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Better data label customization

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Daniel on 25 May 2016 04:06:06

When data labels are enabled on visualization types where data overlaps (such as clustered bar charts and line charts), there are occasions where data labels do not display, or it is difficult to tell which label corresponds to which bar/line. There should be better customization options for Data Labels, which would ease comprehension of various visualizations. In particular, for the varied types of bar charts:

- Label location: start of bar, middle of bar, end of bar, end of chart
- Label/Background colour matching: change the label's text or background to match the bar to which it corresponds
- Label Stacking? If a label would overlap with another, display both of them slightly offset, instead of only displaying one label.

Comments (53)
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1032548b 6059-493b-a089-11ad41ecdbf7 on 06 Jul 2020 00:04:22

RE: Better data label customization

I would love to be able to turn off the concatenated drill path labels on the x-axis of charts, when drilling concatenating the parent dimension makes the label too long.

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dafed675 b4ee-4c1f-8439-25e9a5272c51 on 06 Jul 2020 00:01:26

RE: Better data label customization

It would be good if you can allow only the total of a particular line column value to be appeared through data-label feature. Currently the report has a feature to display all the values with in a particular column. Can we get an update on this?

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bfc7b8ba 4117-4393-b960-5755ea266ef7 on 05 Jul 2020 23:53:27

RE: Better data label customization

Sometimes in a stacked bar chart (and other charts), the bar is small so you can not see the number label. However, it would be great to see the label anyway as in Excel. It is a really important detail from the customer.

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bfc7b8ba 4117-4393-b960-5755ea266ef7 on 05 Jul 2020 23:48:23

RE: Better data label customization

It would be nice if you make it work just as flexible as in Excel labels to start. So far, it is really difficult to show a simple line chart with 2 measure, since sometimes they overlap or change position that does not make any sense.

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b13b102d 40a9-45ef-8cd9-ad75b0ee4873 on 05 Jul 2020 23:42:20

RE: Better data label customization

Even Telerik can do it better than PowerBI. https://docs.telerik.com/reporting/howtosetuppiechartwithnooverlappinglabels

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90b15ef7 7ea4-46fa-aeea-a4f96a79a4c2 on 05 Jul 2020 23:42:14

RE: Better data label customization

The current setup is a disaster for reporting on surveys. The questions are unreadable which I can understand but would like to be able to provide my own more meaningful shorthand label directly in the visualisation. I will now probably need to create a separate column with meaningful labels.

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5dd28dea 9092-40db-ae5a-ab10d8bf8f58 on 05 Jul 2020 23:39:39

RE: Better data label customization

I also want the ability to customize which labels show up! This could mean the ability to either manually delete or add labels to certain points. Or it could be semi-automated (e.g., show label for most recent month/day; show label for outliers; show label for min and/or max value, etc.).

I also second some of the comments where people are asking for customization of labels (e.g., add "h" to the end of the value). And the ability to do things like show labels for only one of the lines on a line or combo chart!

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1b346d83 7901-4df8-8bbe-69b2a7d0da5a on 05 Jul 2020 23:37:56

RE: Better data label customization

This is where Tableau is miles ahead of Power BI. I'd love to have the ability to customize labels that include multiple measures on (potentially) multiple lines in multiple text formats and multiple colors/sizes/fonts. This sort of customizability is the only reason why I still have a Tableau license to do the occasional charting that needs to be super customized.

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e38e5a71 974a-4d1c-9bc9-42f9b677e506 on 05 Jul 2020 23:37:55

RE: Better data label customization

I agree with basically all comments including the original. Especially the option to have a total value rather than a value for each segment in a stacked bar graph.

I'd also appreciate the option to change the "Label Style" in bar charts so you can choose options like "Category, Value". I've given an example of what that would look like in the below support forum query. This is already possible on the donut chart so I can't imagine it would be difficult to transition across to the bar charts and similar style visuals.

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Adding-quot-Category-Value-quot-to-Label-Style-on-Stacked-Bar/m-p/590674#M280242

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ac7615d0 84f0-4aca-8b1e-3077b6b34873 on 05 Jul 2020 23:36:57

RE: Better data label customization

"Label/Background colour matching: change the label's text or background to match the bar to which it corresponds "

Yes to this please!!