Visualizations in Displayr are highly customizable using our built-in functions and menus. This article lists some of the most frequently asked questions about creating and modifying visualizations. For a more detailed review of the various visualization settings, see Visualization Options.
Questions:
- How do I show all of my dates or numbers on the X axis?
- How do I remove an axis?
- How do I add a line break to labels?
- How do I remove significance testing from my visualization?
- The % (percent) sign is missing from my data labels.
- How do I include a NET/Total column or row in my visualization?
- How do I switch between groups of series in a visualization?
- Can I change the legend position?
- How do I filter a visualization?
- Can I hide visualizations with small sample sizes or no data?
- How do I show the average line in a visualization?
- Can I make the label font bold in a visualization?
How do I show all/only the date or number headers in my table on the axis in my visualization?
When you have date or number headers in a table and then turn that table into a visualization, the axis for those may be converted to a timeline or number line. This means you may have gaps in the visualization if you are missing numbers/dates, or the axis labels may not label all the numbers/dates in your headers. To update the visualization to show all/only the time periods or numbers, go to the Chart tab in the object inspector and in the appropriate Axis section, change Axis number type > Category.
How do I remove an axis?
- Select your chart.
- Go to the object inspector
> Chart tab.
- Go to the relevant X or Y Axis section and uncheck Show axis labels and Show axis labels title.
- You may also want to adjust the Axis line width and/or Zero line width to 0.
How do I add a line break to labels?
If you have labels that are too long or you want to break them into separate lines, you can add <br> to the data source labels. Select the input variable that is used in the Rows or Columns input in the visualization in the Data Sources tree, and then in the object inspector , click Data > Properties > Labels. The Value Attributes will open, and you can add
<br> in each label where you would like to insert a line break. When you are done, click OK, and the labels will update in the visualization.
How do I remove significance testing from my visualization?
If you want to remove arrows, font colors, or column comparison letters from your visualization, go to Appearance > Appearance > Significance in the object inspector and set it to No.
The % (percent) sign is missing from my data labels.
If your visualization's data labels do not include a % (percent) sign after the number, you can turn this on by going to Chart > Data Labels > Custom suffix in the object inspector , and enter %. Click Calculate, and the % sign will be added to the visualization's data labels.
How do I include a NET/Total column or row in my visualization?
To show the NET in a visualization, from the object inspector , go to Data > Column Manipulations > Rows to ignore and remove "NET". You can also remove "Total" and "SUM", as well as make the same changes within the Row Manipulations > Columns to ignore sub-menu.
How do I switch between groups of series in a visualization?
If you want to switch between displaying different data in a visualization, such as switching between age and gender, follow the steps in How to Dynamically Change a Question Based on a Control Box.
If you want to show only specific rows or columns in a visualization, use one of the methods described in How to Select Which Rows or Columns to Show in a Visualization Based on a Control Box Selection.
Can I change the legend position?
Yes, you can change the position of the legend by going to Chart > Legend in the object inspector , and updating the Legend orientation and/or adjusting the Horizontal and Vertical placement settings. See more details in How to Customize a Visualization Legend.
How do I filter a visualization?
There are different ways to filter a visualization, depending on whether you want to filter/select which rows and columns to show from a table or if you want to filter and recalculate the values shown in the visualization. To choose which rows and columns to show, you can adjust the settings on the Data tab in the visualization. You can manually configure what to show or use a combo/list box or R Calculation to determine what to show dynamically, see How to Filter Rows and Columns in Visualizations. To recalculate the visualization's underlying data based on a filter, you will need to apply your filter to the data source used to make the visualization. This can also be made interactive by creating combo/list box filters, see How to Create a Combo Box Filter.
How do I hide or return a custom error message on a visualization if there is a small sample size or no data?
You can set up your document to hide visualizations and return a custom error message based on any logic you'd like. This is especially helpful on documents where viewers can dynamically filter data via controls, as some combinations may return little/no data. In general, you can edit the underlying R code (if the output is R-based) or overlay a custom R Calculation on top of the output to set this up. How to Handle Outputs With Small or No Data Using R goes through the different methods in more detail.
How do I show the average line in a visualization?
Adding a line to a visualization is available for Column or Line types.
For weighted averages from the underlying data:
You'll need to create a separate table showing the Average statistic (either by pulling it off the original table with R or by making a table from a numeric version of the variable). Then you will use the separate average table as a secondary data source in the Column visualization or combine it back with the original table to use in a Line visualization.
For straight averages:
You can use the Average of each Row/Column Rule on the table to calculate the values. The average will then show up in Line visualizations. For Column visualizations, use the fields in the Row/Column Manipulation sections of each data source (primary and secondary) to configure which series to show for columns vs lines.
Can I make the label font bold in a visualization?
Yes, download a custom bold font .ttf file, such as Consolas Bold, from a trusted website, and follow the steps in How to Use Custom Fonts in Displayr to upload it to your Displayr Cloud Drive. From there, go to Chart > Font in the object inspector to select your custom bolded font.
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Creating and Modifying Visualizations