Count Down / Count Up Gadget

The Count Down / Count Up gadget displays a live, ticking timer driven by a single date. It works in two directions: it can count up from a date in the past — for example, "days since our last safety incident" or "days since launch" — or count down to a date in the future, such as a product release, event, or deadline.

The date can be typed directly into the gadget, or pulled from a Data Table so the value can be updated centrally without editing the template. You control the display format (colon, spaced, single-character, or a simple day count), which time segments appear, and the styling of both the counter and any completion message.

Adding the gadget

1. Open the template where you want the timer to appear and add a new Gadget zone (or edit an existing one).
2. From the gadget picker, select Count Down/Up App.
3. Configure the date, direction, format, and styling using the preferences described below.
4. Save the template. The gadget sizes itself to the zone automatically.

Choosing a date source

The Date Source setting determines where the gadget gets its date. The rest of the date settings change depending on which option you pick.

Manually entered date

When Date Source is set to Manually entered date, the Start/End Date field appears.

From a data table column

When Date Source is set to From a data table column, the Data table picker appears.

The value in the selected Date column drives the timer exactly as a manually entered date would, including an optional time component.

For help creating and managing Data Tables, see the Data Tables article.

Count direction

The Count Direction setting controls whether the timer runs forward or backward.

Display format

Three settings work together to control how the timer reads on screen.

Separator Type

Tip: For long-running "days since" or "days until" counters, Days only is usually the cleanest choice — it drops the hours/minutes/seconds entirely and shows just a day count.

Time segments

For every separator style except Days only, these three toggles control which units appear. Turn off the segments you don't need for a tidier display.

Note: These toggles have no effect when Separator Type is set to Days only, which always shows a single day count.

Styling

Completion behavior (count down only)

When a count down timer reaches its target date, two optional actions can fire. These have no effect in count-up mode.

Example: "Days since our last incident" from a Data Table

A common use for count-up mode is a workplace safety board — "X days since our last incident" — where the reference date needs to be reset whenever an incident occurs. Driving it from a Data Table means a safety manager can reset the counter by editing one cell, with no access to the template required.

1. Create a Data Table with a column holding the incident date and enter the most recent incident date. (See Data Tables.)
2. Add the Count Down/Up App to your template.
3. Set Date Source to From a data table column, select your table, and choose the Date column that holds the incident date.
4. Set Count Direction to Count up from the specified date.
5. Set Separator Type to Days only.
6. Style the counter to suit the board, and set a Tile Color if desired.
7. Save. To reset the counter after an incident, edit the date in the Data Table — no template change needed.

Tips

• Reset without touching the template. Any date that changes periodically — last incident, last deployment, days since a milestone — is a good candidate for the Data Table source, so non-designers can update it safely.
• Match the format to the timescale. Use Days only for multi-day counters and a colon or single-character separator for short countdowns where hours, minutes, and seconds matter.
• Completion message and command apply to countdowns. They fire when a count-down reaches zero; they do nothing in count-up mode.