DHIS2 Data Visualizer

Charts and pivot tables are built in the Data Visualizer. Open the apps menu and pick it from the list, or type the first letters of the name.

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1. 1Search apps. Type visual to shorten the list.
2. 2Data Visualizer. Charts, pivot tables and single values. This guide uses it.
3. 3Maps. The same kind of work, on a map.
4. 4Dashboard. Where the finished charts are placed, which is the next topic.

The app opens on an empty pivot table. Everything you build is made of three things: the type of visualisation, the dimensions you pick, and where you put them.

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1. 1Visualisation type. Pivot table to start with. Every chart type sits behind this menu.
2. 2Update. Draws the visualisation with the choices you have made. Nothing appears until you click it.
3. 3Columns. What runs across the top.
4. 4Rows. What runs down the side.
5. 5Filter. What the whole visualisation is limited to, without showing it.
6. 6Data. The data elements, indicators and data sets you want to see.
7. 7Period. Which months or years.
8. 8Organisation unit. Which facilities, districts or the whole country.

Click Data in the left list. Choose the type on the left of the window, for example Data elements or Indicators, then move the items you want to the right hand list and click Update. This guide uses the four ANC visit data elements as its example, because they exist in every demo.

Click Organisation unit. You can tick units in the tree, or choose a whole level or group, which is usually what you want for a chart.

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1. 1User organisation unit. Whatever the person opening the chart is attached to. Useful for a chart that many people share.
2. 2User sub units. The units one level below that person.
3. 3The tree. Tick a district or a facility by hand.
4. 4Select a level. Every unit at one level, for example every district.
5. 5Select a group. Every unit in a group, for example every CHC.
6. 6Update. Applies the choice and redraws.

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1. 1Select a level. The list of levels in the hierarchy.
2. 2District. Gives one line, bar or row per district.
3. 3Chiefdom and Facility. The same idea, further down. Use them with care, as a facility chart can hold hundreds of lines.

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1. 1Select a group. Organisation unit groups, such as the type of facility.
2. 2CHC. Every community health centre.
3. 3District. Groups and levels can be combined, for example every CHC in one district.

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1. 1The tick. Sierra Leone is selected, so the chart shows the whole country as one line.
2. 2Sierra Leone. Click a name to tick it, click again to untick it.
3. 3Selected. The line under the tree always says what is chosen.

Click Period. Relative periods move with time, which is what a dashboard needs, and fixed periods stay where they are, which suits a report about one month.

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1. 1Relative periods. Last 12 months, this year, last quarter. The chart updates itself every month.
2. 2Fixed periods. A named month or year, such as September 2026.
3. 3Period type. Months, quarters or years.
4. 4The list. Click an item to move it to the right.
5. 5Selected periods. What the chart will use.
6. 6Update. Applies the choice.

With data, period and organisation unit chosen, click Update. The pivot table appears, and it is worth reading before drawing any chart, because it shows exactly the numbers the chart will use.

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1. 1Data in Columns. The four data elements run across the top.
2. 2Organisation unit and Period in Rows. The country and the twelve months run down the side.
3. 3Column headings. One per data element.
4. 4The months. September 2025 to August 2026, from Last 12 months.
5. 5The values. The same numbers every chart below is drawn from.

Open the visualisation type menu at the top left. Each type suits a different question, and the description under each name says what it is for.

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1. 1The menu. Click the name at the top left to open it.
2. 2Pivot table. The numbers themselves.
3. 3Column and bar. Comparing sizes.
4. 4Line and area. Change over time.
5. 5Open as Map. Sends the same selection to the Maps app.

A line chart answers how something has moved month by month. An area chart does the same but stacks the series, so the height of the whole shape is the total.

Columns stand up and bars lie down. They carry the same information, so the choice is about the labels: long names read better on a bar chart.

Stacked charts show the parts and the total at the same time. A pie chart shows the shares at one point in time, so the period usually goes in the filter.

Year over year puts this year against last year on the same twelve months, which is the quickest way to see whether a season is worse than usual.

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1. 1Series. This year and last year, instead of a period list.
2. 2Category. Months per year, so January sits above January.
3. 3Filter. The data and the organisation unit move into the filter.

A chart has to be saved before it can be put on a dashboard. Give it a name that says what it shows, including the period and the level, so it can be found later.