How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
You’ve heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you are presenting or explaining complex data.
Using graphs and charts is great for making technical or statistical data more easily digestible.
You can present data with tables, but if you want people to try and make sense of complex data with numbers, trends and comparisons quickly, then graphs and charts allow you to present data in an intelligent and meaningful way that can be quickly and easily understood.
Graphs and charts help explain complex data so people can more easily interpret it!
If you want to learn how to present dynamic visual content on your WordPress site like graphs and charts, this tutorial will show you how to create great-looking and updateable graphs and charts to WordPress that:
- Your web visitors can engage with
- Lets you upload data from your computer or a web-based source of data
- Will dynamically resize for mobile browsing
If you plan to display visual data like bar charts, comparison data 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 images and then simply add the files and an image to your pages or posts.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to easily add dynamic bar charts and pie graphs to WordPress with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.
Fortunately, there is a great plugin for WordPress that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create great-looking and interactive graphs and charts, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with dynamic information.
WordPress Plugin: Visualizer
Plugin URL
You can install the plugin in your WP dashboard (we will show you how to do this further down the page), or download Visualizer from the link below:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Visualizer Plugin Description
The Visualizer plugin is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and insert dynamic charts and graphs into your WordPress posts and pages with 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 needed.
The plugin also contains 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. Various options are available for each chart that allow you to fully 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 browsers without having to install additional software.
How To Install The Plugin
From your WordPress admin area, select Plugins > Add New from the dashboard menu …
In the Add Plugins screen 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 page …
Once your plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can also get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library from the main menu …
This takes you to the plugin’s Visualizer Library settings …
After installing the plugin, this section will be empty.
Your next step is to add add charts and graphs to the plugin library.
Visualizer Plugin Configuration
To add a chart or graph to the library, click on Add New …
An image gallery displaying all of the default types of graphs and charts available will load on your screen.
Select the graph or chart type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
The graph/chart type will open up in a new window.
The next step is to upload a CSV file containing your data …
When creating your CSV data file, make sure that:
- The first row contains the column headings.
- Your second row includes the series type (e.g. boolean, datetime, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as per the requirements above …
If you are not sure how to format your data CSV, just download the sample spreadsheet that comes 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 your CSV file from your computer select ‘From Computer‘ …
Locate and select your file and then click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin imports your data and displays it using the graph/chart type 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, go here:
After importing the data, check that all of the information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file containing the right data), and click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you have selected, the plugin will display a number of customization settings and options …
Visualizer gives you complete control over your information, and updates your display in real time …
For example, the pie chart offers various configurable options, including:
- 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 a 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 look of your chart or graph, click Create Chart …
Your new chart or graph will now be added to the ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that new visual elements are given a unique ID displayed in a shortcode. As you will see shortly, this allows you to easily insert graphs and charts into your content …
Graphs and charts added to the Visualizer Library can easily be accessed by their type …
After adding a chart or graph to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, duplicate it, or trash it …
Visualizer Usage
After creating a new element and adding it to the Visualizer Library, it’s simple to add it to a page or post.
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 the content and click on the ‘Add Media‘ button …
Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …
Find the chart or graph you want to insert into your content and click on the “insert” icon …
This will place a shortcode into your content …
After you have finished adding your element, click on Publish to publish (or update) your post or page …
After updating the post, click ‘View post’ to see the result …
The visual element will show up in the content …
As mentioned earlier, Visualizer also displays responsive charts for mobile devices …
As you can see, Visualizer allows you to insert and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can edit your data and the changes will automatically be reflected throughout your site. This is one of the great benefits of using the Visualizer plugin if you’re managing dynamic chart data in WordPress.
The developers of this plugin have created a number of step-by-step tutorials you can refer to for ways to edit, customize and use Visualizer.
For additional tutorials on editing, copying, deleting and adding data to your charts, visit the website below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to insert stunning charts and graphs into WordPress with WP Visualizer.
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