Highlight data

You can highlight data based on custom criteria or percent of the total (i.e., heatmap) to spot areas of concern or importance. The availability of highlighting depends on the widget type.

Grid highlighting based on custom criteria

You can highlight grid data based on custom thresholds (e.g., percent change below or above a given value). Data that meet the criteria will show the selected symbol (e.g., circles) or the entire cell may be highlighted.

To highlight data based on custom criteria in a grid (in explore mode)

Place your cursor on the heading of the column to highlight. You can highlight actual values (This or Last), percent change, difference, etc., for any measure.
Click the drop-down arrow that appears.
Select Highlighting.
In Highlight Settings, check Green highlighting, Yellow highlighting, and/or Red highlighting, depending on the highlighting color(s) you want to use.
For each color range, type a minimum value and maximum value. If you use multiple ranges, they cannot overlap.

Optionally, check Include Totals/Avg Values to apply the highlight settings to applicable totals, averages, and subtotals (i.e., checked/unchecked) in the grid.
From the Style drop-down, select a highlighting style. The style controls the symbol used in grids.
Click OK.

Tips for grid highlighting:

• Grid highlighting cannot be configured in view mode using the previous method; instead, users can turn on highlighting in graph format (see below) and then switch back to the grid. This will apply highlighting to the applicable columns.

• To access highlight settings for Gauge widgets, click in the upper-right corner of the widget and select Highlight Settings.

Heatmap highlighting in grids

You can highlight grid cells based on the percent of the total for a given column to create a "heatmap"; the darkest shades represent the largest values. This method does not require you to enter criteria because the shades are calculated automatically.

To turn on heatmap highlighting (in explore mode)

Place your cursor on the heading of the column to highlight.
Click the drop-down arrow that appears.
Select Highlighting.
In Highlight Settings, check the Heatmap box.
Click OK.

Optionally, choose a custom color in Graph Settings, Visual Options. Locate the specific measure and format (e.g., Units for This date range) and then click in the Color column. This color will serve as the darkest shade possible, with other shades calculated accordingly.

If you skip this step, then the grid will use the color of the data type (i.e., blue for volume, black for revenue, etc.)

Tips for heatmap highlighting:

• You can use heatmap highlighting in conjunction with custom highlighting ranges (see the previous section). In this case, any "cell" highlighting styles will switch to circles to avoid conflicts.

• Heatmap highlighting does not shade negative data.

• Heatmap highlighting is available in several types of grids (Comparative, Trend, etc.). For all widget types, shades are calculated based on the total for the given column as opposed to the total of all columns.

• Some measures, such as average price, do not have meaningful totals and, therefore, show "average" values in the totals row. For these measures, the heatmap shading will be 100% of the color whenever the value meets or exceeds the average for that column. If this results in shading that is too dark, you may want to select a lighter custom color as explained in step 6 above.

Graph highlighting

Graph components (bars or points) can be highlighted when data meets custom criteria.

To highlight data in graphs
Access visual options by clicking in the graph legend (available on mouseover if the legend is enabled). Tip: You can also access visual options under Graph Settings in the toolkit (in explore mode).
For the measure/format to highlight, click in the Color column. Check the Use Highlight Settings box. If highlight settings are not already configured, click the Highlight Settings button and set highlighting ranges as explained below.
For each color you wish to use, check the box and type a minimum value and maximum value. Ranges cannot overlap. Optionally, check Include Totals/Avg Values to apply the highlight settings to applicable totals in the graph. This setting only affects graphs that compare members and include the graph total, which can be turned on in graph settings. Select a style. In graphs, the style controls custom highlighting colors if they are configured. When you are finished, click OK.