Introductory Tutorial

Here's a quick walkthrough on making a simple graph using Plot-O-Matic.

In this tutorial, we're going to

• Make a new dataset.
• Enter some data.
• Make a graph with two lines on it.
• Edit the text on the graph.

Creating a Dataset

If you're logged in, you'll see a box that looks like this:

  <---- Navigation Box

at the top of the screen, in the centre. (If you don't see it, then you'll have to either log in or sign up.)

To create a new dataset, click on the Navigation Box and select 'Create new dataset'.

But wait! If you do that, you won't be able to read the tutorial anymore!

Here's a trick: if you hold down the shift-key while you click on 'Create new dataset', the new dataset will open in a new browser window.

Go ahead and make a new dataset, and then come back here.

You might be interested in taking a quick tour of the screen before going any further.

Entering Data

On the right-side of the screen you'll see the data-entry area. It looks like this:

Try entering some data now. Click on the top-left data cell (to the right of the '0', below the 'x'), type a number in it. To move to another data cell, you can use

• 'enter' or 'down-arrow' to move down one row
• 'up-arrow' to move up one row
• 'tab' to move to the next column
• 'shift-tab' to move to the previous column

There's more information on keyboard shortcuts here.

Once you've entered a number in a data cell and moved out of that cell, Plot-O-Matic will try to figure out what type of data you have entered. If you've entered a number, it should look something like this:

For more information on data types, read the data types help.

You might have noticed that there are only 10 data rows. That's obviously not going to be enough, so let's make some more. Press either the 'down' or 'enter' key, and keep holding it down. There you go, more data rows!

OK, let's get down to business now. Enter some data into the data form. Something like this:

Now click on the button labelled 'Save data and update graph'.

hint: you can also just use 'alt+s' (Windows) or 'ctrl+s' (Mac)

Your graph should now look like this:

Adding a Second Line to the Graph

Obviously, just one line isn't going to be enough.

First, we need to add another data column so we have something else to graph. Hover your mouse over one of the data column titles (either 'x' or 'y') and click on 'New' in the menu that pops up

You can change the column title by clicking on the title (it's currently called 'untitled'). Let's change it to 'z'.

Fill that out with data as well. Something like this:

Now let's add a new line to plot that data with. Click on the 'Lines' tab and then on 'new line'.

This will create a new line with the same data as the first. To make the second line use the new data, click on the y-data dropdown box for the second line, and select z.

Save your changes by clicking on the 'save data and update graph' button. You should now see a graph with two lines on it that looks like this:

Editing the Titles

We now have a graph, but the titles are the boring default values. Let's change them.

We're going to change:

• The dataset title:

  The dataset title is currently "Untitled Dataset". It's in the top left corner of the screen.

  Mouse over the dataset title and click on it. You should see something like this:

  

  Change the title to something else (I changed it to 'Tutorial dataset') and then either type 'enter' or click on 'OK'.

  

• The graph titles:

  If you hover your mouse over any of the text on the graph, you'll see something like this:

  

  Click on the text, or on the 'edit' tab to edit the text

  

  Click on "OK", and then drag the title back to center with the "Drag" tab:

  

  Do this with the rest of the titles if you wish

• The line titles:

  Click on the "Lines" tab. If you've been following along, you should be looking at a dialog that looks like this:

  

  This dialog is a little complex, but you can tell what's going on by looking at a few things.

  • The image at the top (between the next and prev links) tells you that the line shows up on the graph as a green circle.
  • The title input box tells you that line is currently titled 'y' (we'll change that soon).
  • The x-data and y-data dropdown boxes tell you that this line is plotting datacolumn 'x' on its x-axis and datacolumn 'z' on its y-axis.

  Change the title to 'Cubic' before we go any farther.

  To change settings on the other line on the graph, click on the 'prev' link. Change the title to 'Square'.

  

To see all of your changes, click on "save data and update graph".

There you go, you now have yourself a very nice dataset.

Now that you have a graph, you may want to read about downloading and sharing graphs.

help index