# Bump Plume: 9 how-to recipes for rankings

> Step by step: ties like RANKX, lowest value first, Top N with entries and exits, a rank you already compute, ribbons, metro map, playback ★, zones and logos.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/bump-plume-cas-pratiques
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Bump Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/bump-chart.md
- If an option name in this tutorial differs from the technical reference, the reference is right (it is generated from the visual's code).

These recipes start from a Bump Plume already in place. If that is not the case, begin with the [getting started guide](/en/tutorials/bump-plume-prise-en-main): the examples reuse its data (`Sales[Year]`, `Sales[Brand]`, `Total revenue`). Features marked ★ are premium: they work without a license, with a watermark.

## How do I get the same ranks as RANKX?

You compare the visual with a table that uses `RANKX`.

1. **Format › Ranking › Ties** = *Standard: 1, 2, 2, 4 (RANKX Skip)* (the default); for `RANKX ( …, DENSE )`, choose *Dense: 1, 2, 2, 3 (RANKX Dense)*. The *Modified ★* and *Unique ★* methods are premium.
2. **Rank 1 =** *Highest value* (like `RANKX` in descending order, the default).
3. Keep **Mark ties (=2)** on.

Result: the same ranks as `RANKX ( ALLSELECTED ( Sales[Brand] ), [Total revenue] )`. Two tied entities never overlap: they sit side by side (ordered by their previous rank, then by name); the tooltip says "(tied)" and "Rank and name" labels write "=2".

## How do I put the smallest first (lead times, costs, times)?

In a carrier ranking, the fastest must be 1st.

1. Drag the average lead time into **Value**.
2. **Format › Ranking › Rank 1 =** *Lowest value*.

Result: the smallest value of each period gets rank 1, at the top.

## How do I keep the first 5 and see who enters and who leaves?

With 15 products, all the lines together become unreadable.

1. **Format › Ranking › Number of entities (Top N, 0 = all)** = `5`.
2. **Top N based on** = *Each period (entries and exits)*.
3. **Format › Markers › Top N entries and exits (▲ ▼)**: on (the default).

Result: in each period, the first 5 are ranked; a product that leaves drops in dashes into the "Outside the top 5" row (▼) and comes back up in dashes when it returns (▲). To follow the first 5 of the last period over the whole time span, choose **Top N based on** = *The last period* (*Any period ★* is premium).

## How do I use a rank I already compute?

Your model already holds an official rank (league standings, audit score).

1. Drag the rank measure into **Rank (optional)**. The **Value** field can stay (for the tooltip and the ribbons) or be empty.

Result: the visual places each entity at its given rank (1 = first) and recomputes nothing. Two equal ranks are marked as tied.

## How do I get the Power BI ribbon chart back?

You want Power BI's "stacked ribbons" view, with the names at the end of the ribbons.

1. **Format › Design › Design** = *Stacked ribbons (ribbon chart)*.
2. Set **Spacing (%)**, **Ribbon transparency (%)** (30 by default) and **Ribbon border**.

Result: in each period, a stacked column with the leader at the top, and ribbons linking each entity from one period to the next. Negative values count as zero (a message says so in edit mode).

## How do I draw a metro map ★?

For a landing page or a presentation that sticks in people's minds.

1. **Format › Design › Design** = *Metro map ★*.
2. **Interchanges (swapped places)**: on (the default).
3. If needed, increase **Design › Width**.

Result: thick lines, horizontal runs and 45° bends, white stations, large stations when the rank changes, interchange capsules where two entities swap places, and names in terminus badges.

## How do I show the values behind the ranks ★?

Two methods, which can be combined:

1. **Ribbons sized by value ★**: **Format › Design › Design** = *Ribbons sized by value ★*; set **Maximum thickness (% of the row)**. Each line is as thick as its value.
2. **Ranks / Values button**: turn on **Format › Ranks or values › Ranks / Values button in the visual**. The reader clicks *Values*: the lines glide to their value (the values view is ★); *Ranks* puts them back.

## How do I replay the evolution like a race ★?

1. **Format › Playback › Play bar ★**: turn on **Play bar ★** (otherwise the **Discreet ▶ button (on hover) ★** is enough; it is off by default).
2. Set **Duration of a frame (ms)**, **Loop**, **Play automatically on opening ★**.
3. Keep **Labels follow the head of the lines** and **Current value in large type** on.

Result: periods are revealed one by one, the names and their ranks follow the head of the lines, the current period shows in large type while playing. The bar is the same in every Plume visual: tick-marked slider, start and end, speed ×0.5 to ×4, Space and arrow keys. When Windows asks to reduce motion, the chart shows complete, without animation. Guided playback is premium (★): without a key it works with the "Premium preview" watermark; the lines drawing themselves when the data arrives stays free.

## How do I mark a podium, a relegation and events ★?

1. **Format › Ranking zones ★ › Show**; **Top zone: number of ranks** = `3`, **Top zone label** = "Podium"; **Bottom zone: number of ranks** = `2`, label "Relegation".
2. **Format › Annotations ★ › Annotations (one per line)**: `2024 | Bravo | New range launched` (period | entity | text: the note is pinned to Bravo's point); a line `2024 | New regulation` (period | text) puts a vertical marker over the whole period.
3. Rank change: **Format › End labels › Rank change ★ › Show (▲3, ▼2) ★**.
4. Logos ★: a measure that returns an embedded image, for example `Logo = "data:image/png;base64," & SELECTEDVALUE ( Brands[Logo base64] )`, dropped into **Image ★**.

Result: colored bands behind the first and last ranks, notes pinned to the points or to the period (in edit mode, drag them, double-click to edit, × to delete), ▲ / ▼ at the end of the lines, round logos at both ends. An annotation line whose entity or period cannot be found is reported in edit mode.

> **Note:** Images must be embedded (`data:image/…;base64,…` text). A web address is never loaded: a certified visual makes no request to the internet.

## How do I go from years to quarters?

The yearly ranking hides the bumps; drill-down shows the detail without changing visuals.

1. Drag `Year`, then `Quarter` (a column of your data, or the levels of the date hierarchy), into **Axis (time)**.
2. The chart shows one period per year. Turn on drill mode (the ↓ arrow in the visual header), then click a year: its quarters appear.
3. To see everything, choose **Expand all down one level** (⇊): one period per quarter, named "2024 Q1".

Result: entities are re-ranked at each quarter; names, zones and annotations follow. An annotation is attached to the period as displayed (`2024 Q1 | …`).