Line graphs use a line to connect individual data points and are most useful for visualizing trends and changes over time. When using a time axis, the table automatically displays the most recent period and a time slider is available to adjust the number of time periods you see.
In this article
1. Line Graph
A line graph (line chart) is best suited for showing how different things change over time. A line graph is a visual that displays a series of data points connected by a straight line.
Line graphs can show a large amount of information, and can provide an easy way to see relationships in the data. If you are not sure which graph type to choose, try line graphs first.
Typically, independent values such as time intervals are plotted on the horizontal/across (x-axis) while dependent values are plotted in the vertical/down (y-axis).
Line graphs can be exported to PowerPoint as editable objects. Once exported, you can make adjustments as required.
2. Time Slider
When creating an analysis with a time axis, the table automatically scrolls to the far right to show you your latest results in view.
When choosing to visualize, the line chart also defaults to show the 13 latest time periods. The time slider is automatically available at the bottom of the chart and you can slide to reveal more time periods.
To use the time slider, ensure that you have a time axis with a date flag in the horizontal/across (x-axis) dimension.
If there are several time axes that together include more than 13 time periods, for example, separate Year axes that each contain the 12 months of the year, you can drag consecutive year axes to the across dimension and the time slider will display in the chart - e.g., drag in Year 2024 and Year 2025 together.
Stories and Dashboards
When you save a time-based chart to a story, Harmoni saves the settings you define with the time slider. When a new wave of data is uploaded, your stories retain the set number of time periods included in a chart, adding the newest time period and dropping the oldest. This also means that dashboards using these stories display the number of time periods you set.
Important: If you adjust the right-hand time slider to exclude the latest time period, the time axis becomes user-defined, and your story will not automatically update. To create a dynamic chart, drag the whole time axis to the analysis and only use the left-hand time slider to include the number of historical time periods required.
Learn more about creating stories that automatically update.
Where to from here?
Learn more about Visualize:
- Getting started with Visualize
- Visualize - Bar Graphs
- Project Design - Organize items in your Project Tree