Set a Min-Max for Axis on Charts

Jason Maxwell

I really like Dashboards and how it can visually tell where a project is at. What I do not like are the fluid charts. I would like to be able to set a Min-Max axis instead of having the axis change as items progress. Case in point with this script update - the min is 86% and the max is 102%. I want it to show from 0-100%.

moose

I am responsible for KPI reporting within my company. I have (as an example) two graphs of which one represents a KPI on a monthly bases (represented as bar graph) and the other dealing with exactly the same KPI but than filtered over several months (represented as a line graph). The vertical axis scaling in both cases is to be the same. The automated scaling that is provided by Smartsheet however does not provide this nor does it allow any customisation in the scaling.

My request is to allow for customisation of the axis ranges (in the example such that I could set the bottom graph vertical scale also to 120%).

crodts

The dashboard charts should be more configurable. Two examples:

• I have a bar chart tracking several series' progress to 100% completion, however the chart axis goes all the way to 120%, even when I toggle on "scale to data values". 120% isn't possible in this case, and it looks very unprofessional.
• When I click on a chart, it should not only take me to the source chart, but to the specific line item. Often times we want to examine data on a more granular level, but the widget behavior only allows us to transport the view to the massive data set it is pulled from, giving no guidance as to where the data point they wanted to examine is.

These charts and metrics should be much more customizable.

Michele Dawson

When creating graphs, it would be great to be able to customize the Y axis with the range and increments you want. Sometimes the range displays as 120% which often isn't appropriate for the graph being created. I also personally prefer to have all/most my graphs with the same range and increments.

Meg Long

I also landed here because I was confused by the fact that my chart showed a y-axis range of 0-7 even though my source data range is 0-6. When the chart displays a '7' it implies that a value of '7' is possible, but it's not. So it makes the chart seem inaccurate. I don't mind the chart including some additional margin just for the purpose of white space or padding at the top, but it shouldn't be labeled. It's adding a value to the chart that's not actually in the data, which feels a little presumptuous.

K.Candela.KCS

Until Smartsheet fixes this, my solution for clients is to set the font for the axis with the percentages to be white which removes it (Highlighted area below). Then I add the value label to the series with the percent I want to display. When I do this to show progress, I use a stacked chart to show the remaining percentage (= 1-percentage I want displayed) and do not label the second series. Below is an example of progress against deliverables for a project plan. You may need to use bar chart vs. column if you find the series label is too crowded.

If you want more info, find me on Linked In under Kristine Candela, and connect - I am happy to help!

MPath

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/396754#Comment_396754

Sort of, what you dont see is what you get :P

Smart thinking, thanks for this workaround!

BobbyatBILH

Hi there - I'm in agreement and adding some feedback as I understand the need for a bleed to maybe 105%, but why the limitations on end user customizations? Why can we not set the parameters in the horizontal axis? 100% is the highest the range will go from a data perspective, and I am not doing 13 donut charts for 6 questions per service line. I love the features, but there is definite room for improvement here.

The data is perfectly set for a stacked bar; adding abilities and more customization in the dashboard widgets will be welcomed.

Genevieve P.

Hi all,

While there isn't a way to set a min/max axis on charts, there has been an update so chart axes extend just enough to accommodate values over 100%.

Here's the announcement post: NEW! Dashboard chart quality-of-life enhancements

Jan Sembera

+1 to this one. It would be really helpful to be able to set min/max values for all Dashboard charts with vertical axis or even possible to restrict the axis values only to whole numbers.

I have some metrics with % results and the axis shows up to 120% when logical maximum for those metrics is 100%. It then leads to difficulties in reading the results and questions from the leadership team.

Or cases where the result can be only whole number but it is very low number (0 or 1) - then the axis is showing scale from 0.0 to 1.2 in increments of 0.2 which doesn't make logical sense and again leads to confusion and questions why the chart is like this.

I really love Smartsheet Dashboards but impossibility to format this is impacting the impression about the product from our stakeholders (to reply it is not possible to adjust the chart axis range makes everyone surprised).

jkimchi

@Genevieve P. I attempted to modify my dashboard charts following the instructions in the post below, but my charts didn't change. Does your data need to be set up a certain way or field names labeled a certain way?

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/131656/new-dashboard-chart-quality-of-life-enhancements

Genevieve P.

Hi @jkimchi

Can you post a screen capture of your settings and what you're seeing on that announcement thread? That will help us take a look. 🙂

jkimchi

Here is a screenshot of the graph and vertical axis settings. According to the post the scale vertical axis setting should be OFF in order to apply the setting. Not sure why the graph is extending to 150% when the data maxes out at 100%.

Genevieve P.

Hi @jkimchi

I'm unable to replicate what your chart is showing - as long as the column is set to % format, the data scales to end at 100%.

A few things to check:

• Is your column with percentages formatted as a % type of column? (Entire column highlighted with % formatting)
• Can you try creating the chart from scratch again? Selecting the referenced values in an entirely new chart.

Thanks!
Genevieve