How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
You’ve no doubt heard the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you’re trying to present and explain complex information.
Using graphs and charts is a great way to make technical data easier to grasp.
You can use tables to present information, but if you want your audience to try and make sense of complex information with numbers, trends or relationships easily, then graphs and charts are perfect for helping them understand the data.
Charts and graphs help explain complex information so people can more easily understand it!
If you need to present dynamic visual content on your WordPress site like charts and graphs, this tutorial will show you how to create eye-catching and updateable graphs and charts to WordPress that:
- Your web visitors can interact with
- Allows you to upload data from your computer or a web-based data source
- Is responsive for mobile browsers
If you plan to display visual data like bar charts, comparison graphs or trending graphs which contain information that is not going to change (e.g. historical data), an easier option is to create the charts or graphs using an image editing application, convert these into jpg and png images and then simply insert the files and an image into your posts.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to easily create interactive bar charts and pie charts in your WordPress pages and posts with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.
Fortunately, there is a great plugin for WordPress sites that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create colorful and interactive charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with updateable data.
WordPress Plugin: Visualizer
Plugin URL
You can install the plugin inside your WP dashboard (see further below), or access and download the WP Visualizer plugin from the link below:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Visualizer Description
The WordPress Visualizer plugin is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and embed beautiful and interactive graphs into your WordPress posts and pages in just a few mouse clicks.
Visualizer uses Google Visualization API to render charts, which support cross-browser compatibility (adopting VML for older IE versions) and cross-platform portability to iOS and new Android releases, and are based on pure HTML5/SVG technology (adopting VML for old IE versions), so no additional addons are required.
The plugin also contains a variety of charts optimized for your data visualization needs, including:
- Line chart
- Area chart
- Bar chart
- Column chart
- Pie chart
- Geo chart
- Gauge chart
- Candlestick chart
- Scatter chart
The plugin is also flexible and customizable, allowing you to use Google Chart Tools with their default setting, or configure an extensive set of options to match the look and feel of your website. A number of options are available for each chart that let you customize their settings.
Additionally, charts are rendered using HTML5/SVG technology to provide cross-browser compatibility (including VML for older IE versions) and cross-platform portability to iPhones, iPads and Android devices. Your web visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile devices without having to install any additional software.
How To Install The Visualizer Plugin
Inside your WordPress administration area, select Plugins > Add New from the dashboard menu …
In the Add Plugins page type in search for “visualizer” and hit enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results section and click the “Install Now” button …
Click OK to proceed …
Activate the plugin …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins section …
Once your plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can also get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library in the admin menu …
This brings up the plugin’s Visualizer Library settings …
When you first install the plugin, this section will be empty.
The next step is to add the charts and graphs to your library that you will want to display in your posts or pages.
Visualizer Configuration
To add a graph or chart to the library, click on ‘Add New’ …
You will be presented with all of the default types of charts available.
Select the chart or graph type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
The graph/chart type will pop up in a new window.
The next step is to upload a CSV file with the data you want to populate your chart or graph with …
When creating your CSV data file, ensure that:
- The first row contains the column headings.
- Your second row contains the series type (e.g. boolean, date, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as explained above …
If you are unsure about how to format your CSV file, simply study the sample CSV file supplied with the plugin.
Once you have done this, select your data source (‘From Computer’ or ‘From Web’) in the ‘Upload CSV File’ section.
Upload CSV File From Computer
To upload the CSV file from your computer select ‘From Computer‘ …
Use the browser to locate and select your file and then click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin will now import the data and display it using the graph/chart type you have previously selected …
Upload CSV File From The Web
To learn how to create, save and publish data to a Visualizer chart or graph using Google Spreadsheet, see the article below:
After importing your data, make sure that all of your information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a data file with the correct data), and click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you’ve selected, the plugin will display a range of customization settings and options …
The plugin gives you full control over your chart or graph, and updates your display in real time …
For example, the pie chart offers many configurable options, such as:
- General Settings – Configure chart title settings, font styles, tooltip, and legend.
- Pie Settings – Create 3D pie charts, draw slices counterclockwise, set the text content displayed on the slice, create a “donut” pie chart, rotate the chart’s “start” angle and set the slice border color.
- Residue Settings – Set the ‘Visibility Threshold’ (the slice relative part, below which a slice will not show individually.), ‘Residual Slice Label’ (the label for the combination slice that holds all slices below slice visibility threshold, e.g. “Other”), and ‘Residue Slice Color’.
- Slice Settings – Customize the ‘Slice Offset’ (how far to separate the slice from the rest of the pie), and ‘Slice Color’.
- Layout & Chart Area – Configure the layout (total size of chart) including the width and height of the chart as a number of percentage, background color for the main area of the chart and the chart border width and color, and the placement and size of the chart area (where the chart itself is drawn, excluding axis and legends).
Once you are satisfied with the look of your chart or graph, click Create Chart …
The new graph or chart will be added to the Visualizer ‘Library’ …
Note that each element is given a unique ID displayed in a shortcode. As you will see in just a moment, this lets you easily embed graphs and charts into your content …
Graphs and charts added to the Visualizer Library can be accessed by their type …
After a new chart or graph has been added to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, clone it, or trash it …
Visualizer Usage
After you’ve created a new chart or graph and added it to the Visualizer Library, it’s easy to add it to pages and posts.
First, create a new post or page (or open an existing one) …
Next, place your mouse cursor where you would like to insert your visual element into the content and click on Add Media …
Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …
Find the chart or graph you want to add to your content and click on the “insert” icon …
This inserts a shortcode into your content …
After you have finished adding your shortcode, click on Publish to publish (or update) your page or post …
Once the post has been updated, click ‘View post’ to see the result …
Your post or page will display your element in the location you specified …
As mentioned previously, the plugin also displays responsive visual elements for mobile device viewing …
As you can see, WordPress Visualizer lets you insert and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can modify your data and the changes will automatically be reflected wherever you have inserted your charts, graphs, comparison bars , etc. in your website. This makes managing interactive chart information in WordPress really efficient.
The developers of this plugin have created a number of step-by-step tutorials you can use to learn how to edit, customize and use Visualizer.
For tutorials on editing, cloning, deleting and adding data to your charts, refer to the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add appealing and interactive bar charts and graphs to WordPress with WP Visualizer.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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