Here are the basic metrics any basic dashboard should have, along with definitions. These are the kinds of metrics that you would hand to your CEO or board to give a high-level view of how things are going. They’re simple, and best seen in the context of time, so the smartest use is to see their period-over-period change in a table or on a graph. More complex metrics are for developers, marketing and community managers who will need to dig deeper into changes. All metrics should be chosen based on the questions your business really needs answers to - see our Practical Metrics blog post on the subject.