Tables, Charts, Metrics and Pivot Tables

Visuals decide how the people who run a report see its result. Without visuals, a report shows one table. Add a chart, a few headline numbers, or a pivot table, and place them side by side.

Watch the short video, then follow the steps below.

Menu	Reports > Report Builder > a report > Design
Permission	Build reports and manage own custom reports and views
Feature	Report Builder

Can't find it?

What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

Add a visual

The Visuals card on the right, under Properties, lists what the report shows, in order.

1. Click Table, Chart, Metrics or Pivot table at the bottom of the card. The builder fills the new visual with your columns: the first dimension as categories or rows, and up to three measures as values.
2. The visual opens in the card. Change its settings.
3. Use the arrow to move a visual up, and the cross to remove it. Click a visual in the list to change it again.

Every visual has a Title, shown above it, and a Width: Quarter, Third, Half, Two thirds or Full. Visuals that fit on one line are placed side by side, for example two charts at Half. Tables and metrics start at Full, charts and pivot tables at Half.

You can also drag a field from the Data pane straight onto a visual's Categories, Values, Split into series by, Rows, Columns across or Value box. The builder adds the column for you: a number dropped on values is summed, and other fields dropped on values are counted.

Table

A table shows the result rows.

Setting	What it does
Columns shown	The columns the table shows. Leave all unchecked to show every column that is not hidden.
Show totals	Adds a grand total row at the bottom.
Show subtotals	Keeps rows together by their first dimensions and adds a subtotal after each group.

With subtotals on and columns Role, User and Status followed by a measure, the table shows a subtotal for each user within a role, then for each role, then the grand total. Put the dimensions in the order you want them grouped: the first column is the outermost group.

Chart

Setting	What it does
Chart type	Bar, Horizontal bar, Line, Area, Pie or Doughnut.
Categories	The dimension along the axis, or the slices of a pie.
Values	The measures to draw.
Split into series by	Draws one series per value of another dimension, using the first value column. For example, one line per region.
Stack series	Stacks the series on top of each other.
Show legend	Shows which color is which.

Pick a chart that suits the question:

Question	Chart
Which is biggest?	Bar or Horizontal bar (long names read better horizontally).
How does it change over time?	Line or Area, with a date grouped by Month or Week as categories.
What share does each part have?	Pie or Doughnut, with a few categories.
How is each total made up?	Bar with Split into series by and Stack series.

Metrics

Metrics show headline numbers: the total of each value column over the whole report, such as the number of orders and the revenue. Pick the Values to show.

Pivot table

A pivot table is a cross-tab:

Setting	What it does
Rows	The dimensions down the side.
Columns across	The dimension whose values become the columns along the top.
Value	The measure shown in each cell.
Show totals	Adds totals for each row and column.

For example, Assigned to as rows, Status across, and the number of rows as the value shows how many activities each person has in each status.

Totals stay correct

Charts, metrics, pivot tables, totals and subtotals add up the underlying rows again rather than adding the numbers shown. An average stays a true average and a distinct count stays distinct, even in a total.

Next: Join data sets.