How To Add Charts And Graphs To WordPress
You’ve no doubt heard the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true when you are trying to present and explain complex data.
Using graphs and charts is great for making technical data much easier to understand.
You can use tables to present information, but if you want people to try and interpret complex information with numbers, trends or comparisons easily, then graphs and charts allow you to present your data in a meaningful and intelligent manner that can be quickly understood.
Graphs and charts help explain complex data so your audience can more easily understand it!
If you need to learn how to display information visually and dynamically on your WordPress site like charts and graphs, this tutorial will show you how to create great-looking and interactive charts and graphs to your WordPress posts that:
- Your site visitors can engage with
- Allows you to add data from your hard drive or an online source of data
- Will dynamically resize for mobile device browsers
If you are displaying visual data like bar charts, comparison graphs or trending graphs containing information that is not going to change (e.g. historical data), an easier way to present your information is to create the graphs or charts using a desktop application, convert these into jpg and png files and then simply add the image files to your web content.
Use WordPress Chart & Graph Plugins
If you want to easily create interactive bars and graphs in WordPress with no coding skills required, the easiest way to do this is to use a plugin.
Fortunately, there is a free WordPress plugin that is simple to install, easy-to-use and allows you to not only create attractive and dynamic graphs and charts, it also lets you populate your charts and graphs with dynamic content.
WP Plugin: Visualizer
Plugin URL
You can install the plugin from your WP dashboard (we will explain how to do this a little further down the page), or access and download WP Visualizer here:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/visualizer
Plugin Description
The WordPress Visualizer plugin 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 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 plugins are needed.
WordPress Visualizer also contains a variety of built-in 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 a flexible and customizable plugin, 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 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 blog or site visitors can see your charts and graphs on their mobile devices without requiring the installation of any extra plugins.
Plugin Installation
From your WordPress dashboard, select Plugins > Add New from the main admin menu …
In the Add Plugins screen type in “visualizer” into the search field and click enter …
Locate the item in the search results screen and click the “Install Now” button …
Click OK to go ahead …
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 your admin menu …
This brings up the plugin’s Visualizer Library screen …
When you first install the plugin, the library will contain no charts.
Your next step is to add the charts and graphs to your library that you will want to display in your content.
How To Configure The Plugin
To add a graph or chart to the library, click on Add New …
A page will appear on your browser displaying all of the different types of graphs and charts available.
Select the graph or chart type you would like to create and click on the ‘Next’ button …
The selected graph/chart type will open up in a lightbox.
The next step is to upload a CSV file containing the data you would like to populate your chart or graph with …
When creating your CSV data file, ensure that:
- Your first row includes the column headings.
- The second row includes the series type (e.g. boolean, datetime, etc.)
The screenshot below shows how to format your data correctly …
If you are unsure about how to format your data CSV, simply download the sample CSV file 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 hard drive select ‘From Computer‘ …
Use the browser to locate and select your data file and click on ‘Open‘ …
The plugin will import your data and display it using the graph/chart type you have 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, see the article below:
After importing the data, make sure that all of the 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’ve picked, the plugin displays a number of customization options and settings …
Visualizer gives you full 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 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 are satisfied with the look of your chart or graph, click Create Chart …
Your new graph or chart will be added to your ‘Visualizer Library’ section …
Note that every element is given a unique ID displayed in a shortcode. As you will see shortly, this allows you to add graphs and charts to your WordPress pages very quickly …
Charts and graphs added to the Visualizer Library can easily be accessed by their type …
After a new element has been added to the ‘Visualizer Library’, you can edit its details, duplicate it, or trash it …
Visualizer Usage
After you’ve created a chart or graph and added it to the Visualizer Library, it’s very easy to add it to a page.
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 Add Media …
Click on ‘Visualizations‘ …
Find the chart or graph to be inserted into your content and click on the “insert” icon …
This will add a shortcode for the element into your content …
Once you have added your shortcode, click on Publish to publish (or update) your content …
After publishing your post/page, click ‘View post’ to see the results …
Your chart or graph will display in the location where you placed the shortcode …
As mentioned earlier, Visualizer also displays responsive elements for mobile browsing …
As you can see, WordPress Visualizer lets you 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 working with interactive chart data in WordPress really efficient.
The plugin developers have created a number of step-by-step tutorials you can refer to 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 website below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to easily create stunning and mobile-responsive pie charts and graphs in WordPress with WP 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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