Managing Metrics

When you first set up Vitals, you get a set of standard metrics that cover the most common things churches track. These are the building blocks most leadership teams start with. Behind the scenes, each metric has an internal slug (a short code) that keeps your integrations working perfectly — even if you rename the metric to something your team likes better.

The internal slug is what integrations like Planning Center use to match imported data to the right metric on your dashboard. Renaming a metric never changes its slug, so your data always lands in the right place.

Not every church tracks every number — and that is perfectly okay. If your church does not currently track baptisms or online viewers, there is no reason for those to clutter up your dashboard. Hiding a metric keeps things clean and focused for your team.

Here is the important part: hidden metrics still record data behind the scenes. So if your Planning Center integration sends over online viewer counts, that data is safely stored even though you have hidden the metric. Whenever you are ready to start paying attention to that number, just flip it back on and all your historical data will be right there waiting.

1. 1Go to Settings → Metrics.
2. 2Find the metric you want to hide.
3. 3Click the eye icon on the right side of the row to toggle visibility.
4. 4The metric disappears from the dashboard and reports immediately.

Every church has its own language. Your team might say "Weekend Worship" instead of "Adult Attendance," or "Life Groups" instead of "Group Attendance." Vitals lets you rename any metric so your dashboard speaks your language.

Cornerstone Church renamed "Adult Attendance" to "Weekend Worship" because that is what their team calls it. The data still syncs perfectly from Planning Center — renaming the display label never changes the internal connection.

1. 1Go to Settings → Metrics.
2. 2Click the pencil icon next to the metric you want to rename.
3. 3Type your preferred display name (e.g., “Weekend Worship” instead of “Adult Attendance”).
4. 4Press Enter or click Save.

Your church probably tracks things that are not on the default list — and those numbers matter just as much. Track prayer requests, food pantry visits, or parking lot counts — whatever matters to your ministry. Custom metrics work just like standard metrics: they appear on the dashboard, roll into reports, and support historical charting.

1. 1Go to Settings → Metrics → Add Custom Metric.
2. 2Enter a name for the metric (e.g., “Prayer Requests” or “Food Pantry Visits”).
3. 3Choose the data type: Number, Currency, or Percentage.
4. 4Click Save. The metric appears on your dashboard immediately.

The order of metrics in Settings → Metrics controls the order they appear on the dashboard and in reports. Just drag any metric row to a new position — your changes are saved automatically.

Most leadership teams want Total Attendance and Total Giving at the very top so they can see the big picture without scrolling. After that, arrange things in whatever order makes sense for your Monday morning staff review.

Not sure where to start? Here is what we typically see churches track based on their size. These are just starting points — you can always add or remove metrics as your church grows and your needs change.