June 17, 2015
Tableau Tip Tuesday: Showing an Axis Above a Chart
A very common question and feature request I see on the Tableau Forums is to show the axis above a chart rather than below, as Tableau does by default.
When I was working on solving this, I started by looking at the XML for a workbook and there is a bit of code that controls whether an axis displays. I built a dual-axis chart to see if I could change the display in the code.
In the <style> section, note the value=‘false’ setting. This is what is hiding the axis. I changed only the top axis by setting it to ‘true', but when I opened the workbook again, both axes were displayed. Back to the drawing board I went.
Here are the steps to follow to display the axis above the bar chart and not below (sort of):
Step 1: Create a bar chart.
Step 2: Duplicate the measure that is shown in the chart by right-clicking on the measure in the Measures list and choosing Duplicate.
Step 3: Drag the duplicated measure onto the secondary axis.
You should now have a chart that looks like this:
Step 4: Change the mark type for both measures to Bar.
Step 5: Remove the Measure Names field from the Color shelf. This isn’t required, but you really don’t need to have two colors for the same measure.
Step 6: Right-click on the bottom axis and choose Format. Change the Font to white and set the Ticks to ‘None’. This doesn’t hide the axis (hence the reason I said ’sort of’ above), but it will give the appearance that the axis isn’t there.
Step 7: Double click on each of the axes and remove the titles. This isn’t required, but it makes the axis narrower.
That’s it! While this isn’t a perfect solution, it works. Also, be sure to clean up the tooltips since they will show the measure twice.
You can download the workbook used to create this viz here.
When I was working on solving this, I started by looking at the XML for a workbook and there is a bit of code that controls whether an axis displays. I built a dual-axis chart to see if I could change the display in the code.
In the <style> section, note the value=‘false’ setting. This is what is hiding the axis. I changed only the top axis by setting it to ‘true', but when I opened the workbook again, both axes were displayed. Back to the drawing board I went.
Here are the steps to follow to display the axis above the bar chart and not below (sort of):
Step 1: Create a bar chart.
Step 2: Duplicate the measure that is shown in the chart by right-clicking on the measure in the Measures list and choosing Duplicate.
Step 3: Drag the duplicated measure onto the secondary axis.
You should now have a chart that looks like this:
Step 4: Change the mark type for both measures to Bar.
Step 5: Remove the Measure Names field from the Color shelf. This isn’t required, but you really don’t need to have two colors for the same measure.
Step 6: Right-click on the bottom axis and choose Format. Change the Font to white and set the Ticks to ‘None’. This doesn’t hide the axis (hence the reason I said ’sort of’ above), but it will give the appearance that the axis isn’t there.
Note: The reason that you have to duplicate the measure has to do with how formatting works. If I used the same measure again for the secondary axis (i.e., Sales in this case), then when I format Sales, it applies to both axes. However, when you duplicate the field, Tableau treats it like a totally separate measure with its own formatting.
Step 7: Double click on each of the axes and remove the titles. This isn’t required, but it makes the axis narrower.
That’s it! While this isn’t a perfect solution, it works. Also, be sure to clean up the tooltips since they will show the measure twice.
You can download the workbook used to create this viz here.
