Analyzing data using widgets

A widget displays the results of a dataset, allowing you to visualize data in different ways than traditional reports displayed as grids or graphs do. Widgets are sophisticated visualization techniques that can combine with rich interactivity to enable users to understand their data more effectively. Dashboard-style documents can display a variety of widget types, such as Gauge, Heat Map, and Stacked Area widgets. Although each type of widget looks different and is used in a unique way, the main purpose of all widgets remains the same: to provide a visual and interactive look into your data.

You can analyze data using any of the following specific type of widget in the Web:

Bubble Grid widget: Displays bubbles of different colors and sizes representing the values of two metrics. It can help identify important trends or anomalies in data, relative to the total contribution of accompanying data.

Cylinder widget: A simple status indicator that displays a vertical cylinder with fluid in it. The level of the fluid within the cylinder is a visual representation of a single metric value.

Data Cloud widget: A list of attribute elements displayed in various sizes to depict the differences in metric values between the elements. The varying sizes allow you to quickly identify the most significant, positive, or negative contributions.

Date Selection widget: A calendar selector that allows you to select which dates you want to see data about in a document or dashboard-style document. You are able to see all of the dates of each month in the widget, which allows you to be able to select dates more easily.

Fish Eye Selector widget: An interactive selector that magnifies an item when you hover the cursor over it. It allows you to choose from a list of attribute elements, metrics, or images without having to see all of the elements, metrics, or images. Any item that you hover over or select remains magnified, while the remaining items are minimized and hidden from view. This can be especially helpful when you have to browse through a lengthy list.

Funnel widget: A variation of a stacked bar graph that displays data that adds up to 100%. It allows you to visualize the percent contribution of a metric to the whole.

Gauge widget: A simple status indicator that displays a needle that moves within a range of numbers displayed on its outside edges. An example of a gauge is a car's speedometer.

Graph Matrix widget: A group of area graphs that display actual values and line graphs that display forecasted values. It allows you to quickly analyze various trends across several metric dimensions.

Heat Map widget: A combination of colored rectangles, each representing an attribute element, that allow you to quickly grasp the state and impact of a large number of variables at the same time.

Image Layout widget: An image overlaid with colored areas or bubble markers. For example, the layout of a store can be displayed, with each aisle shown as a separate region. Each aisle is automatically colored based on the number of visits that it receives.

Interactive Bubble Graph widget: A conventional bubble plot that allows you to visualize the trends of three different metrics for a set of attribute elements.

Interactive Stacked Graph widget: A combination of a check box list and area graph. The graph allows you to see the contribution of various metric series to the change in value of a larger set of data. This is a Flash-based widget, which displays in Flash Mode.

Map widget: Locations displayed as image markers or bubble markers on a map, along with additional data for those locations, such as attribute and metric data.

Media widget: Video, audio, images, or website content. One of the primary purposes of the Media widget is to present supplemental information about the data on a dashboard-style document. It can also be used for instructional content or HTML content from a website.

Microcharts widget: One or more compact representations of data that allow you to quickly visualize trends. Use a Microcharts widget to quickly visualize the trend of a metric at a glance without having to know many additional details. The bar, sparkline, and bullet microcharts used in the Microcharts widget convey information that you can understand just by looking at the graph once.

Network widget: A visual representation of data about individual items and the relationships between them. Business attributes are represented by circular nodes, while the lines between the nodes (called edges) represent relationships between the attributes.

RSS Reader widget: RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a data format used to display updated Web content when you click a URL. An RSS document is called a feed, and it contains either a summary of the content from an associated website or the full text. The RSS Reader widget can help provide context to your business data. Use RSS Reader widgets on a dashboard-style document to view and update RSS feeds while you analyze grids, graphs, and other objects in the same dashboard-style document.

Thermometer widget: A simple status indicator that displays a thermometer set to a certain temperature level. The temperature level within the thermometer is a visual representation of a single metric value. This is a Flash-based widget, which displays in Flash Mode.

Time Series Slider widget: An area graph that allows you to choose which section of the graph to view at a time. This is a Flash-based widget, which displays in Flash Mode.

Waterfall widget: A group of clustered bars displayed from left to right. It highlights the increments and decrements of the values of metrics over time. The widget can help identify what is contributing to fluctuations in the metric values and can be used for “what-if” analyses.

Weighted List Viewer widget: A combination of the data visualization techniques of thresholds and graphical weighting in a single visualization. This enables you to assess the performance of a group of items.