How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
You’ve no doubt heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This certainly applies when you’re presenting and explaining complex information.
Using graphs and charts is great for breaking up long text passages, and making data much easier to digest.
You can use tables to present information, but if you want your audience to try and interpret complex data with numbers, trends and relationships more easily, then graphs and charts are perfect for helping them visualize your data.
Graphs and charts help you explain complex data so your audience can more easily interpret it!
Need to add charts and graphs to WordPress? This tutorial shows you how to use the WordPress Visualizer plugin – a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that lets you create, manage and embed stunning and mobile-responsive graphs and charts into your WordPress posts and pages in just a few mouse clicks that:
- Your web visitors can engage with
- Allows you to add data from your hard drive or a web-based source of data
- Is dynamically responsive for mobile devices
If you plan to display visual data like bar charts, comparison charts or trending graphs that contain static information (e.g. historical data), an easier option is to create your graphs or charts using a desktop application, convert these into jpg and png files and then simply add the image files to your posts.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to easily embed interactive bars and pie graphs into WordPress pages and posts with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.
Fortunately, there is a plugin for WordPress that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create great-looking and dynamic charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with dynamic data.
Visualizer
Plugin URL
You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard (explained further below), or download the WP Visualizer plugin here:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Plugin Description
WordPress Visualizer is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and insert beautiful graphs and charts into your WordPress posts and pages with just 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 extra add-ons are needed.
Visualizer also provides 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
WordPress 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 the look and feel of your website. A number of 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 blog or site visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile browsers without having to install any extra software.
How To Install Visualizer
Inside your WordPress dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the dashboard menu …
In the Add Plugins screen type in “visualizer” into the search field and hit enter …
Locate the item in the search results screen and click the “Install Now” button …
Click OK to go ahead …
Activate the plugin after successfully installing it …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins section …
Once the plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can also get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library in your admin menu …
This brings up the plugin’s Visualizer Library options …
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 publish to your pages or posts.
How To Configure Visualizer
To add a graph or chart to the plugin’s library, click on Add New …
A page will appear on your screen displaying all of the different types of graphs and charts available.
Select the chart or graph type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
Your selected graph/chart type will open up in a new window.
The next step is to upload a CSV file that contains the data you want to populate your chart or graph with …
When creating your CSV data file, make sure that:
- Your first row includes your column headings.
- The second row contains the series type (e.g. string, date, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as explained above …
If you are unsure about how to format your CSV file, simply use the sample spreadsheet provided with the plugin.
Next, 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 computer select ‘From Computer‘ …
Use the browser to locate and select your data file and click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin imports your data and displays it using the graph/chart type selected …
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, go here:
After importing your data, check that all of your information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file containing the right data), and then click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you have picked, the plugin will display a range of customization settings …
The plugin gives you total control of your chart or graph, and updates your display in real time …
For example, the pie chart offers many 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 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 satisfied with how your graph or chart appears, click Create Chart …
The graph or chart will now be added to the Visualizer ‘Library’ …
Note that new visual elements are given a unique ID displayed as a shortcode. As you will see in a moment, this lets you easily insert graphs and charts into your content …
Charts and graphs added to the Visualizer Library can easily be accessed by type …
After adding an element to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, clone it, or trash it …
Visualizer Plugin Usage
After you have created a new element and added it to the Library, adding it to a page is really 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‘ …
Select the graph or chart to be added to your content and click the “insert” icon …
This will place a shortcode into your content …
After you have added your item, click on Publish to publish (or update) your content …
Once your post has been published, click ‘View post’ to see the results …
You will see your graph in the content …
As mentioned previously, Visualizer also displays responsive elements for mobile device users …
As you can see, WordPress Visualizer lets you 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 interactive chart data in WordPress very easy.
The plugin developers have created a number of tutorials you can use to learn how to edit, customize and use WordPress Visualizer.
For tutorials on editing, cloning, deleting and adding data to your charts, refer to the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add attractive and interactive pie charts and graphs to WordPress with WordPress Visualizer plugin.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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