Direct Answer: How to Add a Heatmap Widget in OnePlan
To add a Heatmap widget in OnePlan, open a dashboard tab, click New > Widget, select a data source, then select Visualizations > Heatmap, configure the Y-Axis (rows), X-Axis (columns), Value field and aggregation, choose a color palette, and click Add. The heatmap uses color intensity to show how the aggregated value varies across the intersection of two dimensions.
What This Article Covers: Heatmap Widgets
This article explains how to configure and add a Heatmap widget to a reporting dashboard in OnePlan. It covers every field in the Add Heatmap Widget form — including the Color Settings section — and provides configuration examples.
What you will accomplish
Add a Heatmap widget that uses color intensity to reveal patterns and outliers across two dimensions of your data.
Before You Begin: Heatmap Widgets
- You must have an existing dashboard tab. See How to Create a Reporting Dashboard Tab in OnePlan if you haven't created one yet.
- Heatmap widgets are available on Portfolio Area, Plan, and Global Resource Plan dashboards with most data sources. They are not available with the Timesheets data source on Plan dashboards.
- For the full availability matrix, see Reporting Widgets in OnePlan - Overview.
Why This Matters: Heatmap Widgets
Reveal Patterns Across Two Dimensions at Once
A Heatmap encodes three pieces of information into a single grid cell: the row category, the column category, and the intensity of a value at their intersection. This makes it possible to spot patterns — like which business units have the highest budget in Q3, or which resource roles are overallocated in a given month — in a single glance.
Color Makes Outliers Immediately Visible
Because intensity is encoded in color, high and low values jump out visually without requiring viewers to compare numbers. Heatmaps are especially effective for large datasets where scanning a table would be slow.
Configurable Color Palettes for Different Contexts
OnePlan heatmaps support four color palette options — including a Red Yellow Green option that conveys health status semantics (red = bad, green = good) — and an Invert Colors option for contexts where lower values should appear darker.
Step-by-Step: Adding a Heatmap Widget in OnePlan
Task: Open the Add Heatmap Widget Form
- Navigate to the dashboard tab where you want to add the heatmap.
- Click New > Widget.
- Select a data source:
- Portfolio Area dashboards: Plans, Financials, or Resource Plans
- Plan dashboards: Work Items, Plan, Financials, or Resource Plans (not Timesheets)
- Global Resource Plan dashboards: no selection required
- Click Visualizations > Heatmap. The Add Heatmap Widget form will open with a live preview panel on the left.
Task: Configure the Heatmap Axes and Value
The heatmap is built from three fields: the row dimension (Y-Axis), the column dimension (X-Axis), and the value that drives color intensity (Value).
- Title (checkbox) — Check to display the widget title. Checked by default.
- Legend (checkbox) — Check to display a color legend showing the value range. Checked by default.
- Title — Enter a label. Defaults to "Heatmap". Example: "Budget by Business Unit and Quarter".
- Y-Axis — Choose the field that defines the rows of the heatmap. Example: Business Unit, Resource Role, Plan Type.
- X-Axis — Choose the field that defines the columns of the heatmap. Example: Quarter, Month, Investment Category.
- Value — Choose the field whose aggregated value determines the color intensity of each cell. Example: Budget, Allocated Hours, (Id) for item count.
-
Aggregate — Choose how to compute the Value for each cell. Becomes active after Value is selected. Options: Sum, Average, Minimum, Maximum.
Task: Configure Color Settings
The Color Settings section controls how values are represented by color.
Color Palette — Select one of four palette options:
- Sequential (default) — A single-color gradient from light to dark (blue). Use for neutral numeric ranges where no value carries a positive or negative connotation.
- Red Yellow Green — A traffic-light gradient from red (low) to yellow (mid) to green (high). Use for health or performance metrics where high values are desirable.
- Grey Scale — A greyscale gradient from light to dark. Use for print-friendly output or when color is reserved for other meaning on the same dashboard.
- Advanced — An alternate gradient palette. Use when Sequential does not provide enough contrast for your data range.
Invert Colors (checkbox) — Reverses the color scale so that low values appear darker and high values appear lighter. Use when lower values are more significant — for example, when a lower risk score is better.
Range Scaling — Controls how the color scale maps to your data values. Defaults to Linear.
- Linear — The color scale is distributed evenly across the full range of values. Use for most scenarios.
- Logarithmic — The color scale compresses large value ranges so that smaller values remain visually distinct. Use when your data has extreme outliers that would otherwise wash out color variation across the majority of values.
Add a Filter — Optionally restrict the heatmap's data. The label reflects the active data source (e.g., Add a Plans Filter, Add a Work Items Filter).
Warning: Widget-level filters layer on top of dashboard-level filters. If they conflict, the heatmap may show no data.
Task: Add the Heatmap to the Dashboard
- Review the live preview. Confirm the rows, columns, and color distribution look correct.
- Click Add. The heatmap appears on the dashboard.
- Click Save to save the dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions: Heatmap Widgets
Q: How do I add a Heatmap widget to a reporting dashboard in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, open the dashboard tab, click New > Widget, select a data source, click Heatmap, configure the Y-Axis (rows), X-Axis (columns), Value field, aggregation, and color settings, then click Add and Save.
Q: What do the Y-Axis, X-Axis, and Value fields do on a Heatmap widget in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, Y-Axis defines the row categories, X-Axis defines the column categories, and Value is the field whose aggregated result determines the color intensity at each row-column intersection. For example, Y-Axis = Business Unit, X-Axis = Quarter, Value = Budget (Sum) shows total budget per business unit per quarter, with color indicating which combinations have the highest spend.
Q: When should I use Red Yellow Green vs. Sequential color palette in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, use Red Yellow Green when your value represents a performance or health metric where high values are good (green) and low values are concerning (red) — for example, completion percentage or plan health score. Use Sequential for neutral metrics like budget or headcount where there is no inherent good/bad direction.
Q: What does Invert Colors do on a Heatmap in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, Invert Colors reverses the color scale so that lower values display as darker and higher values as lighter. Use this when a lower value carries more significance — for example, if you want high risk scores to appear darker to draw attention.
Q: What does Range Scaling do on a Heatmap widget in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, Range Scaling controls how the color gradient maps to your data range. Linear distributes color evenly across the full range of values. If your data has extreme outliers that cause most cells to display a similar color, adjusting the scaling can improve contrast across the majority of values.
Q: Why is the Heatmap option not available for my data source in OnePlan?
A: In OnePlan, Heatmap widgets are not available with the Timesheets data source on Plan dashboards. If you have selected Timesheets, the Heatmap option will not appear in the widget type list. Switch to a different data source or use a chart widget to visualize timesheet data instead.
What to Do Next: Heatmap Widgets
Add more widget types:
Manage widgets after adding them:
See a complete worked example:
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.