A good variance chart says why a number moved. Deltaline keeps those explanations in your data, next to the numbers, so they stay in the workbook and update like everything else.
Comments from your data #
Add a column headed Comments to your table (Comment, Notes, Remarks and Kommentar work too) and write a comment in the row of the category it explains. Every filled cell becomes a numbered comment on the chart: in a panel to the right of the chart when the frame is wide enough, otherwise as numbered notes below it. Drag the panel’s edge to make it wider or narrower.
| Month | AC | PY | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 842 | 820 | |
| Feb | 805 | 790 | |
| Mar | 901 | 860 | Price increase from March 1 |
When you start from a sample, the sample table of a chart type that shows comments already has a Comments column with one example.
Type a comment on the chart #
- Right-click a bar or category and choose Add comment…
- Type the comment and click Save.
Deltaline writes it into the Comments column of your data. If the table has no Comments column yet, it adds one to the right of your data when that column is empty. When it cannot write there, for example on a protected sheet, the comment is kept in the chart and the frame says why; later, right-click the chart and choose Move comments to the data.
To change a comment, edit its cell in the sheet, or right-click the category and choose Edit comment… To hide the panel, right-click the chart and choose Hide comment panel.
Every variance chart, the variance table and most basic charts show comments. Mekko, Sankey and a few other classics do not.