PowerPoint · Visual indicators
Status, progress, and small-series shapes on the Elements group: Stars, RAG, Trend arrow, Pointer, Harvey ball, Gauge, and Mini chart.
Stamps, Redact, and Transparency live on the Tools group — see Stamps, Redact & Transparency.
1. Insert / replace
- Open the indicator menu, or click the large Mini chart button.
- Pick a leaf below (or Custom… where offered).
- To change value: select the existing indicator and choose another state — Navifia replaces it in place (position/size kept). Mini chart works the same way: select the group, reopen the dialog, edit, Generate.
| Menu | Leaf items |
|---|---|
| Stars | 1 star · 2 stars · 3 stars · 4 stars · 5 stars · Custom (half-star)… |
| RAG | Red (horizontal) · Amber (horizontal) · Green (horizontal) · Red (vertical) · Amber (vertical) · Green (vertical) |
| Trend arrow | Up · Flat · Down |
| Pointer | (button — each click inserts the next number on the slide) |
| Harvey ball | 0% · 25% · 50% · 75% · 100% · Custom… |
| Gauge | 0% · 25% · 50% · 75% · 100% · Custom… |
| Mini chart | (large button — Label / Value table dialog) |
| Control | What it shows | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Harvey ball | Partially filled circle (0–100%) | Completion in a status table |
| RAG | Red / Amber / Green chip | Risk / status at a glance |
| Pointer | Auto-numbered circle | Callouts 1, 2, 3 on a diagram |
| Stars | 1–5 stars (+ half-star custom) | Scoring / ranking |
| Trend arrow | Up / Flat / Down (green / yellow / red) | Direction next to a KPI |
| Gauge | Semicircle zones + needle + % label | Overall programme health |
| Mini chart | Bar / Column / Donut set from a Label/Value table | Revenue by region, headcount by team |
Pointer is sequential: each click adds the next number on the slide (Ctrl+Shift+O).
2. Custom values (Stars, Harvey ball, Gauge)
Each of these three menus has a Custom… item for a value the five preset leaves don’t cover.
Stars — Custom…
Sets a rating anywhere from 0 to 5, in half-star steps — not just the five whole-star presets.
- Stars → Custom….
- Type a rating from 0 to 5. Anything you type snaps to the nearest half star (e.g.
3.7→3.5). - OK — Navifia builds the star row, with whole stars solid-filled and a partial star split into a filled left half and an empty right half.
Reopening Custom… on a selected star group pre-fills the box with its current rating.
Harvey ball — Custom…
Sets the fill to any percentage from 0 to 100 — not just the five 25%-step presets.
- Harvey ball → Custom….
- Type a percentage from 0 to 100.
- OK — Navifia draws the filled pie sector clockwise from 12 o’clock to that percentage.
Reopening Custom… on a selected Harvey ball pre-fills the box with its current percentage.
Gauge — Custom…
Points the needle at any percentage from 0 to 100 — not just the five preset positions.
- Gauge → Custom….
- Type a percentage from 0 to 100.
- OK — Navifia points the needle and updates the “NN%” label under the dial; the red/amber/green zone colours stay whatever is set in Configure indicators.
Reopening Custom… on a selected gauge pre-fills the box with its current percentage.
3. Mini chart
Mini chart (Ctrl+Shift+M) builds a small set of editable shapes — not an embedded chart object. Every bar, column, or donut in the set shares the same footprint and colour; only the fill changes with the value, so 20 / 15 / 10 reads at a glance as full / three-quarter / half.
When to use Mini chart
| Prefer Mini chart when… | Prefer a native PowerPoint chart when… |
|---|---|
| You want a hand-built look that stays easy to nudge | You need axes, legends, or data labels from Excel |
| The series is short (a few regions / teams / products) | The series is long or needs frequent Excel refresh as a chart |
| Reviewers will resize or recolour individual shapes | The chart must stay linked as a ChartObject |
Insert or edit
- Elements → Mini chart (or Ctrl+Shift+M).
- Fill the Label | Value table — one row per point (up to 20).
- Choose Bar, Column, or Donut, and where value text sits.
- Generate — inserts a grouped set on the slide.
- To edit later: select the Mini chart group → Mini chart again — the dialog pre-fills; Generate replaces in place.
The Label / Value table
| Column | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Label (optional) | No | Can be left blank. Useful for “APAC”, “EMEA”, etc. |
| Value | Yes (at least one) | Plain number or with % (see fill modes below) |
Paste from Excel: copy a two-column selection in Excel, then Paste from Excel in the dialog.
Fill modes
| Mode | How you enter values | How fill is computed |
|---|---|---|
| Value (default) | Plain numbers, e.g. 20 · 15 · 10 |
Relative to the largest entry (largest = full) |
| Percentage | Any entry includes %, e.g. 80% |
Relative to 100% — independent of other values |
Mixing modes in one set is not supported: one % switches the whole set to percentage mode.
Styles and value text
| Style | Layout | Value text options |
|---|---|---|
| Bar | Horizontal bars | Right · Left · Move with value |
| Column | Vertical columns | Above · Below · Move with value |
| Donut | Ring | Value centred in the hole |
Move with value centres the number inside the filled portion (white). If the fill is too short to hold the text, Navifia falls back to a dark label outside the fill.
Colours
Mini chart reuses Progress bar / Progress ring colours from Config → Configure indicators (navy fill, grey track, white hole by factory default) — not a separate Mini chart palette.
4. Configure indicators
Config → Configure indicators — one dialog for colours (RAG, Gauge zones, Mini chart via Progress colours, Pointer, Harvey ball, Stars, etc.).
- Each row shows built-in default vs current value.
- Reset to Defaults replays the last Save as Default baseline.
- Restore Factory Defaults clears live + baseline and writes the compiled palette (confirmation prompt).
Factory palette (summary): traffic-light red / yellow / green for Gauge, Trend, RAG, and Stars; navy #1F4E79 with white / grey complements for Harvey ball, Pointer, and Mini chart.
Troubleshooting
- Mini chart Generate does nothing — enter at least one Value; Label may stay blank.
- Bars look equal when they should not — check whether a
%put the set into percentage mode. - Colours look wrong after an update — Restore Factory Defaults in Configure indicators (saved baselines keep older colours until then).
- Cannot rejoin a Mini chart after ungrouping — edit via the dialog on the intact group, or rebuild from the table.