How to Show / Hide / Edit Captions for Tables and Charts

Our native, built-in tables and visualizations "with tests" will automatically generate a caption (also known as a footer or footnote) based on the settings in Appearance > Caption. When you use a table as a source for another R-based visualization or standard output, it will inherit the caption shown on the source table. In order to adjust the caption on the final output, you must edit the caption of the source table. If there's no caption on the final R-based output, see How to Add Custom Captions to R-based Tables, Visualizations, and Outputs.

This article describes how you can show, hide, or edit captions (footers) for tables and charts in Displayr. In addition, you will learn how to set captions on/off as your global default for tables and charts. 

In this example, the caption is included underneath the table...

...and in this example, the caption is hidden:

• Method
  • Show / Hide captions for tables and charts
  • To hide the caption:
  • Edit Captions for Tables and Charts
  • Using Caption Options to customize your caption
  • Setting Default Captions

Method

Show / Hide captions for tables and charts

1. Select the table or chart.                                                                 
2. In the object inspector, go to Appearance > Caption.
   
3. The Show below box must be checked if you want to display a caption underneath your tables or charts. This is the default setting.

To hide the caption:

1. From the object inspector, under Appearance > Caption, uncheck the Show below box. 
2. This will also enable the Set as Default and Reset buttons and disable the Edit button. You can click the Set as Default button to change this to your global default for any outputs that haven't been changed or reset, and Reset to revert to the default settings.

If you no longer want your captions to be hidden:

1. Under Caption, tick the Show below box. 
2. Click the Set as Default button if you want to change this to your default setting.
   

Edit Captions for Tables and Charts

You can edit the written text as well as the caption font style. To change the appearance of the caption, click into the caption and select the text; then use the Appearance tab in the object inspector to set the font size, color, background color, etc. For most visualizations, you can also adjust the space between the chart and the caption using the Chart > Margins > Customize margins > Bottom field.

There are two methods to edit what is written in captions at the bottom of charts or tables as described below. 

1. Type into a Caption - Double-click into the caption text in the output and edit the text directly. You can select text and also change its style using the Appearance menu. Note if the table is later modified at all, this text is removed.
   
2. Modify the Caption using Caption Options - These changes will be retained if a table is later modified or updated. Select your table/chart and from the object inspector, under Appearance > Caption, click the Edit button and then use Caption Options to edit your caption. This method is preferable unless you only need to make minor changes to a single caption. Note that you will need to make these edits on the original source table of an R-based Visualization, if connected to an Output in 'Report'.

To use Caption Options:

1. Select the output that has the caption you want to edit.
2. From the object inspector, under Appearance > Caption, click the Edit button.

Note: The Show below box must be checked in order to edit a caption. Otherwise, the Edit button will be disabled.
You can edit the following Caption Options for tables:

• Variable set names used in the output
• Date notation (today's date or any other date you wish to show)
• Filters applied
• Weight applied
• Count of records used in the output
• Total sample size of the output
• Number of missing records
• Effective sample size
• The percentage of responses filtered out
• Details about the significance testing
• The minimal sample size used in significance testing
• Date significance comparison details
• Column comparison multiple comparison correction
• The column comparison significance testing legend (columns compared)
• The symbol used when no column comparison test is run
• The symbol used when there is a non-significant column comparison result
• A field for any custom text you wish to include

The options for legacy visualizations include all of the above as well as:

• The arrow significance legend for exception significance testing (Arrows and Arrows and Font Colors)
• A moving average time series legend
• A trend period legend

1. Any caption option with the box checked will automatically be displayed in the caption underneath the table or chart, if appropriate.  
2. Uncheck the to exclude an option.
3. To modify an option, each option has text and a Delimiter you can change. For example, instead of total sample size, you may prefer N of Cases instead.
   • Edit the text in the Count option Text box from this:

to this:

Your customized caption updates can be previewed in the lower left corner of the Caption output screen:

  4. Click the Restore button if you want to revert to the default caption settings.

Setting Default Captions

There are two ways you can set defaults for your captions. For example, instead of "sample size", you may prefer to use "N of Cases" instead. Rather than changing it for each table or legacy visualization, you can set it as the default for all outputs in your document that have captions available.

1. Set the default caption text from an item in your Report

1. Select a table or legacy visualization that has a caption.
2. In the object inspector, select Appearance > Caption and then click the Edit box
3. Edit the caption settings as desired. For example, here we've edited the Count > Text box, replacing "sample size = <n>" with "N of Cases = <n>"
   
   
   A preview of your new caption will appear at the bottom of the screen:
   
4. Click the Set as Default button to set it as the default for all captions in the document.
5. [Optional] Click the Restore button if you want to change back to the default caption settings. The Restore button will only be enabled if you previously changed the default. Clicking the Restore button in this menu will restore the caption settings to the document's default settings. If you've modified the document's default settings using the instructions in the next section, clicking Restore will change the settings to your customized defaults. 

2. Set the default caption text and appearance in the Page Master

In addition to setting the default caption text for all outputs in your document, you can also edit the text style of captions in the Page Master and restore the defaults to Displayr's default settings (these are the settings that were present when the document was first created).

1. To access the Page Master, click on Tools > View Page Master in the toolbar, top left of the screen as shown below.

2. On the left of the page is the Master tree. This lists all the different types of page templates available in the document. 

3. Under Master, select a page template that has a master chart on it. In Displayr's default templates this includes Title and Content, Content and Text, and Two Content. 

4. Select the master chart on the page. Any master chart will do as editing the caption of one master chart will edit all of them.

5. In the object inspector, select Appearance > Caption

6. Click the Edit button

7. Edit the caption settings as desired. For example, here we've edited the Count > Text box, replacing "sample size = <n>" with "N of Cases = <n>"


A preview of your new caption will appear at the bottom of the screen:

8. Click the Set as Default button to set these as your document's new default settings.

9. [Optional] Click the Restore button if you want to revert to Displayr's default caption settings. The Restore button will only be enabled if you previously changed the default. Clicking the Restore button while in the Page Master will restore the caption settings to the settings that were present when the document was first created. If you've previously modified the document's default caption settings, this will remove those customizations. 

10. To edit the appearance of all captions using the default appearance settings, click into the caption text and use Ctrl+A to select all the text in the caption. With the entire text selected, you can use the Font and Paragraph sections on the Appearance tab in the object inspector to modify the font style, color, alignment, etc.

11. To return to Edit mode from the Page Master view, click on Exit Page Master in the top right of your screen.

Next

How to Reset the Page Layout, Captions, Legacy Charts, and Variables to Their Original Structure

How to Add Custom Captions to R-based Tables, Visualizations, and Outputs

How to Retain and Reset Table Resizing in Displayr

How to View the Page Master

How to Set Default Fonts in the Page Master

How to Set Up a Background in the Page Master