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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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df1652fb c56a-4b75-a5dc-a8806055cbc5 on 05 Jul 2020 23:05:46

RE: Better data label customization

This would make it easier for user to know what data labels apply to Legend or Line.

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4c5d90e4 f7eb-4168-8531-22a360d900cc on 05 Jul 2020 23:03:44

RE: Better data label customization

A few things I have run into:

When mixing bar+line chart, I would like to be able to configure data labels for the column/line seperately

Able to turn off background and/or change the colour of the data label background when it is inside the bar

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17110385 de40-4f06-99ea-1a4204817a42 on 05 Jul 2020 23:02:46

RE: Better data label customization

Just allow us to turn off the lines or the column labels.

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7b947cf9 646f-4965-a5e0-a5bb56d4b592 on 05 Jul 2020 23:00:15

RE: Better data label customization

It would be great for the data labeling to be consistent. I've got stacked bar charts with random allocation of the labels.

Also with respect to stacked bar charts it would be great to be able to have a "total" label appear at the end of each bar.

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a3309361 99be-ea11-a812-000d3a8ddfb2 on 05 Jul 2020 22:57:26

RE: Better data label customization

Yes, please. And for line charts it should be possible to label only the last data point per line (outside the end of each line), and to pull those data label values from the values we would otherwise place in the legend.

This type of labeling is so much easier to read than separate legends for line charts. However, when multiple lines end up in the same spot, some stacking/jittering or reverting to a legend is needed.

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69f78d32 b61e-4b6a-a8cc-9c8e5bbe8430 on 05 Jul 2020 22:55:34

RE: Better data label customization

control over which elements get data labels. eg. ON for Line Values and OFF for Column values.

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6473792d c27e-4573-b906-eec10096a3f9 on 05 Jul 2020 22:52:29

RE: Better data label customization

Also allow different decimal granularity for different series. For example, on a combo chart, the line plot may be # of orders, where we do not want any decimal places (there are no fractions of an order), and then the bar series for average order value should have two decimal places for showing the cents for the order.

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ad029e17 27bf-4edf-92a9-7df0c090ed04 on 05 Jul 2020 22:47:23

RE: Better data label customization

I have a clustered bar chart where the data bars go from left-to-right and I have a 2 level hierarchy plotted on the y axis. Everything shows as it should, but when I drill down into one category, the overall category name always appears first and "hides" the detail name. I'd either have to make the visualization really large to show the detail name or have the user "hover-over" the bar itself to see the name, but this is tedious at best.

I've even switched to the more "normal" bar chart where the bars are running from top-to-bottom and I've turned off "Concatenate labels" on the x-axis, but this doesn't change the visualization at all.

It would be nice to have control over this.

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9febda85 4090-4137-b700-fbc5c54c8978 on 05 Jul 2020 22:47:17

RE: Better data label customization

It would be amazing if we could change data labels according to our needs

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a3309361 99be-ea11-a812-000d3a8ddfb2 on 05 Jul 2020 22:42:33

RE: Better data label customization

Yes i would also need to control for which y-axis i want to show the data label