Tooltips: Tips for Use

Tooltips are the text boxes that pop up when you hover over an object, and they can be formatted in almost any way you can imagine. They can make the difference between a user loving your viz and not understanding it.

To edit the tooltip, go to edit and then select Tooltip at the bottom (for a more detailed explanation see our Knowledge Base Article). Here are some steps to follow when creating your tooltips:

• Select a font that does not get pixely online. Tahoma (default), Calibri and Cambria all look very sharp.

• Find the most important part of the tool tip and make that your title. Increase the font size of your title.

• Include the measures and dimensions that make sense in your tool tip(select insert in the toot tip edit text box and choose from the drop down list). Remember, a measure must be included in the viz to be included in a tool tip.

• Clearly rename the measure names. “Number of records” is pretty vague. Be specific in your tooltips.

• Make sure that numbers include their units.

• Tooltips are a great place to add annotations or notes for the viz. It is best to format notes slightly different from the rest of your tooltip, perhaps with a lighter shade and slightly smaller font.

This viz has a very well constructed tool tip. Scroll over and see for yourself: