts
Mod is ⌘ on macOS and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.
While typing
| Hotkey | Description |
|---|---|
/ | Open the block menu. |
Enter | Start a new block. Shift Enter adds a line break instead. |
Mod Enter | Check or uncheck a to-do. In a code block, start a new line below it. |
Tab / Shift Tab | Indent or outdent the block. In a code block, Tab inserts spaces. |
Mod D | Duplicate the block. |
Mod Shift ↑/↓ | Move the block up or down. |
Mod A | Select the line; press again to select every block. |
Mod Z | Undo. |
Mod Shift Z | Redo (Mod Y also works). |
Esc | Select the current block. |
With blocks selected
| Hotkey | Description |
|---|---|
↑ / ↓ | Select the previous or next block. |
Shift ↑ / ↓ | Extend the selection. |
Mod Shift ↑ / ↓ | Move the selected blocks. |
Tab / Shift Tab | Indent or outdent the selected blocks. |
Mod D | Duplicate the selected blocks. |
Backspace / Delete | Delete the selected blocks. |
Enter | Start editing the selected block. |
Esc | Clear the selection. |
Sharing and exporting
Open the ⋯ menu in the top right of a notebook to:
- Copy link: share the notebook with anyone who has access to the project
- Copy as Markdown: copy the whole notebook as Markdown, with charts written as links to the chart, funnel, Sankey, or dashboard
- Rename, Move to… a folder, Duplicate, or Delete the notebook