Blog
A new way to embed Hex apps in Notion
Announcing a new, richer way to embed data from Hex into Notion docs
We use and loveĀ NotionĀ at Hex. Itās where a solid 50% of our organizational Knowledge lives, indexing team structure and priorities, quarterly goals, in-flight projects, and drafts of feature announcement blog posts š. The other half of our collective Knowledge lives directly in Hex, as trusted data-driven insights cataloged in theĀ Knowledge Library.
Why do we keep writing Knowledge with a capital K? We believe there's a difference between one-off insights and real organizational knowledge.
KnowledgeĀ is the sum of facts, accumulated through inquiry and experience. Itās the forest for the trees. The bigger picture. The whole dataset.
Creating this kind of shared understanding is the real mission of a data team, or anyone doing analytical work at all. You may set out to answer a specific question, but what you really want to do is contribute to an organizationās knowledge: the set of things known to be true about the world.
So we're really excited to announce thatĀ embedding Hex apps and cells into Notion docs has never been easier, with Hex's new link preview integration for Notion.Ā The next time you paste a Hex link into a doc, youāll be prompted to āPaste as Previewā or āPaste as Mentionā. The first time you do this you will need to authorize Notion to access your Hex account, but after that it should become seamless to embed rich, interactive previews of Hex apps into any Notion doc.
Hex exists to make data work more impactful. We express this in all kinds of marketing-y ways, but itās a pretty simple concept: No matter how hard you work on a data analysis, if nobody sees the finished product, then it may as well not have happened. For teams using Notion, this may as well read: No matter how hard you work on a data analysis,Ā if you didnāt put it in Notion so everyone could find it, then it may as well not have happened!
Long time listeners will remember theĀ http://noscreenshots.clubĀ and know that Hex has supported iframe-based embedding into Notion for some time. Whatās so different about this new link preview integration and why is it good for Knowledge?
Visibility and Accessibility
Link preview embeds can be made by anyone with edit access to a Hex project, and are then visible to everyone who views the Notion documentā even if they donāt have a Hex account. We of course imagine a world where everyone has a Hex account, but in the sad, grey, husk of a world that we really inhabit, this means more people can get easier exposure to data without even logging in.
Paste as Mention
Hex projects can be embedded as full apps, individual cells, or just as a Mention: an inline, live updated link that includes metadata about the linked project.
Mentions are a lot easier to deal with when youāre looking to build an appendix or reference list of many projects, rather than embed one live interactive app.
Expand preview
Embedding via an iframe is great for placing relevant content right in the same document with helpful context or planning information. But you wouldnāt watch a video called āIceland Scenic Relaxation 9Kā in a 500x500px embed frameā youād want to watch that in full screen, or in IMAX or VR goggles or whatever the kids are doing these days. Same for beautiful data apps!
Link previews can be expanded to fill the entire screen, so the structure of a Notion doc can remain clean and tidy, but viewers can drill in and view apps in full rich detail.
Weāll never pass up an opportunity to make it easier to go from raw data to impactful organizational knowledge. Building a tighter integration with Notion felt like a no-brainer, and weāre excited to keep at it!