Using Graphs & Data Cells in OnePager Version 8.0
Introduction
Illustrations used in this article are from OnePager Pro Add-in and Standalone using data from Microsoft Project, however, Graphs/Data Cells features, functions, controls, and editing apply equally to other OnePager Add-in and Standalone editions that import from data sources like Microsoft Excel, Smartsheet, Oracle Primavera P6, Planisware Enterprise, Asana, and Wrike. At present, Microsoft Planner source plans do not provide time-series data that can be processed and displayed by the Graphs/Data Cells feature.
This article and the articles linked from this article describe a methodology for using OnePager’s premium Graphs/Data Cells feature. This premium feature provides you with the capabilities to show graphs of time-series data (e.g., cost data) in graphic form along with your Gantt/Timeline charts. Additionally, the Graphs/Data Cells feature provides you the capability to show time-series data (e.g., cost data) imported from your source plan in tabular form (data cells). Vertical and Horizontal Pivoting of Graphs is an integral part of this feature.
Before continuing, perhaps a short discussion of terminology is in order. The OnePager Chart shown below consists of two areas for the purpose of this article and articles related to the Graphs/Data Cells feature:
- 1) Chart area: The chart area consists of typically a time-axis set of levels at the top, rows with task bars/milestone symbols sometime organized into swimlanes on the left with optional sets of text columns on the left and right sides, and optional time-axis levels on the bottom.
- 2) Graph areas: There are two graph areas available in the Chart at the top just below the top time-axes and at the bottom of the Chart below the lowest row containing task bars/milestone symbols.
The Chart containing a Chart area and a Graph area looks like this:
-10292025.png)
As you’ll see in the examples that follow, creating graphs & data cells in the Chart requires that the fields intended for this use are provided and populated in the source plan. If the designated field is not present in the source plan or if the designated field is present but not populated with numeric time-series data, the graphs or data cells are not created in the Chart.
Sometimes cost related fields are established in a Template but the field may not be present when that Template is applied to a source plan. Again, in such a case, the graphs or data cells are not created in The Chart.
Overview
The purpose of this article is to provide you with suggestions on how to approach the configuration of graphs & data cells. Feel free to use the links in the Contents table at the top of this article to jump directly to the particular type of graph or data cell topic you wish to investigate.
Multiple Graphs and Tabular Data Cells
The Graphs/Data Cells premium feature supports up to nine (9) individual Graphs and three (3) individual tabular Data Cells in two graph areas (above the chart area and below the chart area). These “components” are configured as follows:
- Graphs
- Panel #1
- Series A
- Series B
- Series C
- Panel #2
- Series A
- Series B
- Series C
- Panel #3
- Series A
- Series B
- Series C
- Data Cells
- Panel #1
- Panel #2
- Panel #3
Using multiple Panels of either Graphs or Data Cells in one Chart might create a Chart that looks cluttered. Defining multiple Graphs & Data Cells, that can be turned ON or OFF, provides the capability to configure multiple Chart possibilities. Each Chart possibility may containing different Graph & Data Cell representations that can be used in single or in multiple schedule conversations. OnePager’s capacity to support nine (9) Graphs and three (3) Tabular Data Cell representations offers considerable flexibility in complex schedule conversations and presentations.
You can create up to three (3) graphs in a single Panel. This can be done using the methods described for creating multiple graphs in multiple Panels. However, when creating multiple graphs within a single Panel, please be aware that if you use the same Cost Field for two or more of the Series in the single Panel and the Graph types option are the same, one of the graphs may be obscured and you may not achieve the visual representation desired for your schedule conversation.
As an additional caution, we do not recommend using quantities for different fields in a single Panel. For example, using Cost in dollars for Series A and Work time in hours in Series B. The reason for this is that a Panel has a single X-Axis and different scales are not supported.
Schedule Presentation Example # 1
Suppose you have a presentation where Cost is a primary issue and the main concern is the accumulation of costs over time. OnePager can configure a set of Graph & Data Cell Panels that can be turned ON in the Chart as necessary in preparation for the schedule conversation to help emphasize the desired points or decision situations.
To illustrate this, the Chart below shows the progress of the project (%Complete) with task bars and milestone symbols decorated with %Complete bars:
-03262025.png)
If we enhance the above Chart by adding a top graph area to show both the Cumulative Quarterly Costs across the project, the Chart and the top graph area provides more information for the cost discussion in conjunction with the schedule considerations. This enhanced Chart with the added Graph area looks like this:
-03262025.png)
When the top graph area is added to the Chart, members of the schedule conversation can see how costs are expected to accumulate to the end of the project.
If we further enhance the Chart by adding a tabular data cell Panel with the numeric cost data for each Quarter and place the Panel below the chart area, members in the schedule conversation can see actual cost figures for each quarter’s costs as shown below:
-03262025.png)
The three step scenario carried out above can be pre-planned and the Chart configured before the schedule conversation and each of the illustrations above can be easily presented.
Further, the graph areas and chart area are available in Presentation mode where the OnePager Chart Editor is reconfigured to a full screen mode without the OnePager tool bar being shown. This capability is provided to support presentations.
Finally, the chart area with any enabled graph areas can be exported in a single export to any interfacing presentation application such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Outlook, or Word documents.
For more information on Presentation Mode and OnePager Export options, please see the articles in the link table below:
| Sharing via Other Applications (e.g., PowerPoint) |
| Using Presentation Mode with OnePager |
Schedule Presentation Example # 2
OnePager also supports pivoted graphs where you can partition time-series values within a timespan using some other comparative field from your source plan data. As an example, the source plan below has two time-series fields, Cost and Work. It also has a potential comparative field – Resource Names – that can be used to partition Cost data within a timespan (e.g., months, quarters, years, etc.):
-05022025.png)
Using the controls in the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab, you can create graphs that break down the Cost and Work values in Quarterly timespans by Resource Names as shown below:
-10272025.png)
In the resulting Chart and Graph areas, shown above, the top graph area contains a vertically pivoted column graph in Panel #1 Series A whose positions reflect the Costs associated with the Resource Names in the Quarterly timespans. Likewise in Panel #2 Series A shows vertically pivoted line graphs of Work where each colored to correspond to an individual Resource Names where the data points are shown with timespans within Quarters. Panel Legends are provided at the left in each Panel.
Another representation of the Chart above can be made by representing the horizontally pivoted column graphs within each Quarterly timespan as shown in the illustration below:
-10272025.png)
As a caution, please keep in mind that while you can hide rows and swimlanes in OnePager Charts you cannot hide all rows and swimlanes. At a minimum, one row always remains in the Chart.
Caution When Importing Some Source Plan Fields to Create Graphs & Data Cells
The Graphs & Data Cells feature is provided with a focus on providing capabilities for graphing “Cost” related source plan data. However, the feature is not limited and you can import and graph percentage (%) fields as well. If the importing and graphic display of percentage fields is required, please keep in mind that the rollup from the selected task bars/milestone symbols’ individual percentage values (e.g., %Complete) may graph as unexpected high values.
Our recommendation, given the discussion above, is that using OnePager to graph percentage fields should be avoided.
Creating OnePager Charts with Graphs
Creating graphs & data cells in OnePager Charts is a step-wise process. This sub-section focuses on the preparation of Graphs. The general methodology suggested here for creating or editing the Chart by making setting based on the goals and objectives you intend to meet with your schedule conversations:
- 1) Determine carefully how the Chart should look – representation of the graphs, use of the top or bottom graph areas or both, and the decorations of the graph areas including colors, graph styles selection, X and Y axis labeling, graph legend, and borders.
- 2) Probably the most important decision to make is the selection of data fields (columns) imported from your source plan.
- 3) Next is the decision on how these imported data fields (columns) should be represented in the graph areas.
- 4) Then, you need to determine how to group the desired graphs into Panels and Series. Of course, there may only be a need for a single Panel and one Series.
- 5) Finally, you need to use the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab’s Panel and Series controls to construct the graphs that implement your design.
The five step process suggested above can be iterative as OnePager assists you in these steps. You can always go back to the Chart Properties form after creating the Chart, reassess your settings, and make edits so the Chart communicates with respect to your goals and objectives.
The discussion that follows is divided into five (5) sub-sections, one each for the steps listed above.
Step 1 – Determine Carefully How the Graph Should Look in the Chart
Governing the Chart design decision process are the goals and objectives of the schedule presentation. Usually the simplest design is better than a complex one. If, for example, the schedule conversation is focusing on cost issues then, perhaps, it may be best to just show Cost field (column) data as a single line graph or at most in its cumulative representation being careful to label it properly.
If cost deviations are the focus of the conversation, then using Cost Variance field (column) data may be more appropriate or showing two line graphs with one being Actual Cost and the second Baseline Cost, for example. The Chart with these two line graphs provides a visual aid for comparison and discussion.
Since there are many components in the chart area such as the task bars/milestone symbols and their decorations, rows and swimlanes, text columns, and task links, adding graph areas with potentially multiple graphs representing multiple source data fields (columns) can make the overall Chart look cluttered. All these Chart components are available for you to utilize so you have lots of options when it comes to determining how the overall Chart should look.
An important consideration is the utilization of the three (3) Series in each of the three (3) Graph mode Panels. Generally, we do not recommend displaying multiple Series. Such usage can lead to a cluttered Chart. Rather, multiple Series can be defined in the Chart Properties form and turned ON and OFF as needed during a schedule conversation. In this way, you have multiple graphs at your disposal and can call upon them as needed as the schedule conversation proceeds.
As a further note, we strongly recommend that all Series in a Panel have the same Y-Axis units.
To finalize the graph area design decision, simplicity is usually the best approach.
Step 2 – Determine Required Data Fields (Columns) for the Graph
Determining the source plan fields (columns) to import is the most important decision in the graph design process. It may be that only one source plan field (column) is required to meet your goals and objects or perhaps multiple source plan fields (columns) are required for more comprehensive schedule conversations. Selection of the right source plan fields (columns) drives the final look of The Chart and the graph areas in particular. Therefore, it is most important to know your data, how they were collected, and their level of accuracy.
As part of this step, your knowledge of the source plan field (column) data helps determine the timespans that appears in the graph area for each data point. Typically, these timespans match the lowest level interval of the Time Axis. These intervals are days, weeks, months, quarters, or years. The timespan selected is dependent on the granularity of the data collected and recorded in the source plan field (column). Since OnePager represents graph data imported from source plan fields (columns) they provide on a daily basis, OnePager interpolates these data such that they are representative of the timespan selected.
OnePager can provide Time-Phase data for Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera P6 source plan data. It is important to keep this in mind as the displayed values in the graph area may not correspond exactly to the source plan data field (column) values imported because of the Graph type selected, the scale of the graph, and the width of the lines.
You can use the OnePager Chart Editor and the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab to experiment with the import of various source plan fields (columns) by using the Field dropdown list in the form for the Panel and Series being used to see what the graph of a field (column) looks like in the Chart. The flexibility of OnePager is very useful to assist with setting up the graph areas to be the most informative given the source plan data fields available.
This design process is iterative and OnePager provides the controls for you to experiment with the look of the Chart and its graph areas until you are satisfied that the Chart meets your schedule conversation needs.
Step 3 – Determine Graph Data Representation Properties
Once the initial selection of the source plan fields (columns) is made, you have options on how to visually represent the graph. For graphs, OnePager provides visual options with respect to Graph Type and Series Styles that are discussed in the two sub-sections below.
Graph Representation Properties – Graph Type
In Step 3 there is a need to get specific on how the graph is created. There are five (5) graph types available that can be selected from the Graph type dropdown shown in the illustration below:
-03062026.png)
Each of these Graph types is shown in the series of simple graph illustrations below:
-10282025.png)
-10282025.png)
-10282025.png)
-10282025.png)
-10282025.png)
Graph Representation Properties – Series Type
If the Graph Type selected is the Line or Smooth Line option, the OnePager Series Style options provided are the five (5) Line Styles (i.e., solid, dash, dot, dash-dot, and dash-dot-dot), which are enhanced by options for Color (provided by the standard Color Chooser form) and Line Width.
Further, you have the option available to select the Data Point Styles provided from the standard Shape Chooser form also enhanced by options for Color and Shape Width. Recall that the standard Color Chooser form gives you access to additional Color Palettes. These options are shown in the illustration below:
-03062026.png)
The default option for Data Point Style is to NOT SHOW data points in line graphs and smooth line graphs. Of course you can turn the Show data points checkbox ON and select the Color and Width as you require.
If you select the Area, Column, or Smooth Area Graph Type, clicking the Series Style dropdown accesses the standard OnePager Color Chooser form where you can select the desired color for the area under or within the graph.
OnePager provides a great deal of flexibility in designing line and area graphs with respect to Graph Types and Series Styles. Care should be taken when using these options not to overly complicate the visual representation when multiple line graphs are displayed in either the top or bottom graph areas.
Step 4 - Determine How to Group the Graphs into Panels and Series
To be clear, Step 4 may need to be done before Step 3 and it may be required to iterate between these two steps in order to get the results you need to meet your schedule conversation goals and objectives. For our purposes here, let’s assume we’ve decided that line graphs are needed to support our upcoming schedule conversation.
The primary outcome is to focus audience attention on an area in The Chart that includes the chart area and graph areas where the issue or issues you are attempting to address are concentrated. The case where there is only one line graph in the top or bottom of the top graph area is a simple one. When you require two or more line graphs, the order from top to bottom within a Panel or vice-versa becomes more important. Typically, discussions follow a top down orientation and from left to right. You can use OnePager’s Curtain feature in the Chart area to single out a timespan that should be the focus of attention as illustrated below:
-10282025.png)
Finally, it might be advisable to have the most important line graphs in the top graph area and reserve the bottom graph area (below the bottom row) for less critical or supporting line graphs.
When these decisions involving Step 3 and Step 4 are made you are ready to configure the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab’s Panels and Series into the configuration that you’ve decided is best to meet the goals and objectives of your presentation. These decisions, once made lead to Step 5.
Step 5 – Implement Your Graph Design using the Controls in the Chart Properties Form
Implementing your graph design is the last step in the process and involves using the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab to construct the graphs in accordance with the decisions you made in the previous steps. Again, iteration may be required to get the final Chart into the desired configuration to support your schedule conversation.
Please use the link in the table below to connect to the Related Links section in this article where all links to graphs & data cells related articles are provided:
| Related Links |
Creating OnePager Charts with Data Cells
Creating Data Cells in OnePager Charts is also step-wise process. This sub-section focuses on the preparation of Data Cells in the Chart. The general methodology is for you to create or edit the Chart by making setting determinations based upon the goals and objectives you intend to meet with your schedule conversation:
- 1) Determine carefully how the Chart is going to look – representation of the data cells, use of the top or bottom graph areas or both, and the decorations of the graph areas including font properties, colors, and borders.
- 2) Probably the most important decision to be made is the selection of data fields (columns) needed to be imported from your source plan.
- 3) Next, you need to decide how these imported data fields (columns) should be represented in the graph area.
- 4 Then, you need to determine how to group the desired data cells as there are three Panels available each with only one Series.
- 5) Finally, you need to use the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab’s Panel and Series controls to construct the data cells that implement your design.
The five step process suggested above can be iterative as OnePager assists you in these steps because you can always go back to the Chart Properties form after Chart creation, reassess your settings, and make edits so the Chart communicates with respect to your goals and objectives. The discussion that follows is divided into five (5) sub-sections, one each for the steps listed above.
Step 1 – Determine Carefully How the Data Cells Should Look in the Chart
The goals and objectives of the presentation govern the Chart design decision process. Usually the simplest design is better than a complex one. If, for example, the schedule conversation is focusing on cost issue then, perhaps, it may be best to just show Cost field (column) data as a single set of data cells or at most in its cumulative representation being careful to label it properly.
If cost deviations are the focus of the conversation, then using Cost Variance field (column) data may be more appropriate or showing two sets of data cells with one being Actual Cost and the second Baseline Cost, for example. The chart with these two sets of data cells provides a visual aid for comparison and discussion.
Since there are many components in the chart area such as the task bars/milestone symbols and their decorations, rows and swimlanes, text columns, and task links, adding graph areas with potentially multiple graphs & data cells representing multiple source data fields (columns) can make the overall Chart look cluttered. All these Chart components are available for you to utilize so you have a lot of options when it comes to determining how the overall Chart should look to support your schedule conversation or presentation.
To finalize the graph area design decision, simplicity is usually the best guide.
Step 2 – Determine Required Data Fields (Columns) for the Data Cells
Determining the source plan fields (columns) to import is the most important decision in the data cells design process. It may be that only one source plan field (column) is required to meet your goals and objects or perhaps multiple source plan fields (columns) are required for more comprehensive schedule conversations. Selection of the right source plan fields (columns) drives the final look of the Chart and the graph areas in particular. Therefore, it is most important to know your data, how they were collected, and their level of accuracy.
As part of this step, you knowledge of the source plan field (column) data helps determine the timespans that appears in the graph area for each data cell. Typically, these timespans match the lowest level interval of the Time Axis. These intervals are days, weeks, months, quarters, or years. The timespan selected is dependent on the granularity of the source plan data collected and recorded in the source plan field (column) you import. Since OnePager represents data cells imported from source plan fields (columns) on a daily basis, OnePager interpolates these data such that they are representative of the timespan selected.
OnePager can provide Time-Phase data for Microsoft Project and Oracle Primavera P6 source plan data. It is important to keep this in mind as the displayed values in the graph area may not correspond exactly to the source plan data field (column) values imported because of the timespan selected.
You can use the OnePager Chart Editor and the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab to experiment with the import of various source plan fields (columns) by using the Field dropdown list in the form for the Panel being used to see what the set of data cells of a field (column) looks like in the Chart. The flexibility of OnePager is very useful to assist with setting up the graph areas to be the most informative given the source plan data fields available.
This design process is iterative and OnePager provides the controls for you to experiment with the look of the Chart and its graph areas until you are satisfied that the overall Chart meets your schedule conversation needs.
Step 3 – Determine Data Cells Representation Properties for the Graph Area
Once the selection of the source plan fields (columns) is finalized you have options on how to visually represent the data cells. For data cells OnePager provides visual options with respect to Font properties, background colors, and data cell borders that are discussed in the sub-sections below.
Data Cells Representation Properties – Data Cell Formatting
In Step 3 there is a need to get into specifics on how the data cells are rendered in the graph area selected in any of the three Panels available. Each Panel has a Formatting control group with a Data Cell Formatting button that accesses the Data Cell Formatting – Panel #n form as shown in the illustration below:
-02032026.png)
You have options in the Data Cell Formatting – Panel #n form to control the Title of the set of data cells, the formatting of the title’s text, and text orientation. The Formatting control group provides the same for the data cells themselves. You can also select the Background colors for the title of the data cells and configure single or alternating Background Colors for data cells. Additionally, the form provides for controls for establishing borders for the set of data cells.
Step 4 - Determine How to Group the Data Cells into Panels
To be clear, Step 4 may need to be done before Step 3 and it may be required to iterate in order to get the results you need. For the purposes here, let’s assume that we’ve decided on a set of data cells that we need to support our upcoming schedule conversation.
The primary outcome is to focus audience attention on an area in the Chart that includes the chart area and graph areas where the issue or issues you are attempting to address are concentrated. The case where there is only one set of data cells in the top or bottom graph area is a simple one. When you’ve require two or more sets of data cells, the order from top to bottom or vice-versa becomes more important. Typically, discussions follow a top to bottom orientation and from left to right. You can use OnePager’s Curtain feature to single out a timespan that should be the focus of attention as illustrated below:
-10282025.png)
Finally, it might be advisable to have the most important set of data cells in the top graph area and reserve the lower Panels in the graph area for less critical or supporting set of data cells.
When these decisions involving Step 3 and Step 4 are made you are ready to configure the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab’s Panels into the configuration that you’ve decided is best to meet the goals and objectives of your presentation. These decisions, once made lead to Step 5.
Step 5 – Implement Your Data Cells Design using the Controls in the Chart Properties Form
Implementing your data cells design is the last step in the process and involves using the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab to construct the data cells required.
Again, iteration may be required to get the final Chart into the desired configuration to support your schedule conversation.
Please use the link in the table below to connect to the Related Links section in this article where all links to graphs & data cells related articles are provided:
| Related Links |
Multi-Panel Example
The examples provided in the previous sub-sections were created using the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab. This new tab, and the corresponding tab on the Template Properties form, provides all the controls required for defining, creating, and editing graphs & data cell representations in the two graph areas of the Chart.
In this section we’ll create a multi-panel example consisting of two graph panels and one data cell panel.
Setting Up Panel #1 as a Graph
To set up the first Panel as a simple line graph, access the Chart Properties form at the Graphs/Data Cells tab shown below and follow the steps shown in the illustrations that follow:
-03272026.png)
The above illustration shows the Chart Properties form accessed at the Graphs/Data Cells tab (Step 1). The Panel #1 sub-tab is automatically enabled as the default (Step 2) if the Panel is enabled in the Template Properties form. To enable the controls to Graph mode, click the Display as checkbox to ON (Step 3), enabling the four controls and use the Display as dropdown to click the Graph option. Then, set the location for the graph by clicking the Top radio button. Next, click the Time Unit dropdown and select Quarters. Finally in Step 3, set the Graph Height control to 1.50 inches.
In the Data Source(s) control group, the Series A checkbox is automatically checked ON (Step 4) when the Panel’s Display as checkbox is checked ON. Use the dropdown windows in Series A to select the Field, Cumulative checkbox, Skip Zeros checkbox, Interpolation option, Graph Type, and Series Style. These control settings determine the source plan field (column), any cumulative manipulations required, tasks to be included in creating the graph, and how the graph looks. This first graph is cumulative so the Cumulative checkbox should be checked ON.
Finally, in the Graph Elements control group (Step 5), click the enabled checkboxes ON and use each one of the blue buttons to access the corresponding forms to setup the Y axis Properties form, the Graph Legend form, and the graph’s Border properties form. The Y-Axis Properties button is enabled only for horizontally pivoted column graphs.
When the OK or Apply button is clicked on the Chart Properties form, the resulting Chart looks like this:
-10282025.png)
Please use the link in the table below to connect to the Related Links section in this article where all links to graphs & data cells related articles are provided:
| Related Links |
Setting Up Panel #2 as a Graph
With this done, click the Panel #2 sub-tab (Step 6 below) and follow the steps described below to create the second top graph area Graph.
-03062026.png)
At the Panel #2 sub-tab (Step 7) check the Display as checkbox ON and make the same settings in the Display as control group for Panel #2 as you made for Panel #1. These control settings assure that the two top graph area’s contents align properly with the Time Axis tic units.
In the Panel #2 Data Source(s) control group (Step 8) also put in the same settings as you made in Panel #1 with the exception that the Cumulative checkbox is checked OFF. Checking this checkbox OFF assures that the graph for Panel #2 is NOT a cumulative graph.
In the Graph Elements control group (Step 9) check all four checkboxes ON and access the four forms using the blue buttons to setup the X Axis, Graph Legend, and Graph Borders as was done for Panel #1.
After adding Panel #2 to the previous Chart, the combined Chart with Panels #1 and #2 looks like this:
-10282025.png)
Please use the link in the table below to connect to the Related Links section in this article where all links to graphs & data cells related articles are provided:
| Related Links |
Setting Up Panel #3 for Data Cells
When finished, click the Panel #3 sub-tab at the top of the form (Step 10 below) to proceed to setting up Panel #3 as described below:
-03272026.png)
At the Panel #3 sub-tab (Step 11) click the Display as checkbox ON and for Panel #3 access the Display as dropdown list and select the Data Cells option as shown above. Since we want the data cells to be below the chart area, click the Bottom radio button ON in the Location sub-control group. The Time Unit and Row Height (i.e., Graph Height for graphs) should be set to Quarters and 0.5 inches, respectively.
Since we are going to use the Cost field (column) for the data cells representation, use the Field dropdown (Step 12) to select the Cost field. The Interpolation and Include dropdown options should be the same as set in the Data Source(s) control groups for Panel #1 and Panel #2. For this Panel, the Cumulative checkbox should remain OFF.
In the Formatting control group (Step 13) you have the option with the Font dropdown to access the standard Font properties form to make any changes to the Data Cell’s label. The Data Cell Formatting button accesses the Data Cell Formatting – Panel #3 form that can be used to set the Title of the Data Cells panel, Data Formats, Data Cell Borders, and Background Colors. The Data Cell Formatting – Panel #3 form is shown below:
-03272025.png)
After adding Panel #3 to the previous Chart, the combined Chart with Panels #1, #2, and #3 looks like this with the Data Cells, Panel #3 at the bottom of the Chart:
-10282025.png)
For more information on the Data Cell Formatting – Panel #n form, please see the article at the link provided in the table below:
| Managing Formatting for Data Cells |
| Managing Data Cell Label and Data Cell Formatting in OnePager |
The Numbers Format sub-control group for Panel #3 provides options for setting the number of decimal places for numeric values in the data cells, selecting the separator symbol between sets of three zeros (e.g., 1,000), selecting the currency symbol, and setting the Multiplier as illustrated here:
-01262026.png)
For more information on the Number Format control group, please see the article at the link provided in the table below:
| Managing Formatting for Data Cells |
| Managing Number Formats for Data Cells in OnePager |
Creating OnePager Charts with Pivoted Graphs
OnePager provides the capability to display time-series graphs that can be pivoted based upon the values imported from another source plan field. For example, suppose you need to show quarterly costs but want to break those costs down in the graph area to display the costs attributed to different resources working on the project. In such an example, OnePager prepares the cost time-series and produces a pivoted graph with cost segments assigned to the different resources and assigns a specific color to differentiate between the resources being employed.
These are called pivoted graphs and the process of producing these graphs in OnePager is call pivoting.
In the previous three sub-sections of this article, the step-by-step creation for graphs & data cells was covered in detail providing you with consideration on what should be kept in mind when formulating graphs & data cells. These step-by-step details won’t be covered again here so for a refresher please review the previous three sub-sections starting at the beginning of this article.
Pivoted Graph Example – Vertically Pivoted Column Graph
Suppose we want to display a pivoted column graph based on cumulative costs but pivoted vertically to show column segments attributed to the different Resource Names associated with the project. The source plan we’ll use looks like this:
Shown above is one resource field and two time-series fields from left to right. With these data we have the capability to construct the desired Chart. After importing the data, the initial Chart looks like this showing only the chart area:
-10282025.png)
To create a pivoted column graph in Panel #1, Series A we need to access the Chart Properties form at the Graphs/Data Cells tab and configure the tab for Graph mode and make the settings for a cumulative column Graph Type as shown below:
-03062026.png)
Note that the Pivot Series A button is enabled in the above illustration. Clicking the Pivot Series A button access the Graph Vertical Pivoting – Panel #,1 Series A form where the Vertical Pivot is the default tab. Check the Pivot vertically with field checkbox to ON which enables the dropdown list; select the dropdown list, and the field you are going to use to control the vertical pivot as shown below:
-01082026.png)
When you click the OK button in the above form, OnePager creates the set of Conditional Formatting rules that control the colors that OnePager applies to the pivoted column graph as shown below:
-10282025.png)
Once the Graph Vertical Pivoting – Panel #1, Series A form is completed with the Conditional Formatting rules, you have the option to click any of the Graph Series Style cells and change the colors using the standard OnePager Color chooser form. Clicking the OK button on the form applies the Conditional Formatting rules to the Chart’s graph area. When this is done the Chart looks like this:
-10282025.png)
There are three items to note: First, the Y-Axis is enabled in the Chart Properties form so the default settings for the Y-Axis are applied to the graph area. Second, the Graph Legend is enabled so the graph area contains the Legend for the colors applied to the Cost field for each of the Resource Names. Finally, the Graph Border is enabled and the default setting places a horizontal line between the graph area and the chart area.
To provide a bit more information for the schedule conversation, we can add the Pivot field (Resource Names) as text columns to make the Chart look like the following:
-10282025.png)
The Chart in the illustration above contains a graph area displaying a vertically pivoted column graph with a Y-Axis Label containing Tic Marks, and a Title, and a Cost Legend related to the Pivoted field name of Resource Names. Additionally, two text columns are added to contain the basic Cost data and the Resource Names associated with each task bar.
To further differentiate colors between the graph area and the chart area, you can activate the chart area Legend and place it in the lower left corner of the chart area where there is empty space. When this is done the Chart looks like this:
-10282025.png)
Pivoted Graph Example – Horizontally Pivoted Column Graph
From the previous example, it is quite simple to reconfigure the graph area from the vertically pivoted column graph to a horizontally pivoted column graph by simply changing the settings accessed from the Pivot Series A button in the Chart Properties form’s Graphs/Data Cells tab’s Panel #1 sub-tab as shown below:
-03062026.png)
When you click OK on the Graph Horizontal Pivoting – Panel 1, Series A form and the Chart Properties form, the revised graph area looks like this:
-10282025.png)
As a note, only Column Graph Types can be Horizontally Pivoted.
The individual horizontal columns are separated by Resource Names horizontally from left to right across the graph area as shown above and repeated for each quarter. Additionally, since the X-Axis button is enabled for Horizontal Pivoting of column graphs, the graph area is enhanced with each vertically pivoted column having the individual Resource Names added below the colored horizontally pivoted column. The Cost Legend still applies as the colors for the associated Resource Names have not changed.
Please note that the X-Axis Properties button is available for use only for Column Graph Types as only Column Graph Types can be horizontally pivoted.
Pivoted Graph Example – Vertically Pivoted Line Graph
From the example above we can explore what a cumulative vertically pivoted line graph looks like by making the following changes to the forms shown below:
-03062026.png)
In the above form, the Graph Type is changed to Line and in the Graph Vertical Pivoting – Panel 1, Series A form the Vertical Pivot tab is selected, the Pivot vertically with field checkbox was checked ON and the Resource Names field from the source plan is selected as the Pivot field. Clicking OK on both forms changes the graph area to look as shown below:
-10282025.png)
Once the vertical pivoting for the Panel and a Series are established, you can change the Graph Type to Area, Column, Smooth Line, or Smooth Area as we’ve done below changing the Graph Type to Area which is shown below as vertically pivoted by Resource Names.
-10282025.png)
Please keep in mind that the Graph Type options for Line, Area, Smooth Line, and Smooth Area only be Vertically Pivoted and cannot have an X-Axis Properties setting.
Summary
OnePager version 8.0 provides a new premium feature which gives you the capabilities to define line, column, and area graphs as well as tabular data cells in two new areas of the OnePager Chart – the top graph area and bottom graph area. OnePager provides multiple choices for configuring graphs & data cells to fit the needs of your schedule conversations.
This article provided a general overview of these new graphs & data cells capabilities along with sample scenarios for their use. The five (5) step scenarios carried out above can be pre-planned well in advance of any schedule conversation.
Further, the graph areas and chart area are available in Presentation mode where the OnePager Chart Editor is reconfigured to a full screen mode without the OnePager tool bar being shown. This capability is provided to support presentations where only the OnePager Presentation mode is shown.
Finally, the chart area including any enabled graph areas can be exported in a single export to any interfacing presentation application such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Outlook, or Word documents.
For more information on Presentation Mode and OnePager Export options, please see the articles in the link table below:
| Sharing via Other Applications (e.g., PowerPoint) |
| Using Presentation Mode with OnePager |
Related Links
Links to Detailed Articles on Creating and Editing Graphs & Data Cells
The articles listed in the tables below provide detailed information on how to create and edit graphs & data cells using the OnePager Chart Editor. . Illustrations used in these articles are from OnePager Pro but the feature's function, controls, and manual edits apply equally to Microsoft Excel, Smartsheet, Oracle Primavera P6, Planisware Enterprise, Asana, and Wrike.
Links to Feature Overviews
| Cost and Work Graphs | Data Cells | Pivoted Graphs |
Links to Detailed Graphs & Data Cell Articles
Links to Articles Supporting the Graphs & Data Cells Feature
Links to OnePager "How to" Articles on Graphs & Data Cells
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