Style a dashboard chart: labels, target lines and captions
Each chart's edit panel has options for its colour, number format, labels, axes and annotations, plus a caption line under the chart. Click a chart in the dashboard editor to open its edit panel; the options sit under the headings Data, Style, Labels, Axes and Annotations. Anyone who can edit the dashboard can change them, and each chart type shows only the options it can draw.
Options that most chart types share
These options appear on most chart types. Most have an i tooltip that explains them.
| Option | Group | Choices (default) | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color | Style | Auto (the dashboard theme) or a swatch | Overrides the chart colour. Part-to-whole and stacked charts show palettes instead of a single colour. |
| Number format | Style | Prefix, Suffix, Decimals (Auto, 0, 1, 2), Abbreviate (on) | How numbers read. Abbreviate shows 1.2k instead of 1,200. |
| Data labels | Labels | Smart (default), Show, Hide | "Smart shows the value on each bar while the chart has room for it. Show always draws them, Hide never does — the value stays on hover either way." |
| Y-axis range | Axes | Min, Max (blank = fit to the data) | "Raising the minimum zooms in on small differences." |
| Sort | Data | High → low (default), Low → high, A → Z, Z → A | Category order, and which rows a Top N keeps. |
| Display as | Data | By rank (default), A → Z, Z → A | Display order of the kept rows. |
| Reference line | Annotations | Value, Label | "Draw a dashed line at a value — e.g. a target or average — with an optional label." |
Options for each chart type
Each chart type adds its own options. "Shared options" are the ones in the table above.
| Chart | Shared options | Its own options (default) |
|---|---|---|
| Bar, Bar (H) | Color, Number format, Data labels, Y-axis range, Sort, Display as, Reference line | Corner radius 0–12 (3); Annotation (a text callout on the highlighted point); Bar spacing 0–60% (26%) |
| Ranking (dots) | Color, Number format, Sort, Display as, Y-axis range | None |
| Pareto | Color, Number format, Data labels, Y-axis range | 80% line (off); Bar spacing; Corner radius |
| Diverging | Number format, Sort | Positive color, Negative color; Bar spacing; Corner radius |
| Waterfall | Number format, Y-axis range | Positive color, Negative color; Bar spacing; Corner radius |
| Line | Color, Number format, Y-axis range, Reference line, Data labels, Sort, Display as | Smooth curve (on); Fill under line (on); Show points (off); Annotation |
| Area | Color, Number format, Y-axis range, Reference line, Data labels, Sort, Display as | Smooth curve (on) |
| Stacked area | Palette, Number format | None |
| Combo | Number format, Y-axis range | None (set measures in Measures) |
| Sparkline | Color, Number format | End label (on) |
| Bump | Number format | Rank labels (on) |
| Slope | Number format | Left label, Right label |
| Donut | Palette, Number format, Sort, Display as | Ring thickness 15–60% (32%); Slice gap 0–10 (2); Slice corners 0–8 (0); Slice labels Off / Percent / Value (Off); Center total (on); Center label |
| Stacked bar | Palette, Number format, Sort, Data labels | Normalize to 100% (off); Corner radius; Bar spacing |
| 100% stacked | Palette, Number format, Sort | Corner radius; Bar spacing |
| Grouped bar | Number format, Y-axis range, Sort, Data labels, Reference line | Corner radius; Bar spacing |
| Marimekko, Sunburst, Sankey | Palette, Number format | None |
| Composition | Palette, Number format, Data labels, Sort, Display as | None |
| Treemap | Palette, Number format, Sort, Display as | Tile gap 0–6 (1); Corner radius 0–16 (5, outer corners only) |
| Funnel | Palette, Number format | Stage height 30–70 px (46); Corner radius |
| Radar | Number format | Max value |
| Heatmap | Number format, Data labels | Color scale (darker cells are higher values) |
| Dumbbell | Number format | None |
| Scatter | Color, Number format, Y-axis range | Point size 2–12 (6); X-axis title; Y-axis title; Trend line (off; a best-fit line) |
| Bubble | Palette, Number format, Y-axis range | X-axis title; Y-axis title |
| Histogram | Number format, Y-axis range | Bins (blank = automatic) |
| Box plot | Number format, Y-axis range | None |
| Beeswarm | Number format, Y-axis range | Median tick (on) |
| Gauge | Color, Number format | Max value; Caption; Threshold zones (off; red, amber and green bands with a needle) |
| Bullet | Color, Number format | Max value; Target; Label |
| KPI | Color, Number format | Label |
| Big number | Color, Number format | Label; Change caption (for example "vs Q1"); Good direction Up is good / Down is good (Up is good) |
| Icon stat | Color, Number format | Icon (Auto or a named icon); Unit word; Label; Change caption; Good direction |
| Pictograph | Color, Number format, Sort, Display as | Icon; Unit word (for example "people"); Each icon is (blank = a round amount that keeps each row to 20 icons or fewer) |
| Candlestick | Number format, Y-axis range | None |
| Calendar heatmap | Number format | Cell size 8–20 (14); Color scale |
| Gantt | Palette | Corner radius |
| Network | Palette | None |
| Map | Number format | Projection; Color scale; Binning. See Map chart. |
Tables have their own Edit table panel. See Tables, KPI cards, insights and text.
Add a target line or event marker to a chart
The Annotations section pins a labelled line at a value (a target or an average), or a labelled marker on one point of the x-axis (a launch, a price change). It's on Bar, Bar (H), Line, Area, Grouped bar, Combo, Stacked bar and Stacked area charts.
| Button | Adds | Fields |
|---|---|---|
| + Reference line | A Reference row: a horizontal line | Value (a number) and Label |
| + Event | An Event row: a marker on one x-axis point | A point (Pick a date) and a Label |
- The event's point list holds the labels on the chart's own x-axis, so an event can only sit on a point the chart shows. + Event is disabled when the chart has no x-axis labels.
- Every row has a Color: Default, Brand, Positive, Negative, Warning or Info. The colours follow the dashboard theme.
- × removes a row.
- On a chart with more than one axis, each row also asks "Which axis this value belongs to".
The line and label redraw as you type.
Example: to mark a sales target of 50,000:
- Click + Reference line.
- Set Value to 50000.
- Set Label to "Target".
- Set Color to Positive.
Add a caveat or source caption under a chart
A caption is one or two lines of text under a single chart. It says what the chart leaves out or where its numbers come from.
- Near the bottom of the panel, tick Add a caption.
- Pick the kind: Caveat ("A limit on what the numbers cover", the default) or Source ("Where the data came from").
- Type the text (placeholder "Excludes Head Office…").
Bold, Italic and Link buttons format it: "One or two lines, under the chart. bold, italic and links are supported."
Insert values that stay current in a caption
The { } button ("Insert something the board fills in") adds a value the dashboard keeps current. It appears when the dashboard has these facts:
| Value | What it shows |
|---|---|
{updated} | When this board was last built |
{rows} | How many rows it covers |
{range} | The period the data covers |
{dataset} | The dataset this board reads |
{filters} | What the reader has filtered to |
Untick Add a caption to delete the caption. For notes about the whole dashboard rather than one chart, use a text block. See Tables, KPI cards, insights and text.
Troubleshooting chart options
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Couldn't load the settings for this chart." | Click Try again. |
| "No adjustable settings for this chart." | This chart has nothing to adjust. Change its fields instead in Set up a chart. |
| + Event is disabled | The chart has no x-axis labels to pin an event to. |
Related
- Set up a chart: fields, Top N, multiple measures and two axes.
- Add and change charts: what each chart type is for.
- What readers can do with a chart: the Readers can section.
- Themes: the colours Auto follows.
- Tables, KPI cards, insights and text: live tokens in text blocks.
Something wrong? support@mammoth.io