{"id":5891,"date":"2022-08-23T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/?p=5891"},"modified":"2023-12-31T01:07:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T01:07:55","slug":"easily-track-performance-with-analytical-lines-in-power-bi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/easily-track-performance-with-analytical-lines-in-power-bi\/","title":{"rendered":"Easily track performance with  Analytical Lines in Power BI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Analytics Pane in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/ao\/71\/microsoft-power-bi-training-courses-london-uk.html\">Power BI desktop<\/a> is an amazing tool. You can use it to create a variety of different analytical lines inside your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/syl\/355\/power-bi-training-courses.html\">report<\/a> visuals to highlight trends, target lines and forecasting.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5894 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"380\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-1.png 380w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-1-300x201.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This blog will explain how to create these analytical lines and show how useful they are in gaining insights into your data<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why use Analytics?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A report visual is great at representing key summary information such as the quantity of products sold every month. But what if you wanted to check how well your sales were meeting targets over time? You could manually look at each data point on a line chart, for example, but a more efficient solution would be to create a customised \u2018target line\u2019 within your line chart. This would instantly provide a visual which displays performance vs. target over a period of time. You will therefore become more efficient as you analyse the data. Below is an example:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5893 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"686\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-2.png 686w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-2-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 686px) 100vw, 686px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to get started<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Create a line chart based on a value field over time e.g. \u2018Quantity\u2019 by \u2018Order Date\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>With the chart selected, click on the ANALYTICS icon in the visualisation pane (see below)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5892 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-3-180x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-3-180x300.png 180w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-3.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Expand the \u2018Y-axis Constant Line\u2019 section and click on \u2018+ Add Line\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Double click where it says \u2018Y-axis Constant Line\u2019 in the field and type TARGET LINE<\/li>\n<li>Expand the \u2018Line\u2019 section to show the options below:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5896 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-4.png 200w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-4-153x300.png 153w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li>\u00a0Set the following details to your line:\n<ol>\n<li>VALUE to 45000<\/li>\n<li>COLOUR to Black, for example<\/li>\n<li>TRANSPARENCY to 0%<\/li>\n<li>STYLE to \u2018Dotted\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Collapse the \u2018Line\u2019 section and turn on \u2018Data label\u2019 to reveal the expanded Data Label section:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5895 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-5.png 207w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/analytical-lines-5-144x300.png 144w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"8\">\n<li>\u00a0Set the following label details to your line:\n<ol>\n<li>STYLE to \u2018Both\u2019 i.e. both \u2018Data Value\u2019 and \u2018Name\u2019<\/li>\n<li>COLOUR to Black, for example<\/li>\n<li>DISPLAY UNITS to \u2018Thousands\u2019<\/li>\n<li>DECIMAL PLACES to 0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Other Analytical Lines<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Notice in addition to the \u2018Y-axis Constant Line,\u2019 there are many other analytical lines you can apply to your visual some of which are described below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>TREND LINE: turn on to show an upwards\/downwards trend \u2013 especially useful for analysing performance data over time<\/li>\n<li>MIN LINE: click on \u2018+ add line\u2019 to show the lowest data point on a line chart \u2013 really helpful to identify the \u2018bottom line\u2019 of any business<\/li>\n<li>FORECAST LINE: turn on to show a \u2018projected\u2019 line appearing after the last data point. This line can be set over an extended time period of your choice \u2013 great for any future business planning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, the analytical lines are only available in specific visuals. They are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>LINE CHART<\/li>\n<li>COLUMN CHART<\/li>\n<li>BAR CHART<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Trends, targets, and forecasting are one of many other analytical lines that can really enable you to track and monitor your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/track-performance-with-conditional-formatting-in-power-bi\/\">performance data<\/a> more efficiently. Using the Analytics pane in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/forbestechcouncil\/2022\/08\/08\/the-executives-guide-to-data-analytics\/?sh=7d340695589d\" class=\"broken_link\">Power BI<\/a> will definitely help to achieve this goal. This will enable you to work on your business\u2019s profitability gains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Analytics Pane in Power BI desktop is an amazing tool. You can use it to create a variety of different analytical lines inside your report visuals to highlight trends, target lines and forecasting. This blog will explain how to create these analytical lines and show how useful they are in gaining insights into your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[651,650],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-power-apps","category-power-bi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5897,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5891\/revisions\/5897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}