Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions we’ve been asked
What is the “Developer’s Plan”?
Ducksboard was built on the caffeinated sweat of developers so they are VIPs around here. We let them in through the back to play with our code and in return, Ducksboard get better. Check it out here.Is there a free plan?
Anyone can try Ducksboard for free (see our 30-day trial). Developers can sign up for free access to our APIs here.What if I need more (or less) dashboards than what I signed up for?
No problem! You can adjust your subscription at any time by visiting the account preferences page.What are my payment options?
We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.What can I do with the APIs?
Simply put, an API (application programming interface) lets applications speak to each other. We use APIs to get data, send data, but also to create some kickass little widgets.Do I need to be a developer to use your service?
Absolutely not. With an expanding array of ready-made widgets and a simple drag-and-drop interface, anyone can set up a fully functional dashboard in minutes. Watch how easy it is.Can I customize the branding and domain?
With our Whitelabel plan, you have full control over the site branding (colours, logo), user provisioning and even custom URLs.
Will you be adding more widgets?
We are adding widgets all the time. If you have a suggestion, let us know!Is this safe? Will my data be private and safe?
The short answer: Yes. The long answer: Ducksboard uses no plain text communication whatsoever. Communication between all app components, including connections to the database, the message queue and other HTTP connections, are encrypted. User passwords, access tokens and any other stored information are also encrypted using bcrypt and AES-256. All backups (also encrypted) are stored in a different data center.Can I upgrade / downgrade my account?
Ever notice that upgrading a plan always seems to be a little easier than downgrading it? Not here. You can adjust your Ducksboard account in whatever direction you want, whenever you want. We’ll prorate your account immediately and either issue you a credit or add to your bill.How does the sign up process work?
It’s simple. Choose your plan and sign up. We won’t ask your for a credit card until your trial ends.What does real-time mean? How often does it update?
Real-time means that new data is displayed as soon as we receive it, without any action from the browser. For services that don’t provide real-time information, we poll them as often as their API terms permit us and as often as it’s practical, so for instance Zendesk data is refreshed every 15 minutes, Chartbeat every 60 seconds and so on. For services that have real-time capability, the update is instantaneous. A Twitter search widget will display new tweets immediately after they’re posted and GitHub widgets use the webhooks functionality provided by GitHub to show new commits and issues the exact instant they’re created. Custom widgets (the ones you send your own data to) also update immediately – values sent to our servers show up on the dashboard in about two seconds.Which browsers does Ducksboard support?
At Ducksboard we firmly believe in the right to have a choice. We’re trying our best to support all browsers that are in use, but we are intentionally focusing on latest versions only. The state-of-the-art in Web browsers has changed a lot in the last few years and in order to give our users the best possible experience, we are using the latest and greatest of Web technologies.Ducksboard is routinely tested on the latest stable versions of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera.
If your browser does not support all the features we rely on, you will not be able to use Ducksboard. We have made a concious decision to only support the latest versions of various browsers, so we can dedicate more resources to giving you more features and better user experience.
Most of the time, upgrading your browser to the latest version will solve the issue.
If you believe your browser was incorrectly detected as unsupported and it does indeed support all modern Web standards, please file a ticket and we will take it from there.
How does the free trial work?
Try Ducksboard for 30 days. That’s it. No obligation. No credit card. At the end of your trial, if you choose to sign up, we will ask you for your credit card number. If you don’t sign up, your dashboard will continue to function but in a limited capacity. Public dashboards will no longer work and you will be unable to create new widgets or dashboards. Data updates will only happen daily.How many dashboards can I have?
That’s up to you! At the end of your trial, you will be asked to choose from one of three subscription plans. This way, you just pay for what you need.What are WebSockets and why do I need them?
WebSockets is the name of an Internet technology that Ducksboard uses. We rely heavily on them to provide you with real-time updates and carry out other operations.If you are interested in more technical details, read the article on Wikipedia or the document by the Web standards body W3C.
Some browsers support WebSockets out of the box, for example Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox starting with version 6.0 onwards and Safari starting with version 5.0.0.
Others can use a WebSockets emulation layer using Adobe Flash version 10 or later. Ducksboard automatically detects if your browser supports WebSockets natively and if not, falls back to the Flash implementation.
Finally, some browsers include an old version of the WebSockets funcionality, but it’s disabled by default due to concerns that have been raised about the security of early versions of the WebSockets specification. Example of such browsers are Mozilla Firefox versions 4.0 through 5.0. and Opera from version 11 onwards.
Ducksboard always prefers using the latest, more secure version of WebSockets, except if the browser only supports the older one.
If Ducksboard complains about lack of WebSockets support in your browser, you can try the following steps:
- Install the latest version of Adobe Flash
- Install the latest version of your browser or try a different one that has native support for WebSockets
- For Firefox 4.0 and 5.0 follow this guide to enable WebSockets
- For Opera 11 follow this guide to enable WebSockets support
Can I install Ducksboard on my own server?
No. Ducksboard is a cloud-based, Software as a Service (SaaS) application. We maintain our servers, security and updates so that you don’t have to.Why does Ducksboard ask for write permissions in Twitter?
Ducksboard uses a Twitter feature called streaming API to deliver real-time results of searches to your dashboard. This feature is only available to applications using a read/write token and that is why we have to ask you give Ducksboard read and write permissions for your account.We never send tweets with Ducksboard. We never create lists, follow or unfollow your friends, update your profile or send Direct Messages. We basically don’t use write permissions apart for using the streaming API.
Don’t see your question listed here?
Get in touch!
Email us: contact@ducksboard.com