How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress

Learn how to create, manage and embed stunning dynamic and interactive charts and graphs into your WordPress posts and pages with a few simple steps …

How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress

Insert Graphs Into Posts In WordPress

You’ve heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This certainly applies when you’re presenting or explaining data.

Using graphs and charts can help to break up long text passages, and make statistical data and information more easily digestible.

You can present information using tables, but if you want people to try and interpret complex information with numbers, trends or relationships easily, then graphs and charts are perfect for helping them visualize your data.

Create Colourful Graphs And Charts In WordPress Posts And Pages

Charts and graphs help you explain complex information so people can more easily interpret it!

Need to add charts or graphs to your WordPress pages? This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to use WordPress Visualizer – a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and embed colorful graphs and charts into your WordPress posts and pages that:

  • Your web visitors can engage with
  • Allows you to upload chart or graph data from your computer or a web-based source of data
  • Resizes dynamically for mobile browsing

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Useful Tip

If you plan to display visual data like pie charts, comparison bars or trending graphs containing static information (e.g. historical data), a simple method you can use is to create your graphs or charts using a desktop application, convert these into images and then simply insert your image files into your post or page.

Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins

If you want to add dynamic bar charts and pie charts to WordPress with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.

Fortunately, there is a great free WordPress plugin that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create eye-catching and interactive graphs and charts, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with dynamic information.

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

WP Plugin: Visualizer

Visualizer Plugin URL

You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard (we show you how to do this further below), or access and download WordPress Visualizer from the link below:

http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer

Visualizer Description

WordPress Visualizer is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and embed colorful and mobile-responsive graphs into your WordPress posts and pages with a few mouse clicks.

WordPress 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 components are required.

WordPress Visualizer also contains a variety of built-in 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

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 site’s design. Several options are available for each chart that allow you to customize their look and feel.

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 browsers without requiring the installation of additional plugins.

Plugin Installation

From your WP administration area, select Plugins > Add New from the navigation sidebar menu …

WP Plugin Tutorial

In the Add Plugins screen type “visualizer” into the search field and click enter …

Install WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

Locate the entry in the search results area and click Install Now

Install Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Click OK to go ahead …

Install Visualizer

Activate the plugin after installing it …

Install WP Plugin: Visualizer

You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins section …

Install Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

Once your plugin has been activated, click on Library

Install Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

You can get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library from your admin menu …

Install Plugins

This takes you to the plugin’s Visualizer Library page …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

When you first install the plugin, this section will be empty.

The next step is to add add charts and graphs to your library.

How To Configure The Plugin

To add a chart or graph to the Visualizer library, click on Add New

Visualizer - WP Plugin

A gallery displaying all of the built-in types of charts and graphs available will load on your screen.

Select the type of chart or graph you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

The selected graph/chart type will pop up in a lightbox.

The next step is to upload a CSV file with all the data you want to populate your chart or graph with …

Visualizer

Info

When creating your CSV data file, make sure that:

  • Your first row contains the column headings.
  • Your second row includes the series type (e.g. string, datetime, etc.)

The screenshot below shows how to format your data as explained above …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

If you are unsure about how to format your data CSV, simply study the sample provided with the plugin.

Once you have created your CSV file, 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 and data from your hard drive select ‘From Computer‘ …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

Locate and select your data file and then click on ‘Open‘ …

Visualizer - WP Plugin

The plugin will now import the data and display it using the graph/chart type selected …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Upload CSV File From The Web

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

Info

To learn how to create, save and publish data to a Visualizer chart or graph using Google Spreadsheet, go here:

After importing the 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 then click ‘Next‘ …

Visualizer

Depending on the chart or graph type you have chosen, the plugin will display a number of customization options …

Visualizer

The WordPress Visualizer plugin gives you total control of your chart or graph, and updates your display in real time …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

For example, the pie chart offers various configurable options, such as:

  • General Settings – Configure settings for the chart’s title, 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).

WP Plugin: Visualizer

Once you’re satisfied with the look of your graph or chart, click Create Chart

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

The graph or chart will now be added to the ‘Visualizer Library’ section …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Note that new elements are given a unique ID displayed as a shortcode. As you will see very soon, this lets you embed graphs and charts into your WordPress posts and pages easily and quickly …

Visualizer

Charts and graphs added to the Visualizer Library can be accessed by their type …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

After adding a chart or graph to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, clone it, or trash it …

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

Visualizer Usage

After creating a chart or graph and adding it to Visualizer, adding it to pages and posts is really simple.

First, create a new post or page (or open an existing one) …

Visualizer

Next, place your mouse cursor where you would like to insert your visual element into your content and click on the ‘Add Media‘ button …

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Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …

Visualizer - WP Plugin

Find the graph or chart you want to insert into your content and click the “insert” icon …

WP Plugin: Visualizer

This will place a shortcode into your content …

Visualizer

After you have added your shortcode, click on Publish to publish (or update) your post or page …

Publishing A WordPress Post

After your page/post has been published, click ‘View post’ to see the result …

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

Your page or post displays your item in where you have added the shortcode …

Visualizer

As mentioned previously, Visualizer also displays responsive elements for mobile screens …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

As you can see, Visualizer lets you add and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can update your data and your changes will automatically be reflected throughout your site. This is very convenient if you’re managing interactive chart data in WordPress.

Tutorial

The developers of this plugin have created a series of step-by-step tutorials you can refer to for ways to edit, customize and use Visualizer.

For tutorials on editing, copying, deleting and adding data to your charts, visit the website below:

Congratulations! Now you know how to create great-looking and mobile-responsive charts and graphs in WordPress.

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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)

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