Before You Start

This troubleshooting guide assumes you've already created a template with data widgets and have at least one account with connected data sources. If you're new to NinjaCat, start with Configure a Data Widget first.

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Throughout this article, you'll need to access your widget's configuration. In Template Builder, click your widget, then click the wrench icon in the top right to open the Widget Inspector. The Data tab contains all dimension, metric, filter, and date range settings.

Quick Diagnostic Checklist

Before diving into detailed troubleshooting, run through this 60-second checklist:

• Can you see data in the Dataset Explore view? (Data Cloud only)
• Do the date ranges match between your dataset and widget?
• Are filters excluding all your data? (Global filters vs. widget filters)
• Are you using unique metrics? (They behave differently than standard metrics)
• Is your widget connected to the correct data source?

If you answered "no" or "unsure" to any of these, jump to the relevant section below.

Verify Your Data Exists

⏱️ Takes 2 minutes

Before troubleshooting your widget configuration, confirm that data actually exists in your data source.

For Data Cloud Datasets

1. Navigate to Data Cloud > Datasets
2. Click on the dataset your widget is using
3. Click the Explore tab
4. Set the date range to match your widget's date range
5. Click Run Query

If you see data: Your dataset is working. The problem is in your widget configuration. Continue to the next section.

If you see zero rows or "No data": Your dataset sync may have failed or your data source has no data for this date range.

• Check the Sync History tab for errors
• Verify data exists in your provider's platform (Google Ads, Facebook, etc.)
• Review your dataset's data source connections

For Quick Connector Data Sources

1. After clicking on "Accounts" in the Main Navigation Bar, click "Accounts" in the sub-navigation
2. Click on the desired account from the account list
3. In the Account Command Center, look at the Data Sources card
4. Find your data source and verify it shows a recent sync timestamp
5. Click the data source name to view connection details

If you see a recent sync timestamp: Your connection is working. The problem is in your widget configuration. Continue to the next section.

If status shows "Error" or no recent sync: Your data connection needs attention. See Add a NinjaCat Account Data Connection for connection troubleshooting.

Check Date Range Alignment

⏱️ Takes 3 minutes

This is the #1 cause of zero values in widgets.

Common Date Range Issues

Template Default vs. Available Data: Template set to "Last 30 Days" but data source only has data from 2 months ago

Widget Override Mismatch: Widget override set to "Last 7 Days" but no recent data exists in that range

Wrong Dataset Date Field: Using "Created Date" instead of "Modified Date" in your dataset schema

Comparison Period Has No Data: Previous period comparison shows blank because no data exists for that timeframe

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Some data providers have reporting delays. If you're checking very recent data (such as yesterday's performance), it may not be available yet. Check your provider's documentation for specific data availability timelines.

How to Check and Fix Date Ranges

Check Template Default Date Range

1. Access the NinjaCat Template Builder
2. Click on the globe icon (fourth tab) at the top of the right side inspector panel
3. Review the Default Date Range setting

See Change the Default Date Range of a Template for detailed instructions.

Check Widget Date Range Override

1. In Template Builder, click your widget to open the Widget Inspector
2. Click the Data tab
3. Scroll to the Date Range section
4. Check if there's a widget-specific override set

Test with "All Time" Date Range

1. Set your widget's date range to "All Time" temporarily
2. Select an account from the preview dropdown in the top right
3. Click Preview to see if data appears

If data appears: Adjust the date range to a period where you know data exists

If no data appears: Continue to the next troubleshooting section

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If you're using Data Cloud, the date range filter is applied at query time, not sync time. Make sure your dataset's date field matches the date dimension you're expecting.

Inspect Filter Configuration

⏱️ Takes 3 minutes

Filters can unintentionally exclude all data, resulting in zero values. Filters are applied in layers — each layer can potentially eliminate all your data.

Filter Application Order

1. Raw Data from Provider (millions of rows)
2. Dataset-Level Filters (Data Cloud only) — Applied during sync/query
3. Template Global Filters — Applied to ALL widgets in template
4. Widget-Level Filters — Applied only to this specific widget
5. Report Profile Filters — Applied when generating reports (including dimension filters)
6. Final Result = Zero Rows?

Common Filter Issues

Global filter conflicts with widget filter

• Global Filter: "Campaign contains 'Brand'"
• Widget Filter: "Campaign contains 'NonBrand'"
• Result: No campaigns match BOTH conditions

Typo in filter value

• Filter: "Campaign Name = 'Summmer Sale'" (typo)
• Actual campaign: "Summer Sale"
• Fix: Use "Contains" instead of "Equals", or fix the typo

Case-sensitive filter

• Filter: "campaign name = 'brand'"
• Actual value: "Brand" (capitalized)
• Fix: Use "Contains (Case Insensitive)" operator

Filter on empty field

• Filter: "Campaign Group = 'XYZ'" but Campaign Group field is blank for all rows
• Fix: Remove filter or populate the field in your data source

Multiple filters using AND logic

• Filter 1: "Spend > 100"
• Filter 2: "Conversions > 50"
• Result: Only 2 campaigns match both conditions
• Review if you need AND vs. OR logic

How to Debug Filters

1. In Template Builder, click your widget to open the Widget Inspector
2. Click the Data tab
3. Scroll to the Filters section
4. Note all active filters (both widget-level and global filters are shown here)
5. Temporarily remove ALL filters
6. Select an account from the preview dropdown and click Preview
7. If data appears, add filters back one at a time to identify which one is excluding data

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Check if your Global Filters use Library Filters with account-level overrides. The override value might be incorrect for this specific account. See Create a Global Filter for details.

Verify Data Source Selection

⏱️ Takes 2 minutes

If you have multiple instances of the same data source (e.g., two Google Ads accounts), make sure your widget is pulling from the correct one.

How to Check Data Source Configuration

1. In Template Builder, click your widget to open the Widget Inspector
2. Click the Data tab
3. Look at the Data Sources section at the top
4. Verify the correct data source(s) are selected

Common Data Source Issues

Wrong mapping selected

• Widget shows "Google Ads - Client A" but should be "Google Ads - Client B"
• Fix: Click data source dropdown and select correct mapping

Multiple data sources, one is empty

• Widget combines Google Ads + Bing Ads, but Bing Ads has no data
• Fix: Check each data source individually by creating a test widget with only one source

Dataset vs. Quick Connector mismatch

• Widget set to use Quick Connector, but you updated data in Dataset
• Fix: Switch widget to use Dataset instead (Data tab > Data Sources)

Data source connection removed

• Widget shows "Data source not found" or similar error
• Fix: Re-add the data source connection in Account Command Center, then re-add to widget

For Data Cloud Dataset Widgets

• Make sure the Dataset you selected exists and has recent data
• Check the Schema tab in the dataset to verify field names match what your widget expects
• If using Views, verify the View still exists and contains the dimensions you need

Check Dimensions and Metrics Configuration

⏱️ Takes 4 minutes

How you configure dimensions and metrics can significantly impact whether data appears in your widget.

Understanding How Dimensions Segment Data

When you add dimensions to a widget, you're asking NinjaCat to "group by" those fields. If the dimension values don't match between data sources, you'll get zero values.

Example of the Problem:

WRONG Configuration:

• Widget Dimensions: Campaign Name, Ad Group Name
• Data Source A (Google Ads): Has campaign "Brand Campaign"
• Data Source B (Bing Ads): Has campaign "Brand Campaign" BUT different ad group names
• Result: No matching rows when grouped by BOTH Campaign + Ad Group

CORRECT Configuration:

• Widget Dimensions: Campaign Name only
• Result: Data from both sources combines successfully

Common Dimension Issues

Too many dimensions causing data to split

• You have 100 rows of data in your dataset, but 0 rows in widget with 5 dimensions
• Fix: Remove dimensions one by one until data appears

Dimension values don't exist

• Dimension = "Campaign Group" but field is blank in data source
• Fix: Remove dimension or populate field values

Unique metrics with incompatible dimensions

• Using "Unique Users" metric with Campaign dimension (not supported for all combinations)
• Fix: See Understanding Unique Metrics and Dataset Discrepancies — remove incompatible dimensions

Custom dimension not available

• Custom dimension created at template level but trying to use with Dataset
• Fix: Move custom dimension to Dataset transformation OR use dataset dimensions only

How to Debug Dimensions

1. Simplify your widget by removing ALL dimensions except one (e.g., just "Date")
2. Select an account from the preview dropdown
3. Click Preview — does data appear now?
4. If YES: Add dimensions back one at a time to find which one breaks it
5. If NO: The problem is with your metrics (continue reading)

See Dimensions and Metrics for detailed information on how dimensions work.

Common Metric Issues

Using unique metrics incorrectly

• Metric = "Unique Users" but data source doesn't support it or it's being aggregated incorrectly
• Fix: See Understanding Unique Metrics and Dataset Discrepancies

Custom metric formula error

• Custom metric formula references non-existent field
• Fix: Edit custom metric and verify field names are spelled correctly

Metric aggregation mismatch

• SUM vs. AVG vs. COUNT producing unexpected results
• Fix: Check if metric should be summed or averaged — some metrics can't be summed (e.g., CTR)

Division by zero in calculated metric

• Custom metric = Conversions / Spend, but Spend = 0
• Fix: Add null handling: CASE WHEN Spend > 0 THEN Conversions / Spend ELSE 0 END

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Test with simple, standard metrics first (Impressions, Clicks, Spend) before adding custom calculations. This helps isolate whether the issue is with your data or your custom formulas.

Review Views Settings (Data Cloud Only)

⏱️ Takes 2 minutes

If using Data Cloud Datasets, Views control how metrics are aggregated and which dimensions are available.

What to Check

1. Go to Data Cloud > Datasets > Your Dataset
2. Click the Views tab
3. Check which dimensions are included vs. excluded in the View your widget is using

Common Views Issue

Problem: Dataset has "Campaign Name" dimension, but View EXCLUDES it

Result: Widget using "Campaign Name" dimension shows zero because the dimension was aggregated away at the dataset level

How to Fix

Option 1: Include the dimension in your View

Option 2: Don't use that dimension in your widget

Option 3: Create a new View specifically for this widget's needs

See Control Metric Aggregation With Views for detailed instructions.

Test with a Simplified Widget

⏱️ Takes 3 minutes

If you've checked everything above and still see zeros, create a clean test widget to isolate the problem.

Create a Test Widget

1. In Template Builder, add a new Table Widget to your template
2. Configure with the absolute minimum settings:
   • Data Sources: Select ONLY ONE data source
   • Date Range: Set to "All Time"
   • Dimensions: Add only "Date" (or "Day" depending on data source)
   • Metrics: Add only "Impressions" and "Clicks" (or other guaranteed-to-exist metrics)
   • Filters: NONE
3. Select an account from the preview dropdown
4. Click Preview

If you see data: Your original widget has a configuration issue. Compare the test widget settings to your original widget to find the difference.

If you still see zero: Your data source connection has an issue. Return to the "Verify Your Data Exists" section.

Verify Report Profile Settings

⏱️ Takes 2 minutes

If your widget shows data in Template Builder preview but NOT in the generated report, the issue is likely in your Report Profile configuration.

How to Access Report Profile Settings

1. Click on "Reporting" in the top navigation, then click "Reports" in the sub-navigation
2. Locate your report in the Reports List
3. Click the three-dot ellipses menu icon in the Action Column
4. Click "Edit" to open the Report Profile settings

See Reports List Action Menu for more details on accessing report settings.

What to Check

Review the following settings in your Report Profile:

Date Range Override Section

• Is there a report-level date override that's different from your widget?
• Does the override date range contain data?

Account Selection

• Is the report pulling from the correct account?
• Does that account have the necessary data sources connected?

Report Profile Filters

• Are there profile-level dimension filters excluding data?
• Do any report-level filters conflict with template or widget filters?

Common Issue

Template date range: Last 30 Days

Report Profile override: Last 7 Days (but no data in last 7 days)

Result: Report shows zero, but template preview shows data

How to Fix

Remove date range override in Report Profile, OR adjust override to match a date range with data.

See Create Report Profiles for detailed instructions on Report Profile configuration.

Contact Support

⏱️ Response time: 24-48 hours

If you've completed all steps above and still see zero values, contact NinjaCat Support with the following information:

Required Information

• Account Name and Account ID: Your Account Name (Account ID can be copied from Account Command Center)
• Template Name: The name of the template you're working with
• Widget Location: Page number and widget description
• Data Source(s): e.g., "Google Ads - Client A", "Facebook Ads - Main Account"
• Date Range: e.g., "Last 30 Days", "Jan 1 - Jan 31, 2026"
• Steps You've Tried: Reference the sections from this guide that you've completed

Include Screenshots Of

• Widget configuration (Data tab showing dimensions, metrics, filters)
• Dataset Explore view showing data exists (if using Data Cloud)
• The widget preview showing zero values

Expected Response Time: 24-48 hours for configuration issues

Related Articles

• Understanding Unique Metrics and Dataset Discrepancies
• Control Metric Aggregation With Views
• Configure a Data Widget
• Data Widget Custom Options
• Create a Global Filter
• Dimensions and Metrics
• Add a NinjaCat Account Data Connection
• Reports List Action Menu