How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
No doubt you’re familiar with the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This certainly applies when you are presenting and explaining complex data.
Using graphs and charts is great for making statistical data more easily digestible.
You can present data using tables, but if you want people to try and make sense of complex information with numbers, trends or comparisons more easily, then charts and graphs let you present your data in a meaningful and intelligent way that can be quickly and easily understood.
Graphs and charts help you explain complex information so your audience can more easily understand it!
If you need to present information visually and dynamically on your WordPress site using charts and graphs, this step-by-step tutorial will show you exactly how to create colorful and updatable charts to your posts that:
- Your visitors can interact with
- Lets you add data from your computer or an online source of data
- Is responsive for mobile browsing
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 graphs or charts using an image editing application, convert these into jpg and png images and then simply add your images to your content.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to insert 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 plugin for WordPress that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create attractive and dynamic charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with updateable content.
Visualizer – WordPress Plugin
Visualizer URL
You can install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard (explained a little further below), or access and download Visualizer the WP free plugin directory using the link below:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Visualizer Plugin Description
WP Visualizer is a simple, easy to use and powerful plugin that allows you to create, manage and insert eye-catching and dynamic graphs into your WordPress posts and pages in just a few simple steps.
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 extra addons are needed.
Visualizer also contains a variety of built-in that are optimized to address 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 further 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 web browsers without having to install any additional plugins.
How To Install The Visualizer Plugin
Inside your WordPress dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the navigation sidebar menu …
In the Add Plugins page type search for “visualizer” and click enter …
Locate the entry in the search results section and click Install Now …
Click OK to continue …
Activate the plugin after installation is successful …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins page …
After the plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library in the admin menu …
This takes you to the plugin’s Visualizer Library settings screen …
When you first install the plugin, the library contains no charts.
Your next step is to add add charts and graphs to your plugin library.
How To Configure Visualizer
To add a new graph or chart to the library, click on the Add New button …
A visual gallery displaying all of the different types of charts and graphs available will come up on your screen.
Select the chart or graph type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
Your selected graph/chart type will pop up in a lightbox.
The next step is to upload a CSV file containing all the data you want 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. string, datetime, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data …
If you are not sure how to format your CSV file, just study the sample 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 the CSV file and data from your computer select ‘From Computer‘ …
Locate and select your data file and then click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin imports the data and displays it using the graph/chart type chosen …
Upload CSV File From The Web
For a step-by-step tutorial that shows you 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 your information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a data file with the right data), and then click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you have selected, the plugin will display various customization options and settings …
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 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 satisfied with how your graph or chart looks, click Create Chart …
Your chart or graph will be added to your ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that new visual elements are given a unique ID displayed as a shortcode. As you will see very soon, this allows you to add charts and graphs to your WordPress content very easily …
Graphs and charts added to the Visualizer Library can easily be accessed by type …
After adding a new item to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, duplicate it, or delete it …
Visualizer Usage
After creating a new chart or graph and adding it to the Library, it’s simple to add it to your content.
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‘ …
Select the element you want to add to your content and click on the “insert” icon …
This will add a shortcode into your content …
After you have added your visual element, click on Publish to publish (or update) your page or post …
Once your post has been published, click ‘View post’ to see the end result …
Your post or page displays your visual element in where you’ve inserted the shortcode …
As mentioned earlier, the plugin also displays responsive charts and graphs for mobile browsers …
As you can see, Visualizer allows you to insert and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can change your data and your changes will automatically be reflected wherever you have inserted your charts, graphs, comparison bars , etc. in your website. This makes adding dynamic graph data in WordPress really efficient.
The developers of this plugin have created a number of tutorials you can refer to to learn how to edit, customize and use the Visualizer plugin for WordPress.
For additional tutorials on editing, cloning, deleting and adding data to your charts, visit the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add great-looking and interactive pie charts and graphs to your WordPress posts with WP Visualizer.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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