Bubble charts are a kind of scatter plot that allow you to visualize data with three dimensions: a vertical axis, a horizontal axis, and the size of the bubbles in the chart. In Planview Advisor, bubble charts are customized using the dropdown menus and control options at the top of the chart. We also have a video tutorial on bubble charts here.
Hovering over a bubble will display that bubble's values which determined its size and position in the chart. Clicking on a bubble will drill down into its details.
Chart controls
The projects displayed in the chart are controlled by the project list under the chart. Only projects that are currently visible in the project list will be visible in the chart. The columns visible in the chart also determine what options are available in the dropdown controls above the chart. Essentially, the project list is a bin of pieces and the dropdown controls allow you place the pieces together into the chart.
You use the dropdowns at the top of the chart to select what data appears in the chart. The dropdown options are described in the table below.
| Chart Control |
Description |
| Left |
Selects a field for the vertical axis. Projects will be placed vertically on the chart based on their values in this field. |
| Bottom |
Selects a field for the horizontal axis. Projects will be placed horizontally on the chart based on their values in this field. |
| Size by |
Selects a field for the size of the bubbles. Projects will be sized based on their values in this field. |
| Labels |
Selects a field for bubble labels. Each project will be labeled with their value in that field if annotations are on. |
| Group |
Groups totals together by a category, creating fewer, larger bubbles. You can ungroup totals by selecting Project in this dropdown. |
| Color |
Selects a field to color the bubbles. |
| Shape |
Selects a field which controls the shape of the bubbles. |
| Annotate |
You have the following additional display options in this chart:
- Name - Displays the label of all bubbles
- Value - Displays the value that the determined the size of the bubbles
- Legend - Displays a legend for the chart. The legend displays the color coding and size scaling.
|
Chart options
You can use the Chart Options Panel to add additional elements that can highlight or otherwise enhance parts of the chart.
To access the Chart Options Panel:
- Open the bubble chart in your portfolio.
- Click the three parallel lines icon in the upper-right corner of the chart area.
This opens the Chart Options Panel. The chart options are described in the tables below.
Legend Controls
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Legend font size |
The slider adjusts the legend's font size. Move the slider to right to increase size for better readability or to the left to decrease size and fit more items in the legend. |
| Legend on bottom |
Check the box to render the legend at the bottom of the chart instead of the right. |
| Legend title |
Enter a title here to override the default legend title. You can also type a space to have no title. |
| Size legend title |
Enter a title here to override the default size legend title. You can also type a space to have no title. |
Sizing Controls
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Annotation font size |
The slider adjusts the font size of the optional labels that appear next to each bubble or symbol. Moving the slider left reduces the font size and moving it right increases the font size. |
| Bubble/symbol size |
The slider adjusts the size of the bubbles or symbols. Moving the slider left reduces the size and moving it right increases the size. |
Axis Controls
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Annotation font size |
The slider adjusts the font size of the optional labels that appear next to each bubble or symbol. Moving the slider left reduces the font size and moving it right increases the font size. |
| Bubble/symbol size |
The slider adjusts the size of the bubbles or symbols. Moving the slider left reduces the size and moving it right increases the size. |
| Axis labels outside |
Check the box to display the axis labels outside of the chart area instead of the corners of each axis. |
| Left axis label |
Enter a label here to override the default left axis label. You can also type a space to have no label. |
| Bottom axis label |
Enter a label here to override the default bottom axis label. You can also type a space to have no label. |
| Bottom axis number formatting |
Select an option to override the default bottom axis number formatting. |
| Left axis number formatting |
Select an option to override the default left axis number formatting. |
| Invert left axis |
Reverse the order of items in the left axis. |
| Invert bottom axis |
Reverse the order of items in the bottom axis. |
| Left axis range |
Enter both minimum and maximum values to override the default range of the left axis. |
| Bottom axis range |
Enter both minimum and maximum values to override the default range of the bottom axis. |
| Hide axis tick labels |
When checked, this removes the tick labels from numeric axes. This can be helpful when relative value is more important than actual value. |
| Show median left axis value |
When checked, this adds a horizontal line where the median numerical value is along the left axis. |
| Show mean bottom axis value |
When checked, this adds a horizontal line where the median numerical value is along the bottom axis. |
| X-axis on top |
When checked, this renders the x-axis at the top of the chart instead of the bottom. |
| Log scale on left axis |
When checked, this renders the left axis with a logarithmic scale. |
| Scatter bubbles in swimlanes |
When checked, this randomly scatters bubbles in a swimlane or column. This can be useful when many bubbles have the same value on one axis. |
Highlighting
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Highlight selected items |
Outlines the bubbles included in the active portfolio/scenario in blue. |
| Highlighting selected labels |
Applies bold formatting to annotation labels for bubbles included in the active portfolio/scenario. |
| Draw variance tails |
Draws a line from each bubble that represents variance from a reference values. This requires a reference portfolio. |
| Also draw variance tail bubbles |
Draw a second bubble at the end of the variance tail which indicates the variance of the Size By field. |
| Show left axis range |
Draws whisker from bubbles indicating minimum from reference value. |
| Show bottom axis range |
Draws whisker from bubbles indicating minimum from reference value. |
Pies in bubbles
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Select fields for pie wedges |
Render each bubble as a pie chart with the specified fields as wedges. Each bubble's size is still determined by the Size by dropdown and the wedge colors are based on the Color dropdown. |
| Render donuts |
Makes the pie charts hollow, like a donut. |
| Sort pie wedges |
Sorts each wedge of the pie by size, in descending order. |
Miscellaneous controls
| Chart Option |
Description |
| Second annotation row |
Select a second field to annotate each bubble or symbol. The second annotation displays under the primary annotation. |
| Show gridlines |
Extends the axis ticks into the graph area as gridlines. |
| Show background stripes |
Show vertical and horizontal striping on the category charts. |
| Regression line |
Overlay linear regression line on the bubble chart. This only works on charts with numeric values on the axes. |
| Category totals |
Annotate groups of bubbles with a category total. |
| Category total label alignment |
Sets the positioning of the category total label. |
| Category totals font size |
Adjusts the size of the category total labels. |
| Cross tabulation chart |
When both axes use categories instead of numeric values, this shows the totals in each cell instead of the bubbles. |
| Cross tabulation totals font size |
Adjusts the size of the labels of the cross tabulation totals. |
| Pie-style cross tabulation chart |
When both axes use categories instead of numeric values, each cell displays a pie chart. The colors are determined by the Color dropdown. |
| Add 2x2 background |
Adds a background plot consisting of four equallly sized colored rectangles. |
| Custom Left Sort |
This activates the ability to sort the left axis when using a category column. This only works when there are 15 or fewer categories. |
| Custom Bottom Sort |
This activates the ability to sort the bottom axis when using a category column. This only works when there are 15 or fewer categories. |
