Customizing a Pivot Table

Zoho Analytics provides extensive possibilities to customize the Pivot View. You can customize the various elements in the Pivot view (hide totals, wrap text in header, etc.,) based on your requirements.

General Settings

The General Settings tab helps you modify the Title, add a short Description about the data, and configure the settings for the Missing values.

Follow the below steps to customize the settings,

  1. Click the Settings icon on the top left corner.
  2. The General Settings Tab will open. 
  3. Modify the settings as required and click Apply.

Show Missing Values

Show missing values feature is used to display the in-between missing values in a Pivot. This can be applied on a Date or a Category column. When creating a Pivot, if a particular data point does not have any value, then the Pivot would skip displaying that data. With this option, you can choose to display the record even if a point does not contain a value.

  • For columns in the 'Columns' shelf: You can choose to display the filtered columns in the 'Columns' shelf by selecting/deselecting the check box. By default, this value will not be selected.
    To learn more about missing values, refer the below section.
  • For columns in the 'Rows' shelf: You can choose to display the filtered columns in the 'Rows' shelf by selecting/deselecting the check box. By default, this value will not be selected. 
    To learn more about missing values, refer the below section.

Let us say that you are the manager of a team and would like to view your employee`s attendance details every week. In case an employee is not available for a particular day, his data will not be available for that day. Our database looks as shown below.

Lets now create a pivot as shown in the below snapshot to view the number of employees present in the given week. To do that, drag and drop the Date and Employee Name column in the Rows shelf and Clock-in hours column in the Data shelf.

This Pivot does not contain any record of the employees who were not available (absent). To view the name of the employees who were not available for a particular day, you can enable show missing value function for the Employee Name column.

You can either right click on the column name and choose Show Missing Values or click Settings option on the toolbar.
 

In the settings tab that appears, Under the Show Missing Values section, click Choose Columns link next to For columns in the "Rows" shelf. You can choose the columns for which you wish to show the missing values.

The Pivot that is generated now, will contain the data of the employees who were absent.

In case you wish to view the details of the employees based on their location, we will be making a small change in the existing pivot. Drag and drop the Location column under the Rows shelf.

Our Pivot will look as shown in the below snapshot. If you take a closer look, you will notice that this might not be the best way to display the data as it displays the name of all employees across all locations.

In this case, you can choose to apply hierarchy function while listing missing values.

  1. Click Settings in the tool bar and in the Settings tab that appears, click Choose Columns link next to For columns in the "Rows" shelf (Under Show Missing Values). 
  2. Select the column (in our case Location).
  3. Check Apply hierarchy while listing missing values.
  4. Click Apply.

The Pivot will now look as shown below.

Format

You can edit the column names, the display format and the alignment of the column headers used in the pivot table as needed.

  1. Click Settings > Format. 
  2. Double-click the Label field to edit the respective column names. 
  3. Click Format to change the format of the data columns. The options displayed in the format dialog will be based on the data type of the columns. Click here to learn more about Formatting data in Zoho Analytics.
  4. Select the Alignment for the Column Headers (left, center, or right). Center alignment is applied by default.

Layout

Zoho Analytics allows you to customize the layout of your Pivot Table.


You can edit the following details from the Layout tab:

  • Layout: You can customize how your data needs to be arranged in the Pivot Table. You can choose between the following layouts:
    • Tabular Layout: This is the default layout of your Pivot Table where the columns dropped in the 'Rows' shelf will be arranged as separate columns in the Pivot Table. 
      • Repeat group label value in each row: In case, you wish to repeat the group label for each row, select this checkbox.
    • Compact Layout: This is a close-packed view of the Pivot Table where the rows dropped in the 'Rows' shelf will be grouped and arranged in a single column in your Pivot Table.
      • Indent Level: You can change the indent spacing of the data displayed by choosing an Indent Level. By default, level 1 indent will be applied.

To learn more about Tabular and Compact layout, refer to the next section.

Display

This helps you specify what and how data needs to be displayed in the Pivot Table.

  • Show row numbers: Displays the row numbers for the records in the pivot table. This option is disabled by default.
  • Show Vertical Line between Each Column: Separates each column in the pivot table with a vertical line. This option is enabled by default. Removing vertical lines can be helpful while preparing financial statements.
  • Show Horizontal Line between Each row: Separates each row in the pivot table with a horizontal line. This option is disabled by default.
  • Wrap Text in Column Headings: Enabling this option helps maintain readability and prevent headings from getting hidden.
  • Show Expand/Collapse icons : Enabling this option helps view the data at different levels of granularity and also makes data navigation easier.
  • Column Width : The Column Width under Settings -> Layout tab enables you to set a specific width to columns in the pivot table. You can use the options available to set uniform, compact or varied widths across all columns in a pivot table.
    • Compact: This option tightly packs the columns in the pivot table, thereby helping to save horizontal space and improve readability without the need to scroll sideways.
    • Fit to Screen: This option adjusts column width to fit the table across the entire screen. In case of adding/removing columns, applying filters, etc in the future, the column width will always adapt to the screen size. The Fit to Screen option can also be applied to all pivot and summary views in the dashboard, by enabling the Fit the Pivot/Summary view to card width from the Settings menu in dashboard.
    • Equal: This option allows you to uniformly resize all the columns to an equal width. Once selected, specify the required width (in pixel) in the provided field.
    • Apply to manually resized columns: Selecting this checkbox will resize all the columns - including columns whose width has been set manually - to the specified uniform width.

       
  • Show Expand/Collapse Icons: You can choose to show/hide the Expand/Collapse (+/-) icons by selecting/unselecting the check-box. By default, the +/- icons will be displayed inline with the cell name when you perform the Expand/Collapse operation on your Pivot Table. To learn more about this option, refer to Working with Pivot Table document.
  • Display 'Unknown' value as: You can specify a value that needs to be displayed in the place of null or empty values present in the underlying data of the pivot. By default, -No Value-  will be displayed here.
  • Sub Total Label: By default, Zoho Analytics will display the sub-group names in the row header. You can add a prefix or suffix to the Sub-total Label, or you can customize the label as needed.
     

Tabular and Compact Layout

Zoho Analytics allows you to visualize your Pivot Table in two layouts. The difference between the two layouts is the structure, i.e., the way in which the columns dropped in the Rows shelf are arranged in the Pivot Table. You can choose between the below two layouts:

  • Tabular Layout
  • Compact Layout

Tabular Layout (Default Layout)
The Tabular Layout is the default layout of your Pivot Table where the columns dropped in the Rows shelf will be arranged as separate columns in the Pivot Table.

Compact Layout
The Compact Layout is a close-packed view of the Pivot Table where the rows dropped in the Rows shelf will be grouped and arranged in a single column in your Pivot Table.

The columns dropped in the Rows shelf will be grouped and arranged in a single column with Row Labels as the column name. You can later change this column name by clicking the Edit icon that appears on mouse hover.

Show/Hide

By default, Zoho Analytics  will display all the values in the columns added in the Columns field as a Pivot View column. You can choose to hide or display the required columns using the Show/Hide option.

Show/Hide Columns

Follow the below steps to show or hide columns. 

  1. Open the Pivot View.
  2. Click the Show/Hide option in the toolbar.
  3. Select Columns. 
  4. The Show/Hide Columns dialog will open. 
  5. Expand to view all columns. 
  6. Select the columns you want to be displayed, and unselect the columns that you want to be hidden. 
  7. The Empty Columns checkbox allows you to show or hide the empty columns in the Pivot. Select this to display empty columns, and unselect this to hide empty columns. 

Alternatively, you can also show or hide columns by following the below steps. 

  1. Open the Pivot in Edit Design mode. 
  2. Right-click the required cell and select Show/Hide Columns. Click one of the below values:
    • Hide <Column Name>: This option is used to hide the selected column.
    • Hide All <Column Name>: This option will be available if you have repetitive columns. Using this option will hide all the columns with the same column name.
    • More - This option opens the Show/Hide Columns dialog. 
Note: You can choose to display hidden columns anytime using the Show/Hide option in the toolbar.

Show/Hide Totals

In Zoho Analytics, by default, sub-totals of individual columns, and the grand total of all the rows and columns get automatically added and shown as part of the Pivot Table. Zoho Analytics also allows you to disable these totals when they are not required, or to change the totals' positions. You can hide the totals even when the records are expressed in Data as row format.

Follow the steps below to customize the sub-totals and the grand-totals in your pivot.

  1. Open the Pivot Table.
  2. Click the Show/Hide option in the toolbar or right-click the corresponding cell/column in the pivot table and select Show/Hide Totals > More... menu option
  3. The Show/Hide Total dialog will open with the following options.
  • Sub-total - This lists the option to show or hide the Row and the column sub-totals. 
    • Rows - Select Right or Left to display the sub-total in the corresponding position. You can also choose to hide the row sub-total by selecting Hide.
    • Columns - Select Bottom or Top to display the sub-total in the corresponding position. You can also choose to hide the column sub-total by selecting Hide.
  • Grand-total - This lists the option to show or hide the Row and the column grand-totals. 
    • Rows - Select Right or Left to display the Grand-total in the corresponding position. You can also choose to hide the row Grand-total by selecting Hide.
    • Columns - Select Bottom or Top to display the Grand-total in the corresponding position. You can also choose to hide the column Grand-total by selecting.

The below image shows the total sales and costs of different product categories for each quarter. The sub-total of sales and cost for each product category and the grand total are hidden.

Show Total As

In Zoho Analytics, by default, the summary function used to display the subtotals and the grand total will be the same as that of the summary function applied to the corresponding data column. You can customize this and apply other summary functions such as sum, average, min and max on the sub-total that is displayed.

To change this,

  • Right-click anywhere on the Pivot table
  • Select Show Total As and then, select the function that you wish to apply.

In our example, we have applied the average function. Shown below is the Pivot with the Average function applied to the Subtotal and Grand Total.

Please do note that the Show Total As feature is customizable for each data column.

Sorting a Pivot Table

In Zoho Analytics, by default, a pivot table data will be sorted in ascending order by the values of the columns from the source table that you assign to Row orientation in a Pivot Table. Zoho Analytics allows you to change this default sort order in lot of different ways. Below is a brief description of various ways to sort a Pivot Table.

Sorting a Pivot column by its values (by the values of the columns in Row shelf): This option allows you to sort Pivot Table column data in ascending or descending order by its actual values.

To sort a pivot table by its column values:

  • Right-click the column header or on any cell of the corresponding pivot table column whose values has to be sorted.
  • In the pop-up menu, select the required sort order and then By Column (column specific) option.

For example if a pivot table has Product category and Productcolumns in Row shelf (Row Orientation), initially the Product Categories and Products will be ordered alphabetically in ascending order. When corresponding columns are sorted in descending order as described above, Pivot data will be rearranged as shown in the screen shots below.


Sorting a Pivot Table column by its corresponding data values(by values of the column in Data shelf): This option allows you to sort Pivot Table columns based on data values corresponding to each pivot column value.

To sort a pivot table based on its data values:

  • Right-click the data value column header or on any data value cell corresponding to a Pivot Table column value.
  • In the pop up menu, select the required sort order and then select the column based on which you want to sort data values as shown below.

In the above example, when you right click Central region and select Sort Descending -> By Product Category, Sales values in Central region corresponding to Product Category column will be sorted in descending order as shown below.

When you select Sort Descending -> By Product, Sales values in Central region corresponding to Product column will be sorted in descending order as shown below.

Sorting Pivot Table columns by its corresponding summary values: This option allows you to sort Pivot Table columns based on summary values corresponding to pivot column values.

To sort a pivot table based on its summary values:

  • Right-click the summary column's header.
  • In the pop up menu, select the required sort order and then select the column based on which you want to sort summary values as shown below.

When you right click Summary Column and select Sort Descending -> By Product Category, Sales values in Summary column corresponding to Product Category column will be sorted in descending order as shown below.

When you select Sort Descending -> By Product, Sales values in Summary column corresponding to Product column will be sorted in descending order as shown below.

You can also sort rows by column values by clicking on the arrow icon() at the heading of the corresponding column. A down arrow indicates that the column is sorted in ascending order. An up arrow indicates the column is sorted in descending order.

Conditional Formatting

The Conditional Formatting feature allows you to visually highlight data cells in a pivot table with different styles based on applied conditions. This option allows you to color code and group your data in a Pivot View for easy analysis.  

To apply conditional formatting:

  1. Open the required Pivot View.  
  2. Right-click on any of the cells in the Data or Row series for which you want to apply conditional formatting.  
  3. Click Conditional Formatting in the menu.
    The Conditional Formatting dialog will open.
  4. Click the drop-down box under the Condition section and select the type of condition that you want to apply. The conditions that appear here vary based on the data type on which the conditions are being applied. 


  5. Enter the condition or criteria value in the Value text box.
  6. Select the required colors for font and background by clicking the Font and Color boxes under the Format Options section.
  7. Click the More icon to view Additional Formatting Options, which includes Text and Icons. Please note that the Icons option is currently supported only for Numeric values/Data series.

    Note: You can add any number of conditions using the +Add Condition link. Specified conditions will be evaluated from top to bottom, and the corresponding formatting options will be applied on the data cell that meets the condition.  
  8. Click OK after you have added the required conditions.

You can also view and modify the conditional formats applied over the pivot in the Conditional Format tab of the Settings page. Clicking Pivot Column Name from the box under the Conditional Format section will display the relevant conditions applied over the column. You can then edit them based on your requirements.

Applying Themes

Zoho Analytics allows you to customize the look and feel of your Pivot table using colorful and attractive themes. You can customize your Pivot Table using the options provided to suit your taste. Please do note that this option is available only as a part of the new charting library that was released recently.

Read the below steps to learn about changing the Pivot Theme.

  • Open the Pivot Table
  • Click the Themes button. The Themes dialog will open as shown below.

themes

  • You can select an appropriate theme to suit your needs and customize it using the options available. The Themes dialog allows you to select the,
    • Theme Layout: You can choose a layout from the available set of seven layouts.
    • Theme Color: Select a color that you wish to apply.
    • Font: Select the font for the text in your Pivot.
    • Zoom: You can Zoom in or Zoom out. This will increase or decrease the size of your Pivot Table.
    • Row spacing: You can alter the row spacing using the predefined options available.
  • As you choose the themes, the changes will be dynamically applied in the background.
  • If you wish to undo the changes click Reset.
  • If you want to reset the theme to the default theme click the Reset to default option.
  • Save the Pivot Table.