How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
No doubt you’re familiar with the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This certainly applies when you’re trying to present or explain complex information.
Graphs and charts are a great way to make data easier to grasp.
You can present information using tables, but if you want people to try and make sense of complex data with figures, trends or relationships more easily, then charts and graphs are perfect for helping them understand your information.
Charts and graphs help you present complex information so people can more easily interpret it!
If you want to present information visually and dynamically on your WordPress site like graphs and charts, this tutorial will show you exactly how to create attractive and updateable charts to your pages that:
- Your visitors can engage with
- Lets you add graph or chart data from your computer or a web-based data source
- Will resize dynamically for mobile browsers
If you are displaying visual data like pie charts, comparison data or trending graphs which contain information that is not going to change (e.g. historical data), a simple method you can use is to create the graphs or charts using an image editing application, convert these into images and then simply insert your images into your content.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to create dynamic bars and graphs in WordPress content with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.
Fortunately, there is a great free plugin for WordPress users that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create great-looking and mobile-responsive charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with updateable information.
WordPress Plugin: Visualizer
Visualizer Plugin URL
You can install the plugin inside your WordPress dashboard (we will show you how to do this further below), or download the Visualizer plugin the WordPress plugin repository using the link below:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Plugin Description
The Visualizer plugin is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and insert interactive charts into your WordPress posts and pages in a few mouse clicks.
The plugin 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 plugins are needed.
The plugin also contains a variety of built-in that are optimized to address all your data visualization needs, including:
- Line chart
- Area chart
- Bar chart
- Column chart
- Pie chart
- Geo chart
- Gauge chart
- Candlestick chart
- Scatter chart
Visualizer is a flexible and customizable plugin, allowing you to use Google Chart Tools with their default setting, or configure an extensive set of options to match your web design. Various options are available for each chart that let you further 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 blog or site visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile browsers without requiring the installation of additional plugins.
How To Install The Plugin
Inside your WP admin area, select Plugins > Add New from the dashboard menu …
In the Add Plugins page type “visualizer” into the search field and hit enter …
Locate the item in the search results section and click Install Now …
Click OK to proceed …
Activate the plugin after successfully installing it …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins area …
Once the plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by selecting Media > Visualizer Library in your dashboard menu …
This takes you to the plugin’s Visualizer Library options …
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 insert into your posts or pages.
Plugin Configuration
To add a new chart or graph to the Visualizer library, click on the Add New button …
A page will load in your browser with all of the types of charts available.
Select the chart or graph type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
Your graph/chart type will pop up in a lightbox.
The next step is to upload a CSV file containing the data you would like your chart or graph to be populated with …
When creating your CSV data file, make sure that:
- Your first row includes your column headings.
- Your second row includes the series type (e.g. boolean, timeofday, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as per the requirements above …
If you are unsure about how to format your data CSV, simply use the sample supplied with the plugin.
Once you have completed this step, select the 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 click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin will now import your data from the CSV file and display it using the graph/chart type you have previously chosen …
Upload CSV File From The Web
For a tutorial that shows you how to create, save and publish data to a Visualizer chart or graph using Google Spreadsheet, see the article below:
After importing the data, check that all of your information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file containing the correct data), and then click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you have picked, the plugin displays a range of customization settings and options …
The WordPress Visualizer plugin gives you full control of your chart or graph, and updates your display in real time …
For example, the pie chart offers various configurable options, including:
- 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’re happy with the way your chart or graph looks, click on the ‘Create Chart’ button …
The new graph or chart will now be added to the ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that every visual element is given a unique ID displayed in a shortcode. As you will see shortly, this allows you to embed graphs and charts into your posts and pages very easily …
Charts and graphs 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 delete it …
Visualizer Plugin Usage
After creating a element and adding it to the Visualizer Library, adding it to a page is really very simple.
First, create a new post or page (or open an existing one) …
Next, place your mouse cursor where you want to insert your visual element into your content and click on Add Media …
Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …
Find the element to be inserted into your content and click the “insert” icon …
This will add a shortcode for the element into your content …
Once you have finished adding your shortcode, click on Publish to publish (or update) your content …
After publishing your post, click ‘View post’ to see it …
Your chart will appear in the content …
As mentioned earlier, the plugin also displays responsive charts for mobile device browsing …
As you can see, the Visualizer plugin allows you to add and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can update your data and the changes will automatically be reflected throughout your site. This makes adding interactive chart data in WordPress very easy.
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 the Visualizer plugin.
For additional tutorials on editing, cloning, deleting and adding data to your charts, go to the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add colorful and mobile-responsive bar charts and graphs to WordPress.
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com
***