Although Explore features many visualizations to help you present your report results, sometimes a simple table is the best way to present information. Tables are a great way to compare data collected over a period of time, for example:
This table was created using the Support: Tickets dataset, using two metrics,
COUNT(Tickets) and SUM(Agent replies), the column Ticket created -
Quarter, and the row Ticket type. If the report doesn't show a table, use the
visualization selector () to change the chart format.
Creating a table is just the start. This article shows some of the many customization options that help you present your tables in the form you need.
This article contains the following topics:
Changing the look of your table
In the chart configuration menu (), the following areas contain customization options which are
particularly useful when working with tables:
Chart
The chart menu helps you to customize the text style of your table. Additionally, further options can be accessed if your table has hyperlinks. For more information about using links in tables, see Working with links in tables.
Text style options include editing the size, color, and formatting for headers, results, totals, and subtotals. If you add totals or subtotals, you can change their labels and their repetition text.
Columns
Columns are added to your table every time you add an attribute or metric. You can control how columns appear under Chart configuration > Columns. The following options are available:
- Metrics on rows. Determines whether the report’s metrics are listed together in one column. See Adding metrics to rows.
- Allow column sorting. Determines whether a column can be sorted by clicking its header. Selected by default.
- Show row number. Determines whether a row number appears to the left of the row in the table.
- Allow sort on row number. Determines whether the row number stays the same when a sort is applied to a metric column. When selected, the original row number is preserved. When deselected, the row number is renumbered to be in numerical order when a metric column is sorted. Available only if Show row number is selected.
- Allow multi-line. Determines whether a cell’s content can wrap to multiple lines. Appears only if Fit to content is not selected. See Expanding text.
- Multi-line margin. Determines the number of pixels between the lines of a cell’s content. Appears only if Allow multi-line is selected. See Expanding text.
- Discoverable multi-line. Determines whether a Read more link appears to show the full text of the cell. Appears only if Allow multi-line is selected. Works only with the HTML text interpretation. See Expanding text.
- Fit to content. Determines whether the column width is automatically set to the width of the existing content. Selected by default. You must deselect this option to be able to set the Width option. Not available if Allow multi-line is selected.
- Responsive columns. Determines whether the report’s columns automatically scale to the width of the screen. You must deselect this option to be able to set the Width option. Not available if Allow multi-line is selected.
- Automatic alignment. Determines whether a column is left-justified by default. You must deselect this option to be able to set the Alignment option.
- Rows height. Determines the height of the row in pixels. The default is 40. Not available if Allow multi-line is selected.
- Column. Shows the column number. Not available if the report contains explosions.
- Width. Determines the width of the column in pixels. See Setting column width. Not available if the report contains explosions.
- Arrow. Determines whether a green or red arrow appears in a column to indicate the direction of the result. See Using arrows to indicate direction of results. Not available if the report contains explosions.
- Alignment. Determines whether a column’s content is justified to the left, center, or right. Left-justification is selected by default. Available only if Fit to content is deselected. Not available if the report contains explosions.
- Visible. Determines whether the specified column appears in the table. See Hiding columns. Not available if the report contains explosions.
Adding metrics to rows
By default, metrics are placed in different columns. You can list the metrics together in one column by selecting Metrics on rows.
If you've selected Metrics on rows or added an attribute on Rows, you can select Show row number to display the number of rows in your table.
Expanding text
If you select a column width that removes a portion of your text, you can expand your text onto additional lines by checking Allow multi-line. This option appears only if Fit to content is not selected. You can set the spacing between the lines by typing a new number in Multi-line margin.
If your text exceeds the selected number of lines, you can check Discoverable multiline. Discoverable multiline lets you expand text by clicking a Read more link.
To use discoverable multiline, on the Chart panel of the chart configuration
menu (), change the Text interpretation setting to
HTML.
Setting column width
Columns are fitted to their content and aligned automatically, unless you change these options in Columns. To input a new width and alignment for individual columns, you must deselect Fit to content and Automatic alignment.
Using arrows to indicate direction of results
You can add red and green arrows to visually indicate trends in your data. In
the Chart configuration () menu > Columns, use the
Arrow check boxes in the table at the bottom to indicate which columns you want
to add arrows to. Then use a result path calculation to specify what type of
calculation the system should use to determine whether to display a red arrow for a
downward trend, a green arrow for an upward trend, or a black equal sign for no change.
By default, the result path calculation will replace the original metric in the column. For a way to show both the original metric as well as the result path calculation, see How do I add a column in my report for the result path calculation?
In the example report below, the result path calculation calculates the percentage of difference based on the previous period.
Hiding columns
You can hide any columns in your table. This keeps your reports looking cleaner by
hiding columns that are empty or show unnecessary data. In the Chart
configuration () menu > Columns, click the eye
icon under the Visible header for any column(s) that you don’t want to appear in
your report.
Color options
You can customize the colors of your table in Colors. You can edit the background, header, rows, totals, subtotals, and table colors. You can choose your own colors or select from Explore's color palettes.
Sorting data in tables
You can sort the results of your table based on any of its metrics. To do this, click the heading at the top of any metrics column in the table.
You can also control the default sort order for tables in the Result manipulation () > Sorts menu.
To turn off the ability to sort, under Chart configuration > Columns, deselect Allow column sorting.
If you want to display totals at the bottom of the table, choose Result manipulation
() > Totals, and then choose the setting you want.
Working with links in tables
If your table contains links, for example to tickets from a ticket ID, more options appear
in the chart configuration menu () to help you control how the links work:
Text interpretation: Choose from:
- Text only: Links are shows as text, and can't be clicked.
- Raw: Links are shown as text, but any embedded HTML text is also displayed.
- HTML: The link text is displayed. If it is contained in a valid HTML link, the link will be clickable.
If you chose HTML, the following additional options are displayed:
- Clickable URL: Enables report viewers to click the link and visit the associated URL.
- URL alias and Image URL alias: Enables you to enter text that will appear instead of the URL.
-
Display image: If your URL points to an image, the image will automatically
appear when a user hovers over the link. You can disable this by deselecting Display
images.
For some examples of using links in reports, see Explore recipe: Configuring clickable links to tickets.
Manipulating table results
Just like with charts, you can use result manipulations to change the data in your table. For example, you can apply a default sort order, add totals, restrict the range of results that are presented, and more.
For a full list of result manipulations, see Calculation type reference.
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Copying table data to another application
Sometimes, you might want to copy the information in an Explore table to another application for example, Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Explore lets you copy and paste data from a table into the application of your choice.
To copy the contents of a table
- Position your mouse pointer over the first table cell you want to copy and hold down the left mouse button.
- Keeping the mouse button held down, drag the pointer over the cells you want to copy.
- When you have selected the cells you want to copy, release the left mouse button, then click Copy. The contents of the cells you selected are copied to your computer clipboard.
- Open your application, and paste the contents of the clipboard into it.
19 comments
Casey
Hi Zendesk - I'm using the "Hide part of your result" feature for displaying raw data.
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If I hide the first 3 rows, I get one row of data and then my totals:
If I hide the first 4 rows, then nothing displays.
My goal is to just have the totals displayed. Any ideas? Thanks!
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Jessica Thompson
Hi,
I have used the belle vue theme and we are trying to change the category page to show in rows instead of columns. Please can you advise how I can change this. Thanks
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Tipene Hughes
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for reaching out!
I see you've created a standalone community post for this - I'll go ahead and reply directly to you there.
Thanks!
Tipene
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Dana Coffman
I am wanting to sort by Assignee name, but clicking on the column header is only giving me a box to rename, it is not sorting.
I have made sure "Allow column sorting" is checked, but still not working.
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Elaine
From the article Sorting results, it is mentioned there that the results in a Table query are displayed in the original order of the defining attribute.
The defining attribute is actually the first attribute listed in the Rows section within a query as seen in the screenshot below:
Based on the screenshot you have provided, the defining attribute is as follows:
If you want to sort the query on the Assignee name attribute, you will have to transfer the said attribute on top of all the attributes in the Rows section.
The Allow column sorting is only applicable for Metrics and not for Attributes.
Feel free to read through the Sorting results article that I linked above for more information about sorting within queries. Hope this helps! :)
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Kristin Bouveng
I want to use the arrow function in a table, which displays number of tickets solved per assignee (on rows), broken down by month (columns).
The arrows are only showing = or green, but there are clearly declining values in the table so there should be some red arrows Month on Month. Why isn't there?
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Giuseppe
Hi Kristin,
In order to effectively use the Arrows, you'll have to use this with Result path calculations. This will allow you to have a path and reference for the arrows.
Here's a recipe that you can follow for this setup - How do I add a column in my query for the result path calculation?
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Kristin Bouveng
Thank you Giuseppe, that worked!
Could be a good idea to add the link to the article you just shared in this article where it mentions arrows.
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Dave Dyson
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Alex Amidjaya
Is there a way to use metrics, rows, and tables in Explore to generate a query that shows all tickets that have one attribute AND another attribute? I am trying specifically to find all tickets that have a specific tag AND a specific other tag.
0
Marco
Good question! For this, you will need to create a custom metric which would look something like IF (INCLUDES_ALL([Ticket tags], "united_states","italy")) THEN [Ticket ID] ENDIF. You may check this article here for more information: https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838151450-Reporting-with-tags#topic_q5d_dms_jkb
Hope this helps! Cheers!
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mfg
I'd like to turn off totals sorting altogether. We have no use case where sorting should include moving the totals on the table. How do you lock the totals to the bottom of the chart?
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Dave Dyson
You can turn off sorting entirely (turn off Chart configuration > Columns, deselect Allow column sorting), but if sorting is enabled, then Totals will be sorted along with the other data. I'd suggested creating a post in our Feedback - Reporting and analytics (Explore) topic, using this template so our product team gets the information they need.
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Aaron Powell
Is there a way to increase the width of the columns that contain multiline? When you select multiline it removes your ability to increase the width of the column so someone has to scroll to read the rest instead of making it a little wider.
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Mohamed Elbawab
Hello Team,
Is there a way to add 2 columns on a table where 1 is 'Tickets' and the other is 'Tickets with certain tags'? As in the metrics, they are only 1 item (Tickets) but in the table, I want to split them into all tickets for 1 column and tickets with certain tags for the other column.
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Zsa Trias
Hello Moe,
You can create a metric to return the number of tickets which has a certain tag and add both the COUNT(Tickets) and your newly created metric in your report. You can follow the instructions here: Reporting with tags
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Zsa Trias
Hello Aaron,
You must disable "Fit to content" to be able to input the custom width for your columns.
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NIkita Kadri
Hi Team
Is there an option to sort based on rows? The column sorting checkbox is selected. We have a 'Solved Ticket' row and want to sort the results based on this row value - from new to old. The sort function is not working however, Is there a way to do it?
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Dane
It's only possible for rows under the column of the selected metric.
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