Targets

The Target screen is used to add target areas or target lines to a chart. These can be a useful way of visualising whether a value is achieving the performance expected.

Click the ‘Targets’ menu at the top of the ‘Edit chart’ screen.

To add a Target, click the ‘Add’ icon beneath the colour palette.

The Target can represent a range of numbers for example, 100 to 200 or can represent a single value e.g., 100. If you specify a different number in the From and To fields, a target area, similar to an Area chart, will be created on the chart. If you specify the same value in the From and To fields, a target line will be created on the chart, similar to a Line chart. 

The drop-down arrows in the From and To sections are used to choose how the Target is displayed.

Value - this allows you to specify a figure that you want to use as the target, type the value that you want to use next to the Value drop-down arrow the maximum value of the bars in the chart, the maximum value will be calculated based on the data values in the chart. You can set the target to be a single line on the Max amount by choosing Max in both the From and To fields or you can use Max in either the From or To fields and choose another option, e.g., Value in the remaining field to create a target area.

Min - this allows you to select the minimum value of the bars in the chart. You can set the target to be a single line on the Min amount by choosing Min in both the From and To fields or you can use Min in either the From or To fields and choose another option, e.g., Value in the remaining field to create a target area.

Avg - the AVG field will work out the average value based on the information in the chart and apply a target at that point. If you only want a single line to appear on the average value, ensure that you select AVG in both the From and To fields

Positive Infinity - This option will extend the target line to the very top of the chart

Negative Infinity - This option will extend the target line to the very bottom of the chart 

Adding a label to the target line

When a target line or area has been added to a chart, you can see the details by hovering over the target line. In addition, you can also add a label that will appear on the target line all the time. 

To add a label, type the text that you want to use in the ‘Label’ field.

The ‘Use Target Values on Label’ tick box can be used to also add the values that have been specified in the Target area From and To fields to the target line. This option is useful when you have used a Max or Min value for example. 

Example

This example shows that a target line has been added to the chart that represents the average number of employees. The colour of the target line has been changed and a label has been added to provide clarity.

Using Measures in Target Lines

It is also possible to use a pre-existing numeric measure in the Target area, which will indicate a different target value for each bar in your chart. The measure must already exist in the database and must be entered in the following way on the Target screen - #~Measure Name~#.

Example

The following example shows that a pre-existing measure (Attrition %) has been used in the Value From field only.

This will plot a variable Area Type chart behind your current data.

Example

The following example shows that a pre-existing measure (Attrition %) has been used in BOTH the Value From and To fields.

This will plot a variable Line Type chart in front of your current data.

Changing the colour of the target line

The Target line will initially be displayed in the default dashboard colour. To change the colour, click one of the colour sections on the right-hand side of the colour shade area at the top of the screen.

In the following screenshot the red area of the colour section has been selected and the colour shade section will now show different variations of this colour from light to dark.

Click a variation of the colour in the colour shade area to select the colour that you want to use.

The two squares beneath the preview area will show the current colour on the left and the newly selected colour on the right.

To apply the newly selected colour, click the ‘Color’ square, above the Label field. You should see a small paintbrush appearing in the Color area and the new colour choice will be applied to the target area.

As well as choosing a shade of colour, you can also select from one of the colour options configured in your Dashboard theme, which are displayed beneath the colour shade square and then follow the steps listed above to apply the chosen colour.

Have a look at our video on Target Lines.