Work with charts

You can add a chart element to an infographic template. A chart displays selected data as bars, lines, or other symbols, depending on the chart style you choose. In Business Analyst infographics, sets of data are called series. For chart styles that allow multiple series, you can group and organize variables in series.

Add a chart

You can insert a chart in an infographic template by adding it or replacing another element. As you customize your chart, you can click Undo or Redo to undo or redo an action.

1. In the infographic builder, click Add element. Alternatively, hover over an existing panel and click Add or Replace .
2. Select Chart .

   The Insert chart window appears.

3. Use the data browser to find one or more variables. Optionally, select multiple variables by pressing the Shift key while clicking them. Drag variables to the builder panel.

   The panel automatically generates a preview of the chart. The first variable you add automatically becomes the chart's title. If you added multiple variables at once, no title is created. To edit the title of the chart, click it.

4. When adding multiple variables to a chart, click Append to current series or Replace the current series. For chart styles that allow only one variable at a time, click Replace variable.
5. Use the drop-down menu to select a chart style.

   The default style is Vertical bar chart.

6. To modify the chart, click Chart options or click a component in the chart. See Chart options for more information.
7. To add a series in the chart, click Add series. To modify series, click Edit chart data. See Data series for more information.

   If the chart contains more than one series, select a series on the Current series drop-down menu. Variables are added to the currently selected series.

8. When you are finished, click Apply.

Chart options

You can use chart options to customize the appearance, styling, and calculation methods of your chart. The Chart options pane is organized in expandable sections. The available sections depend on the chart style you select.

• Chart—This section provides options for modifying and customizing the chart's title, margins, and background.

• Annotations—This section allows you to add text, images, and shapes to the chart.

• Data labels—This section allows you to turn data labels, values, and weights on or off. You can also format the appearance of the labels.

• Horizontal axis—This section provides customization options for charts that have a horizontal axis. You can title the axis, turn it off, modify its placement, and modify the labels, line, and ticks. For horizontally oriented chart styles, you can modify the way numbers and measurements are displayed by appending percentage or currency symbols, defining the baseline shift, and styling the baseline.

• Vertical axis—This section provides customization options for charts that have a vertical axis. You can title the axis, turn it off, modify its placement, and modify the labels, line, and ticks. For vertically oriented chart styles, you can modify the way numbers and measurements are displayed by appending percentage or currency symbols, defining the baseline shift, and styling the baseline.

• Grid lines and stripes—This section allows you to display lines, stripes, and ticks that can make your chart more legible. You can turn on vertical and horizontal lines and stripes and customize their appearance.

• Legend—This section allows you to turn the chart legend on and off and modify the legend's appearance and position.

• [selected] chart—This section provides customization options specific to each chart style. Options may include customizing shape fills and outlines, enabling filtering and sorting, and adjusting transparency.

• Conditional styling—This section allows you to set conditional styling, which displays different chart colors based on values or ranges you set.

• Compare with geographies—This section allows you to enable a drop-down menu in the chart that allows the user to compare the chart data with other geographies. You can customize the appearance of the comparison markers as well as the geography levels used.

• Tooltip—This section allows you to format the chart's tooltips, which display selected information about the data when you hover over them. You can style the text, add an interactive panel that links from the tooltip, and customize the content.

Chart styles

You can create many types of charts in Business Analyst infographics. As the data story emerges from your visualizations, you can show different data and adjust properties such as grouping your data, as well as change chart styling.

Bar charts

A bar chart displays variables or categories on one axis and counts, numbers, or ratios on the other axis. The length of each bar represents the value for each category.

• Vertical bar chart—A vertical bar chart displays data in vertical bars.

  

• Horizontal bar chart—A horizontal bar chart displays data in horizontal bars.

  

• Multi-feature vertical bar chart—A multifeature vertical bar chart displays data in vertical bars and groups bars to display the data for multiple sites.

  

• Multi-feature horizontal bar chart—A multifeature horizontal bar chart displays data in horizontal bars and groups bars to display the data for multiple sites.

  

• Vertical picture chart—A vertical picture chart displays data in vertical bars. The bars are composed of an icon, shape, or image that you specify.

  

• Horizontal picture chart—A horizontal picture chart displays data in horizontal bars. The bars are composed of an icon, shape, or image that you specify.

  

Line charts

Line charts show information as data points that are connected by straight lines. Variables or categories are shown on one axis and counts, numbers, or ratios are shown on the other axis. Line charts work best with more than two variables.

• Horizontal line chart—A horizontal line chart displays data as points on the horizontal axis, connected by straight lines.

  

• Vertical line chart—A vertical line chart displays data as points on the vertical axis, connected by straight lines.

  

• Multi-feature horizontal line chart—A multifeature horizontal line chart displays data as points on the horizontal axis, connected by straight lines. Separate lines display the data for multiple sites.

  

• Multi-feature vertical line chart—A multifeature vertical line chart displays data as points on the vertical axis, connected by straight lines. Separate lines display the data for multiple sites.

  

Shape charts

These types of charts show information in static shapes, filling in the shape to represent the amount of a variable in proportion to other variables or minimum and maximum values you set. These charts do not support series.

• Pie chart—A pie chart is a circular chart divided into sections. Each section is proportional to the quantity it represents. A pie chart contains a single series of data points.

  

• Donut chart—A donut chart is a circular chart divided into sections, with a hole in the middle. Each section is proportional to the quantity it represents. A donut chart contains a single series of data points.

  

• Gauge chart—A gauge chart displays a single metric, defined by minimum and maximum values.

  

• Ring chart—A ring chart is a circular chart divided into rings, with each ring representing a variable. Each ring is proportional to the quantity it represents. A ring chart contains a single series of data points.

  

• Waffle chart—A waffle chart shows data as a grid of color-coded shapes, with each color representing a variable. The number of shapes of a color indicates the quantity of the variable.

  

Data series

Data series allow you to group data in a chart. Grouped charts are used for showing information about different subgroups of main categories. A separate column or line represents each of the subgroups, which are displayed in different colors to distinguish them. When configuring series in charts, limit the amount of information to ensure the chart is easy to understand.

In the vertical bar chart below, there are two series: Fluent in English and Not fluent in English. These series describe the groups of variables on the x-axis of this vertical bar chart, creating color-coded subgroups, such as Spanish speakers who speak English, Spanish speakers who do not speak English, and so on.

Using data series is an effective way to communicate information. When creating a chart with series, it is important to start with a clear idea of the groups and subgroups of information you want to display and modify the chart labels accordingly as you go.