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

Creating Stunning Charts And Graphs In A Post In WordPress

No doubt you’re familiar with the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you are trying to present or explain data.

Using graphs and charts can help to make technical data much simpler to grasp.

You can present information using tables, but if you want your audience to try and make sense of complex information with numbers, percentages and comparisons more easily, then charts and graphs are perfect for helping them interpret the information.

How To Embed Graphs And Charts Into A Post Or Page In WordPress

Charts and graphs help you explain complex data so your audience can more easily understand it!

If you need to display dynamic visual content on your WordPress site like charts and graphs, this step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create beautiful and updateable graphs and charts to your WordPress posts that:

  • Your web visitors can engage with
  • Lets you upload chart or graph data from your computer or a web-based data source
  • Dynamically resizes for mobile viewers

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

Tip

If you are displaying visual data like bar charts, comparison charts or trending graphs that contain static information (e.g. historical data), an easier way to add the information is to create your graphs or charts using a desktop application, convert these into jpg and png files and then simply add your image to your site content.

Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins

If you want to easily embed interactive bar charts and graphs into 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 beautiful and dynamic charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with updateable information.

Visualizer – WP Plugin

Visualizer

Visualizer Plugin URL

You can install the plugin inside your WordPress dashboard (explained a little further down the page), or access and download WordPress Visualizer from the link below:

http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer

Plugin Description

WP Visualizer is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and insert appealing graphs into your WordPress posts and pages in a few simple steps.

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 comes with a variety of charts 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 also flexible and customizable, 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 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 web browsers without requiring the installation of any extra software.

How To Install The Plugin

From your WP dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the main menu …

Install Plugins

In the Add Plugins page type search for “visualizer” and hit enter …

Install Visualizer

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

Install Visualizer - WP Plugin

Click OK to continue …

Install Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

Activate the plugin after installing it …

Install Visualizer - WP Plugin

You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins page …

Install Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Once your plugin has been activated, click on Library

Install Visualizer - WP Plugin

You can get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library in the dashboard menu …

Install WordPress Plugins

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

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

When you first install the plugin, the library contains no charts.

The next step is to add the charts and graphs to your library that you will want to insert into your posts or pages.

Visualizer Plugin Configuration

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

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

You will be presented with all of the built-in kinds of graphs available.

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

WP Plugin: Visualizer

The graph/chart type will open up in a lightbox.

The next step is to upload a CSV file containing your data …

Visualizer

Important

When creating your CSV data file, make sure that:

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

The screenshot below shows how to format your data as required …

Visualizer - WP Plugin

If you are not sure how to format your CSV file, simply use the sample supplied with the plugin.

Once you have created your CSV file, select the data source (‘From Computer’ or ‘From Web’) in the ‘Upload CSV File’ section.

Upload CSV File From Computer

To upload a CSV file and data from your hard drive select ‘From Computer‘ …

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

Use the browser to locate and select your data file and click on ‘Open‘ …

Visualizer

The plugin will now import your data from the CSV file and display it using the graph/chart type you have chosen …

Visualizer

Upload CSV File From The Web

Visualizer

Important

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 the information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file with the correct data), and then click ‘Next‘ …

Visualizer - WP Plugin

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

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

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

Visualizer

For example, the pie chart offers various 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).

WordPress Plugin: Visualizer

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

Visualizer

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

WP Plugin: Visualizer

Note that each new element is given a unique ID displayed as a shortcode. As you will see in a moment, this allows you to add graphs and charts to your pages quickly and easily …

Visualizer Plugin For WordPress

Graphs and charts added to the Visualizer Library can easily be accessed by type …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

After adding an item to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, duplicate it, or delete it …

Visualizer

Visualizer Usage

After creating a chart or graph and adding it to the Visualizer Library, it’s easy to insert it into a post.

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

WP Plugin: Visualizer

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

@@@

Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …

WP Plugin: Visualizer

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

WP Plugin: Visualizer

This will place a shortcode for the element into your content …

Visualizer - WP Plugin

After you have finished adding your element, click on Publish to publish (or update) your post or page …

Publishing A WordPress Post

After updating the page, click ‘View post’ to see it …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

Your post or page should display the chart in the location you specified …

Visualizer

As mentioned earlier, Visualizer also displays responsive graphs and charts for mobile screens …

Visualizer - WordPress Plugin

As you can see, the Visualizer plugin allows you to insert and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can edit your data and your changes will automatically be reflected wherever you have inserted your charts, graphs, comparison bars , etc. in your website. This makes working with dynamic graph data in WordPress really efficient.

Tutorial

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

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to create beautiful and interactive pie charts and graphs in WordPress with WP Visualizer.

***

"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum

***

Originally published as How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress.