How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
You’re probably familiar with the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you are presenting and explaining data.
Using graphs and charts can help to break up long text passages, and make technical data simpler to grasp.
You can present information using tables, but if you want people to try and make sense of complex information with figures, trends and comparisons easily, then graphs and charts are perfect for helping them understand your data.
Graphs and charts help explain complex data so your audience can more easily interpret it!
If you need to learn how to display dynamic visual content on your WordPress site using graphs and charts, this tutorial will show you how to create and add attractive and updateable charts to your WP pages that:
- Your site visitors can interact with
- Lets you add data from your hard drive or a web-based source of data
- Dynamically resizes for viewing on mobile devices
If you plan to display visual data like pie charts, comparison bars or trending graphs which contain information that is not going to change (e.g. historical data), a simple method you can use to present this information is to create the graphs or charts using a desktop application, convert these into jpg and png files and then simply insert your images into your posts.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to 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 WordPress plugin that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create colorful and mobile-responsive charts and graphs, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with updatable data.
Visualizer
Plugin URL
You can install the plugin in your WP dashboard (explained a little further down the page), or access and download the Visualizer plugin the WordPress free plugin directory using the link below:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Visualizer Description
WordPress Visualizer is a simple, easy to use and powerful tool that allows you to create, manage and embed eye-catching and interactive graphs into your WordPress posts and pages in just a few simple steps.
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 plugins or add-ons are required.
Visualizer also provides a variety of charts 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
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 web design. Various options are available for each chart that allow you to further customize their look.
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 visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile device browsers without requiring the installation of extra plugins.
Plugin Installation
Inside your WordPress dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the main sidebar menu …
In the Add Plugins page type in search for “visualizer” and click enter …
Locate Visualizer in the search results area and click Install Now …
Click OK to proceed …
Activate the plugin after successfully installing it …
You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins area …
After the plugin has been activated, click on Library …
You can also get to the plugin’s ‘library’ screen by selecting Media > Visualizer Library in your admin 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 the charts and graphs to your library that you plan to publish to your content.
How To Configure The Plugin
To add a new graph or chart to the library, click on the Add New button …
A visual gallery displaying all the different kinds of graphs and charts available will load on your screen.
Select the type of graph or chart you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
The graph/chart type will pop up in a lightbox.
The next step is to upload a CSV file that contains all the data you want your chart or graph to be populated with …
When creating your CSV data file, ensure that:
- Your first row includes your column headings.
- Your second row contains the series type (e.g. boolean, date, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data as required …
If you are unsure about how to format your CSV file, just download the sample that comes with the plugin.
Once you have completed this step, 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 from your computer select ‘From Computer‘ …
Use the browser to locate and select your data file and then click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin will now import your data and display it using the graph/chart type you have 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, see the article below:
After importing the data, check that all of your information is correct (if not, click on the ‘Back’ button and reupload a new data file with the correct data), and then click ‘Next‘ …
Depending on the chart or graph type you have chosen, the plugin displays a number of customization settings …
Visualizer gives you total control over your information, and updates your display in real time …
For example, the pie chart offers many 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 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 happy with the way your graph or chart looks, click Create Chart …
Your chart or graph will now be added to your ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that new elements are given a unique ID displayed as a shortcode. As you will see in a moment, this allows you to easily insert graphs and charts into your content …
Charts and graphs added to the Visualizer Library can be accessed by their type …
After a new chart or graph has been added to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit it, duplicate it, or delete it …
Visualizer Plugin Usage
After you’ve created a new element and added it to the Visualizer Library, adding it to pages or posts is really very 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 graph or chart you want to insert into your content and click on the “insert” icon …
This adds a shortcode into your content …
Once you have added the visual element, click on Publish to publish (or update) your content …
After your post has been published, click ‘View post’ to see it …
Your graph will show up in the location you specified …
As mentioned earlier, the plugin also displays responsive graphs and charts for viewing on mobile devices …
As you can see, the Visualizer plugin allows you to add and customize dynamic charts and graphs in your content. You can modify your data and your changes will automatically be reflected throughout your site. This makes adding interactive chart data in WordPress really efficient.
The developers of this plugin have created a number of step-by-step tutorials you can refer to to learn how to edit, customize and use Visualizer.
For tutorials on editing, copying, deleting and adding data to your charts, go to the site below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to insert appealing and mobile-responsive pie charts and graphs into your WordPress pages and posts with WordPress Visualizer plugin.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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