How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
No doubt you’re familiar with the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you’re presenting or explaining data.
Using charts and graphs is a great way to make statistical data and information much simpler to understand.
You can present data using tables, but if you want people to try and make sense of complex data with numbers, trends or relationships quickly, then charts and graphs allow you to present information in a meaningful and intelligent way that can be quickly processed.
Graphs and charts help you explain complex information so people can more easily interpret it!
If you need to display dynamic visual content on your WordPress site using charts and graphs, this tutorial will show you exactly how to create and add beautiful and interactive charts and graphs to your WordPress posts and pages that:
- Your visitors can interact with
- Lets you add chart or graph data from your computer or a web-based source of data
- Will resize dynamically for mobile screens
If you plan to display visual data like pie charts, comparison charts or trending graphs containing static information (e.g. historical data), a simple method you can use is to create your charts or graphs using an image editing application, convert these into images and then simply add the images to your posts.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to add dynamic bars 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 free WordPress plugin that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create eye-catching and mobile-responsive 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 (see a little further down the page), or 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 lets you create, manage and insert beautiful and mobile-responsive graphs into your WordPress posts and pages in a few mouse clicks.
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 additional addons are needed.
WordPress Visualizer also comes with a variety of built-in optimized for all 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. 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 site visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile devices without requiring the installation of any extra plugins.
How To Install The Visualizer Plugin
Inside your WordPress dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the main sidebar menu …
In the Add Plugins screen type “visualizer” into the search field and click enter …
Locate the item in the search results section and click Install Now …
Click OK to continue …
Activate the plugin …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins area …
After your plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can also get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by choosing Media > Visualizer Library in the main menu …
This brings up the plugin’s Visualizer Library settings …
When you first install the plugin, the library will contain no charts.
The next step is to add add charts and graphs to the plugin library.
Visualizer Configuration
To add a graph or chart to the library, click on the Add New button …
An image gallery displaying all of the kinds of charts and graphs available will load on your screen.
Select the graph or chart 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 would like your chart or graph to be populated with …
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. string, date, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as required …
If you are not sure how to format your CSV file, simply use the sample file that comes 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 the CSV file from your hard drive select ‘From Computer‘ …
Locate and select your file and then click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin will import the data and display it using the graph/chart type chosen …
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, make sure that all of the information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file containing the correct data), and then click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you’ve selected, the plugin will display various customization settings and options …
The plugin gives you total control over your information, and updates your display in real time …
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).
Once you are satisfied with the way your chart or graph is looking, click Create Chart …
The graph or chart will now be added to the ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that new elements are given a unique ID displayed in 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 be accessed by type …
After an item has been added to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit its details, duplicate it, or delete it …
Visualizer Usage
After creating a element and adding it to the Visualizer Library, adding it to posts and pages is quite simple.
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 your content and click on Add Media …
Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …
Select the chart or graph you want to add to your content and click the “insert” icon …
This adds a shortcode into your content …
After you have added the visual element, click on Publish to publish (or update) your page or post …
After updating the page/post, click ‘View post’ to see the result …
The graph or chart will appear in the content …
As mentioned previously, the plugin also displays responsive graphs and charts for mobile viewers …
As you can see, WordPress Visualizer allows you to add 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 great if you’re adding interactive graph data in WordPress.
The developers of this plugin have created a number of step-by-step tutorials you can use to learn how to edit, customize and use the plugin.
For additional tutorials on editing, cloning, deleting and adding data to your charts, go to the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily add stunning and interactive pie charts and graphs to WordPress with WordPress Visualizer.
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