Building a branded client portal dashboard in ClickUp

Executive overview

Most client dashboards in ClickUp look utilitarian and impersonal. A few simple widgets, custom images, and text blocks can turn a blank dashboard into a polished client portal.

The approach: build with chat, task, and chart widgets first, then layer in branded graphics created in Canva to give the dashboard a visual identity.

Aesthetic dashboards are not about fancy design — they are about assembling the right widgets and replacing plain headers with custom images.

Core widgets to build first

• Chat widget — create first; name it "Talk with the team" and add all relevant people as watchers
• Task widget — use a task list view if the client has ClickUp access; use an embed widget if they don't
• Pie chart — group by status type to show overall project progress at a glance
• Portfolio widget — summarises progress across lists and folders; requires a paid plan

Building the visual layer with text blocks and images

• Add a text block widget for each section where a header image will go
• Use Canva to create header images at 1000×250 px; 400×800 px works for team profile sections
• Download images as PNG; unzip and upload into text widgets using the /attach command
• Resize and reposition each image after upload to eliminate empty space
• Canva templates for this layout are available inside the ProcessDriven membership

Five things to keep in mind

• Share the dashboard explicitly with each stakeholder — access is not automatic
• Set all relevant people as watchers on the chat widget or they won't receive notifications
• Spacing will look different on different screen sizes; don't over-optimise for one device
• Use embed widgets instead of images if consistent cross-device rendering is critical
• Personalise the images per client by adding their logo and name to the Canva template before downloading

Reusing the dashboard

• Once built, duplicate the dashboard for each new client — do not rebuild from scratch
• Make duplication a step in your client onboarding process
• When duplicating, swap out the branded images for ones customised to that client