The five widgets at a glance
All five widgets run on the same feed and are set up in the same builder. They differ in what they put in front of the reader and how much space they need.
| Widget | What it shows | Instruments | Information density | On mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ticker tape | Symbol, price and change in one running line | A handful to 30 | Low: a glance | Good, takes one line |
| Market watch (quote table) | Rows with price or bid/ask, spread, change, sparkline | Several to 30 | High: comparison | Needs fewer columns |
| Symbol card | One price, daily change and the shape of the move | One | Medium: one instrument | Good, fits the text column |
| Market overview | Several asset classes on tabs | Several per tab | High, but split into tabs | Good, tabs save space |
| Mini chart | Line or candles on a chosen timeframe | One | Medium: the movement | Good at full width |
Ticker tape: the market in one line
The ticker tape is a compact running line for a header or a footer. It shows that the site follows the market without competing with the content. Readers glance at it; they do not study it.
Use it site-wide, in a reusable header or footer block, with the instruments your audience cares about most: the main indices, a few currency pairs, gold, the leading cryptocurrencies. A tape works best when it is short enough that a familiar symbol comes round again within a few seconds.
Market watch: a table for comparison
The market watch widget is a live quote table with one row per instrument. Depending on the market it shows a last price, or bid and ask with the spread, plus the daily change and a sparkline. You choose the columns.
A table is the right choice when the reader needs to compare: a markets section, a broker landing page with a price board, an investor page that follows a peer group. It is the densest widget, so it needs room. Give it the main column, not a narrow sidebar.
Where a market has two sides, as with forex, spot metals and US stocks, bid, ask and spread columns are meaningful. For crypto, indices, commodities and bonds the feed carries the last price, and on the free tier delayed prices are always a single price, so a spread column says little there. The bid, ask and spread guide explains why.
Symbol card: one instrument in context
The symbol card shows one instrument up close: the price, the daily change and the shape of the move. It belongs next to the text that discusses the instrument, in a market review, a product page or a news piece.
Several cards in a row look like a table that lost its alignment. If an article mentions five instruments, a small table usually reads better than five cards.
Market overview: several markets on tabs
The market overview widget groups instruments by tabs, for example stocks, forex, crypto and commodities. You name the tabs, order them and decide what goes into each.
It suits a home page or a markets hub, where readers come with different interests. Keep each tab short and coherent; a tab is a small table, and the same rules about room apply.
Mini chart: how the price moved
The mini chart draws one instrument as a line or as candles on the timeframe you choose. Hovering the plot shows the price and time under the cursor.
Use it where the movement matters more than the last digit: an instrument page, a sidebar next to an analysis, an article about a trend. Pick the timeframe to match the story: an intraday chart for a news piece about today, daily candles for a review of the month. Candles are explained in how candles are built from ticks.
Which widget for which task
Start from what the reader should get from the page.
| Task | Widget | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the market in view on every page | Ticker tape | One line, no space taken from content |
| Show a price board on a broker landing page | Market watch | Bid/ask, spread and change side by side |
| Illustrate an article about one instrument | Symbol card | Price and move next to the paragraph |
| Show the trend behind a story | Mini chart | The shape of the move on a chosen timeframe |
| Cover several markets on a home page | Market overview | Tabs keep several asset classes compact |
| Compare a basket of instruments | Market watch | Rows and columns are made for comparison |
Typical mistakes
Most problems come from putting a widget in the wrong place, not from the widget itself.
- A ticker tape in the middle of the main content. Moving text next to paragraphs pulls the eye away from reading. Keep the tape in the header or footer.
- A 30-row table in a sidebar. A narrow column squeezes the figures and forces long scrolling. Move the table to the main column or cut it to the instruments that matter on that page.
- A spread column for last-price instruments. When bid = ask, the spread is not zero; the instrument is represented by one price. Hide the column for those rows.
- Several widgets of the same kind on one screen. Two tables or a tape plus a table with the same symbols repeat each other.
- Delayed prices presented as live. On the free tier stocks, indices, commodities and bonds are delayed by 15 minutes and labelled. Do not write about intraday moves as if the reader sees them live.
- A theme that fights the page. A dark widget in a light article looks like an advertisement.
Choosing a theme
Every widget comes in three themes, and you can set your own background and accent.
- Dark: for dark sites and for headers or footers that are already dark. Price colors read well on a dark background.
- Light: for articles and pages on white or light grey. Set the accent to your link color so the widget looks native.
- Transparent: the widget takes the background of the page under it. Use it on colored or gradient sections and check contrast with the actual background.
If the widget has to follow your fonts, radii and full palette, that is what the native Pro widgets are for. To place a widget on your site, see how to add live quotes to your website.
Frequently asked questions
Which widget is best for a news site?
For a news site, a ticker tape in the header plus symbol cards or mini charts inside articles usually works best. The tape keeps the market in view, and the cards put a price next to the text that discusses it.
How many instruments can a widget show?
A free widget takes up to 30 instruments in the builder; the symbol card and the mini chart show one. Pro widgets are assembled by our team and are not limited by the builder.
Can I use several widgets on one page?
Yes, several widgets can share a page, as long as each has its own job. A tape in the header and a card in the article complement each other; two tables with the same instruments do not.
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