12.5 System Rules¶
System Rules are a special category of global Rules that control default formatting behaviors and populate color palettes throughout Datashop. Unlike regular global Rules that you apply manually to visuals, system Rules work behind the scenes—defining which colors appear in color pickers, what shapes are available in indicator palettes, and how pie charts are colored by default.
Customizing system Rules early in your Datashop implementation allows you to tailor the entire application to your organization's visual identity. When users create new visuals or apply conditional formatting, they'll automatically have access to your corporate colors and approved formatting standards.
This chapter covers the five system Rules, what they control, and how to customize them effectively.
The Five System Rules¶
Datashop includes five predefined system Rules:
- Corporate Colors: Your organization's brand colors
- Default Highlights: Standard colors for "good" and "bad" indicators
- Default Shapes: Shapes available in indicator palettes
- Indicator Colors: Colors used in heat maps and color scales
- Pie Graph Color Sequence: Default color progression for pie charts
All five can be fully customized to match your organization's needs. These are the only Rules that populate UI elements like color palettes—you cannot use other Rules for this purpose. However, you can still apply system Rules directly to visuals like any other global Rule.
Corporate Colors¶
Purpose: Defines your organization's brand colors for easy access throughout Datashop. These colors appear in color pickers when users format visuals, apply conditional formatting, or customize styles.
Default state: Empty by default—you must add your organization's colors.
How to use: Add colors from your visual identity guidelines: primary brand color, secondary colors, accent colors, and any other approved colors. Aim for 5-10 colors that represent your complete brand palette.
Where it appears: - Color pickers in the Workbook Designer - Background and font color selectors in the Rule editor - Style editor color palettes - Anywhere users can select colors in Datashop
Best practices: - Include both light and dark shades of your primary colors for flexibility - Add neutral colors (grays) that complement your brand - Order colors intentionally—place your primary brand color first - Keep the list manageable (5-10 colors)—too many choices slow down users
Example: A manufacturing company might define: - Primary blue (#003366) - Secondary teal (#006B7D) - Accent orange (#FF6B35) - Light blue (#E0F2F7) - Dark gray (#333333) - Light gray (#CCCCCC)
Default Highlights¶
Purpose: Defines standard colors for "good" and "bad" indicators in KPIs and dashboards. When users apply highlighting or create traffic light formatting, these colors are suggested by default.
Default state: Typically includes basic red (bad) and green (good) colors. You should customize these to match your organization's color scheme.
How to use: Define 2-4 colors representing different levels of performance: - Red: Critical/bad performance - Yellow/Orange: Warning/moderate performance - Green: Good/excellent performance - Blue (optional): Neutral or informational
Where it appears: - Conditional formatting quick menus - Default suggestions in the Rule editor when creating Conditional Rules - KPI formatting tools
Best practices: - Use colors with clear semantic meaning (red = bad, green = good is universal) - Ensure sufficient contrast between colors for color-blind users - Avoid overly saturated colors that strain the eyes in dashboards - Test on projectors and different monitors—colors can look different
Example: An executive dashboard might define: - Critical: Dark red (#CC0000) - Warning: Orange (#FF9900) - Good: Green (#339933) - Excellent: Dark green (#006633)
Default Shapes¶
Purpose: Defines shapes available in indicator palettes for conditional formatting. These shapes appear alongside values to show trends, status, or performance direction.
Default state: Includes basic shapes like up/down arrows, traffic lights, and checkmarks. You can add custom shapes or remove defaults.
How to use: Define shapes that match common KPI scenarios in your organization: - Trend arrows (up, down, flat) - Status symbols (red/yellow/green circles or traffic lights) - Rating symbols (stars, checkmarks) - Alert symbols (warning triangles, exclamation points)
Where it appears: - Shape selector in conditional formatting tools - Indicator palette in the Rule editor - Quick formatting menus in the Workbook Designer
Best practices: - Include shapes for common scenarios: growth (arrows), status (traffic lights), ratings (stars) - Keep shapes simple and recognizable at small sizes - Ensure shapes have clear meaning without color (for accessibility) - Limit the total number to 10-15 to avoid overwhelming users
Example: A sales dashboard might include: - Up arrow (green): Sales increasing - Down arrow (red): Sales decreasing - Flat arrow (yellow): Sales stable - Green circle: Target met - Yellow circle: Target at risk - Red circle: Target missed
Indicator Colors¶
Purpose: Defines colors used in heat maps and color scales for conditional formatting. When users apply a color scale to show value intensity, these colors define the progression.
Default state: Typically includes a red-to-green gradient or similar multi-color scale. Customize to match your organization's preferences.
How to use: Define 3-7 colors that create a visually smooth gradient from low to high values. Common patterns: - Red → Yellow → Green (traffic light gradient) - Blue → White → Red (diverging scale for positive/negative values) - Light → Dark (single-hue intensity scale)
Where it appears: - Color scale options in conditional formatting - Heat map color selectors - Default gradient suggestions in the Rule editor
Best practices: - Use colors that transition smoothly (avoid jarring jumps) - Consider diverging scales (blue-white-red) for metrics with positive and negative values - Test with color-blind simulation tools to ensure accessibility - Five colors are usually sufficient—more colors can create visual noise
Example: A profit margin heat map might use: - Dark red (#B30000): Very low margins (0-5%) - Light red (#FF6666): Low margins (5-10%) - Yellow (#FFFF66): Moderate margins (10-15%) - Light green (#66FF66): Good margins (15-20%) - Dark green (#009900): Excellent margins (20%+)
Pie Graph Color Sequence¶
Purpose: Defines the default color progression for pie charts and donut charts. When users create a pie chart without specifying colors, slices are colored using this sequence.
Default state: Includes a basic color sequence that may not match your brand. Customize this to ensure all pie charts maintain visual consistency.
How to use: Define 5-10 colors that work well together in pie charts. The sequence should: - Start with your primary brand colors - Include sufficient contrast between adjacent slices - Cycle through the list if there are more slices than colors
Where it appears: - Default coloring in new pie charts - Default coloring in donut charts - Suggested colors when users manually color pie slices
Best practices: - Start with your primary brand color to give visual weight to the first slice - Alternate between warm and cool colors for better distinction - Include neutral colors (grays) for less important slices - Ensure adjacent colors have good contrast—avoid similar shades next to each other - Test with actual data to see how the sequence looks with different slice counts
Example: A retail company's pie chart sequence: 1. Primary blue (#0066CC): Largest slice 2. Accent orange (#FF6600): Second slice 3. Teal (#00CCCC): Third slice 4. Gray (#999999): Fourth slice 5. Light blue (#99CCFF): Fifth slice 6. Tan (#CC9966): Sixth slice (sequence repeats if more slices)
Using System Rules in Visuals¶
While system Rules primarily populate UI elements, you can also apply them directly to visuals like any other global Rule:
Example: Corporate Colors as alternating rows Create a Sequential Rule using colors from Corporate Colors, then apply it to tables for alternating row formatting. This ensures even alternating rows match your brand guidelines.
Example: Default Highlights as a Conditional Rule Reference Default Highlights in a Conditional Rule to highlight KPIs. If you later update Default Highlights (e.g., changing the shade of red), all visuals using this Rule update automatically.
Customizing System Rules¶
To customize any system Rule:
- Open Datashop's main window
- Navigate to the Rules folder in the left pane
- Locate the system Rule you want to customize (e.g., "Corporate Colors")
- Double-click to open the Rule editor
- Add, remove, or modify colors/shapes/sequence steps
- Save the changes
Changes to system Rules take effect immediately and apply globally: - Existing visuals using these Rules update automatically - New visuals use the updated colors/shapes/sequences - All users in your organization see the changes
[!TIP] Customize system Rules during your initial Datashop setup, before users start creating dashboards. This prevents the need to update existing visuals later.
Tips – System Rules¶
- Customize all five system Rules during implementation to establish visual consistency from day one.
- Use hex color codes from your brand guidelines when defining Corporate Colors for exact matches.
- Test your Indicator Colors with actual data to ensure the gradient works at different value ranges.
- Keep Pie Graph Color Sequence limited to 6-8 colors—more than that and slices become hard to distinguish.
- Document your system Rules customizations (colors, meanings, when to use them) in your organization's style guide.
Common Issues – System Rules¶
Problem: My Corporate Colors don't appear in color pickers
- Solution: Ensure you've saved the Corporate Colors system Rule after adding colors. Close and reopen any workbooks that were already open—changes may not appear in existing sessions until they're reopened.
Problem: Users keep picking colors outside our brand guidelines
- Solution: Populate Corporate Colors comprehensively and train users to select from this palette. Consider creating a style guide that emphasizes using Corporate Colors exclusively. You cannot restrict users to Corporate Colors only, but clear guidelines help.
Problem: Pie charts still use old colors after I updated Pie Graph Color Sequence
- Solution: The Pie Graph Color Sequence only applies to new pie charts. Existing pie charts may have colors explicitly set. To update existing charts, you'll need to remove their explicit color assignments or recreate them.
Related Topics¶
- 12.2 Rule Conditions and Styles
- 12.4 Sequential Rules
- 12.6 Creating Global Rules
- Chapter 11 Formatting and Styles