The Visualization Editor lets you create visualizations — or visuals, for short — from Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) data, then reuse them in documents and presentations throughout your workspace. Each inserted visual stays connected to its source, so when the source changes, you can refresh the connection to update every chart that uses it.
Requirements
- The Administrator (GRC) role
- At least one GRC solution enabled in the workspace
Access your visualizations
Report visuals is the home page for every visualization in your workspace. Open it from the left-hand panel to browse, search, and sort your existing visuals, or to start creating a new one.
You'll see a preview of each visualization when first accessing the page, but you can switch to a list view using the tools in the upper-right corner.
Sort and filter visuals
By default, visuals are sorted by most recently modified, so the ones you've worked on most recently are easy to find at the top. You can manually sort and filter your visuals by:
- Most recent
- Oldest
- Name (A-Z or Z-A)
Create a visualization
The Visualization Editor opens to an empty canvas where you'll select a chart type and dataset.
To create a visual:
- From Report visuals, click Create to open the Visualization Editor.
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Click Chart type, and select Bar, Column, or Pie.
Note: The dataset for GRC workspaces is pre-populated for you.
Now you can configure your chart type by adding categories and values.
Configure the chart
Map your data to the chart using the Build tab of the Design panel. The fields you need to configure depend on the chart type selected in the previous step.
For bar and column charts:
- Under X-axis, click Add category and select a category field, such as Controls Owner Display Name.
- Under Y-axis, click Add value and select a value field, such as Controls Count.
- Optionally, under Group by, add a field to break down the chart by an additional dimension.
As you add fields, the chart updates so you can see your changes in real time.
Note: Pie charts follow the same workflow, but use Category and Value fields instead of X-axis and Y-axis.
Change chart type
You can change the chart type at any point while configuring your visualization.
Bar and column charts share the same field structure, so switching between them preserves your field mapping. If you switch a bar or column chart to a pie chart, it resets the configuration because those chart types use different fields.
Understand categories and values
Each chart maps a category and a value.
The category is what you’re grouping by, such as control owner. The value is what you’re measuring, such as control count. Bar and column charts use X-axis for the category and Y-axis for the value. Pie charts use Category and Value fields directly.
Filter visualizations
Use the Filter tab in the Design panel to narrow the data shown in your chart. Filters don't affect other visualizations, and they can't be changed after the visualization is inserted into a document or presentation.
- Open the Filter tab in the Design panel.
- Click Add filters and select a field.
- Choose an operator. Available operators depend on the field type — text, numeric, or date.
- Choose your filter values, then click Apply.
Filter operators by field type
Text operators are grouped into four categories in the menu.
| Category | Operator | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Basic filters | Is | Includes records that match a value you select from the field's existing values. Supports single- or multi-select. |
| Basic filters | Is not | Excludes records that match a value you select from the field's existing values. Supports single- or multi-select. |
| Pattern matching | Contains | Includes records where the field contains the text you enter. |
| Pattern matching | Does not contain | Excludes records where the field contains the text you enter. |
| Pattern matching | Starts with | Includes records where the field begins with the text you enter. |
| Pattern matching | Does not start with | Excludes records where the field begins with the text you enter. |
| Pattern matching | Ends with | Includes records where the field ends with the text you enter. |
| Pattern matching | Does not end with | Excludes records where the field ends with the text you enter. |
| Exact comparison | Equals | Includes records that exactly match the text you enter. |
| Exact comparison | Does not equal | Excludes records that exactly match the text you enter. |
| Empty checks | Is empty | Includes only records with no value for the field. |
| Empty checks | Is not empty | Excludes records with no value for the field. |
Note: "Is" and "Equals" look similar but behave differently. Use "Is" when you want to pick from values that already exist in the data — for example, selecting one or more control owners from a list. Use "Equals" when you want to type a specific value for an exact match, even if it isn't in the data yet.
Numeric operators are grouped into three categories.
| Category | Operator | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Basic filters | Is | Includes records that match a value you select from the field's existing values. |
| Basic filters | Is not | Excludes records that match a value you select from the field's existing values. |
| Numeric comparison | Equals (=) | Includes records that match a number you enter. |
| Numeric comparison | Does not equal (≠) | Excludes records that match a number you enter. |
| Numeric comparison | Smaller than (<) | Includes records below the number you enter. |
| Numeric comparison | Equals or smaller than (≤) | Includes records below or equal to the number you enter. |
| Numeric comparison | Greater than (>) | Includes records above the number you enter. |
| Numeric comparison | Equals or greater than (≥) | Includes records above or equal to the number you enter. |
| Range filters | Between | Includes records that fall within a range you define using a From and To value. |
Date filters use two modes instead of operators. Choose the mode that fits how you want to define the time period.
- Date range: Use the calendar to select a fixed start and end date, such as January 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025. The range stays the same over time.
- Relative timeframe: Filter to a relative period that looks forward or backward from today, such as the next 30 days or the previous 3 months. Enable the Include current period option to include the current day, week, month, or year in the calculations.
Note: Relative ranges shift over time, so the data in your visualization automatically updates as new days, weeks, or months pass.
Style your visualization
Use the Style tab in the Design panel to adjust the appearance of your visualization. Each setting can be toggled on or off, and most have additional controls that appear when turned on.
You can set styles globally for the chart, or click directly on individual chart elements — like a single bar — to set the style for that element.
- Open the Style tab in the Design panel.
- Configure each setting.
Style settings
Show the numeric value above or beside each bar, column, or pie slice. Turn on the toggle, then choose an orientation: horizontal, ascending, or descending.
Set the color of chart elements using the Series dropdown. By default, the dropdown applies a color to all elements in the selected series; to color a specific element, choose a subcategory from the secondary dropdown menu that appears.
You can also click any bar, column, or slice directly in the chart to change its color.
X-axis (bar and column charts only)
Show or hide the X-axis using the toggle. When the axis is shown, you can also configure:
- Title: Add or hide a label that names the axis.
- Grid: Show or hide vertical gridlines on the chart.
- Label: Show or hide the data labels along the axis.
Y-axis (bar and column charts only)
Show or hide the Y-axis using the toggle. When the axis is shown, you can also configure:
- Title: Add or hide a label that names the axis.
- Grid: Show or hide horizontal gridlines on the chart.
- Label: Show or hide the data labels along the axis.
- Range: Set a custom Min, Max, and Interval to control the scale. By default, the Y-axis scales to fit your data.
Show or hide the legend using the toggle. When the legend is shown, choose a placement — left, right, bottom, or top — from the orientation dropdown.
Note: Styling options vary by chart type. Pie charts don't include axis settings, and label options for pie charts include categories, values, percent, and decimals.
Name and save visualizations
Click the title at the top of the editor to give your visualization a clear, descriptive name so it's easy to find when you reuse it later. Then, click Save to store your work.
If you'd like to return to the report visuals screen, click Close.
Save requirements
A visualization can only be saved if it contains data. The following fields must be completed in order to save your visual:
- Bar and column charts: chart type, X-axis, and Y-axis
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Pie charts: chart type, category, and value
Insert a visualization
After saving a visualization, you can reuse it in any document or presentation in the same workspace. Inserting a visualization creates a connection between the embedded chart and its source, so source updates are reflected wherever the visualization is used.
To insert a visualization:
- Open the document or presentation where you want to insert the visualization.
- Go to the Edit tab in the toolbar, and click Chart > Insert existing visual.
- In the dialog, find the visualization you want by sorting, searching by name, or expanding a row to see its additional details.
- Click Insert to the right of your selected visual.
The dialog closes after the visualization is inserted. The chart uses the file’s default chart style.
Customize an inserted visualization
After inserting, you can customize the chart locally without affecting the source visualization. Use the document toolbar to update the chart title, or use the chart properties panel on the right to adjust other styling — the same way you'd customize any chart in a document or presentation.
Manage a visualization's connection
Inserted visualizations stay connected to their source. Changes you make to the source update every connected chart — anywhere it's been inserted — the next time you refresh the connection.
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Open the Connections panel from the right sidebar.
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Click the arrow icon next to a connection to see available options.
Connection options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open source data | Opens the source visual in the Visualization Editor. |
| Go to destination | Jumps to the connection’s location in the current document or presentation. |
| Rename connection | Updates the connection name in the current file. This doesn’t affect the source visualization. |
| View properties | Displays the connection’s sheet ID and connection ID for use with Workiva API endpoints. |
| Replace source | Opens the "Insert a chart visualization" dialog so you can replace the current source with another visualization. |
| Remove connection | Disconnects the chart from its source. The chart remains in the document or presentation but won’t receive future updates. |
Troubleshoot an inserted visualization
If an embedded visualization doesn't load correctly, it appears as a placeholder in the document or presentation. This can happen when the source visualization is incomplete or the chart can't render.
To resolve this, try one of the following:
- Delete the placeholder and insert the visualization again.
- Open the Connections panel and select Open source data to finish configuring the source visualization.
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Refresh the page.
Things to know
- Data refresh times in the Visualization Editor: Data from your GRC workspace is sent to the Visualization Editor on a scheduled interval (about every 5 minutes), so recent changes to your GRC sources may not appear immediately in the editor.
- Saving a visualization: You must choose a chart type, category, and value before your visualization can be saved.
- Supported chart types: This release supports bar, column, and pie charts. Additional chart types are planned for future releases.
- Exports: Exporting or downloading visualizations and underlying data isn't supported at this time.