Category: Tendenci

Sparklines are one of my favorite additions to Tendenci. Within the "articles search" section of any Tendenci website, you will see a small line graphic that shows the up and down viewing trends of a particular article. Holding your cursor over the graphic will review an "ALT Tag" that shows the highest viewing an article has received since the article was created. (Please refer to the image on the left as an example.)

Edward R. Tufte defines sparklines as: "datawords" – data-intense, design simple, word-sized graphics.

Within a second you can tell if an article is "sporadically viewed", "a growing trend", "steadily viewed", or "not viewed at all". This also helps to communicate simple interactive relationships. For example, "How much does viewership declines when an article is made member-only view?" I have included an image (click to enlarge) to help demonstrate the effects of an article that requires a "log-in".

The sparkline graphic also includes a "highest reads point (green dot)", a "lowest reads point (blue dot)" and a current position marked by the red dot. The visualization that is produced from the small graphics may help an organization better understand the growing needs of the membership and the hot topics of the day. Thanks to Jenny Qian for her work on integrating sparklines into Tendenci.

The Business Directory search page within Tendenci contains a "tag cloud" listing that helps users visulalize the amount of content within a particular category. Often the value of "weighted text lists" is misunderstood as "a jumble of mixed-sized fonts". Instead the developers of Tendenci see the lists as an easy means of communicating the popularity of content.

Visualization is an important theme in Tendenci. The value of human communication and interaction is weaved through every part, including putting tag clouds on Business Directory listings to help communicate the value of the content.

For more on the theory behind tag clouds, I suggest reviewing these powerpoint slides by Rashmi Sinha. Rashmi put together some slides that help to explain the theories behind tag clouds. Here is also a link to Rashmi’s site: http://www.rashmisinha.com/.

Welcome to Tendenci’s official support blog!

We are excited to let you know about our Tendenci software updates and new features.

As we add, polish and refine the Tendenci platform, we want you to know immediately.  This blog will provide an easily way for us to keep in touch with you.

But don’t forget that we want to hear from you too!  Feel free to comment or, better yet, call or email us and we can discuss any questions or suggestions that you may have to make your Tendenci-user experience an even stronger one.

Thanks!