A list slicer that shows how much each value weighs

In short

• What the visual does. Bar Slicer Plume is a list slicer: you click values (categories, regions, customers…) and the whole report filters on those values. Unlike the Power BI list slicer, each value carries a bar and a number taken from a measure. Picture the list of departments in a store where each department shows a gauge of its revenue next to its name: before you even click, you know that "Lighting" makes up a third of sales and "Home linens" barely 4%.
• When to use it.
  • To replace a list slicer whose values don't all carry the same weight (categories, regions, salespeople).
  • When users need to find a value quickly in a long list (accent-insensitive search).
  • To select the biggest contributors in one click (Top N ★) or a list copied from Excel (Paste a list ★).
  • When you want to always show how much the selection weighs ("2 selected · … of …").
• When to use something else. To filter on several fields or a hierarchy in a single visual, use Filter Bar Plume or Basic Slicer Plume. For a range of numbers or dates, use Range Plume or Period Plume.
• By the end of this tutorial, you'll know how to:
  • prepare a column to filter and a measure for the bars;
  • build the slicer and read what it sends to the report;
  • set up how bars, values and the summary are displayed;
  • sync the slicer across several pages and save a selection in a bookmark;
  • select a Top N or a list pasted from Excel.
• What you need. A recent version of Power BI Desktop, the Bar Slicer Plume visual installed (see the shared basics), and a table with a text column to filter and a numeric column to add up.

What is a slicer?

A slicer is a visual that doesn't show numbers: its job is to filter the other visuals on the page. A filter (see the glossary) limits the data that is taken into account: if you check "Lighting", every chart on the page only calculates lighting sales. Uncheck everything and the filter goes away: the page goes back to the full data.

What to remember about how Bar Slicer Plume behaves:

• It filters the column placed in Field. In practice, it sends the report the rule "Category is one of: Lighting, Garden". Checked values add up (Lighting or Garden).
• It doesn't filter itself. The bars always show the weight of each value based on the other filters on the page, never based on its own selection. Unchecked values therefore keep their bar: that's what lets you compare.
• Other visuals filter it. If another slicer picks the "Brittany" region, the Bar Slicer Plume bars are recalculated for Brittany only. This is cross-filtering (see the glossary). The visual doesn't do partial highlighting: it recalculates its bars.
• A selection is a fixed list of values. "Invert" and "Top N ★" check specific values at the moment you click. If the data changes afterward, the checked list doesn't change.
• Bookmarks and slicer sync work: the selection is checked again when you recall a bookmark or switch pages (see the how-to guides).

The data you need

The visual needs two things:

• A column to filter (see the glossary), for example Category. The visual shows one row per distinct value in this column. It must be a real table column, not a measure: that's what the filter applies to.
• A measure for the bars (see the glossary), for example revenue. A measure is a formula that is recalculated for each value in the list. It should preferably be additive (a sum or a count): the share of total shown is calculated as the row's value divided by the sum of the positive values in the list.

Your source table can have one row per order: the visual groups the rows by Category value itself and calculates the measure for each one.

Sample dataset: sales for a home goods retailer (fictional data), one row per order.

Category	Region	Channel	Amount
Lighting	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Online	1,240
Lighting	Occitanie	Store	980
Lighting	Brittany	Online	615
Garden	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Store	1,460
Garden	Occitanie	Online	720
Decor	Brittany	Store	430
Decor	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Online	385
Kitchen	Occitanie	Online	890
Kitchen	Brittany	Store	560
Bathroom	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	Store	1,120
Home linens	Occitanie	Online	210
Home linens	Brittany	Online	175

The same dataset, ready to paste: Modeling › New table, then paste the formula.

Sales =
DATATABLE (
    "Category", STRING,
    "Region", STRING,
    "Channel", STRING,
    "Amount", INTEGER,
    {
        { "Lighting", "Nouvelle-Aquitaine", "Online", 1240 },
        { "Lighting", "Occitanie", "Store", 980 },
        { "Lighting", "Brittany", "Online", 615 },
        { "Garden", "Nouvelle-Aquitaine", "Store", 1460 },
        { "Garden", "Occitanie", "Online", 720 },
        { "Decor", "Brittany", "Store", 430 },
        { "Decor", "Nouvelle-Aquitaine", "Online", 385 },
        { "Kitchen", "Occitanie", "Online", 890 },
        { "Kitchen", "Brittany", "Store", 560 },
        { "Bathroom", "Nouvelle-Aquitaine", "Store", 1120 },
        { "Home linens", "Occitanie", "Online", 210 },
        { "Home linens", "Brittany", "Online", 175 }
    }
)

The measures to create (Modeling › New measure, with the Sales table selected):

// Revenue: the length of the bars.
// SUM adds up the Amount column for each value in the list
// (for "Lighting", it adds up the 3 lighting orders).
Revenue = SUM ( Sales[Amount] )

// Order Count: a second number, for the tooltip or for sorting.
// COUNTROWS counts the rows of the table: here, one row = one order.
Order Count = COUNTROWS ( Sales )

With this data, the list sorted by revenue gives: Lighting 2,835, Garden 2,180, Kitchen 1,450, Bathroom 1,120, Decor 815, Home linens 385 (total 8,785).

Data preparation pitfalls:

• No measure at hand? COUNTROWS is enough: each bar then shows the number of rows for the value.
• A non-additive measure (average, DISTINCTCOUNT, percentage) works for the length of the bars, but the "share of total" no longer makes sense: prefer a sum or a count.
• Values disappear when the page is filtered: Power BI only sends values that have data. To keep them, right-click the field in the Field well › Show items with no data, then choose how they're displayed in Layout › Values without data.
• Months or codes out of order: by default, sorting follows the measure. See the how-to "sort months in calendar order".
• Date column: it works, but Period Plume is designed for filtering dates.
• Very large lists: the visual loads up to 100,000 distinct values. Beyond that, a warning icon appears and the extra values aren't listed.

Step by step: your first Bar Slicer Plume in 10 minutes

1. In the ribbon, select Modeling › New table: paste the Sales = DATATABLE(...) formula from the "The data you need" section and confirm. The Sales table appears in the Data pane, with 12 rows.

2. Select the Sales table, then Modeling › New measure: paste Revenue = SUM ( Sales[Amount] ) and confirm. The Revenue measure appears under the table.

3. Do the same with Order Count = COUNTROWS ( Sales ).

4. In the Visualizations pane, click the Bar Slicer Plume icon. An empty frame appears on the page, with a welcome screen asking you to add a field.

5. Drag the Category column into the Field well. The list of 6 categories appears, with no bars yet.

6. Drag the Revenue measure into the Measure (bars) well. Each category gets a bar and its amount; the list is sorted by revenue, descending, with Lighting at the top.

7. Drag Order Count into the Tooltips well. When you hover over a category, the tooltip also shows the number of orders.

8. To see the slicer in action, click an empty area of the page, insert a native Clustered bar chart, then drag Region into Y-axis and Revenue into X-axis. The chart shows the revenue of the three regions.

9. Select Bar Slicer Plume again. In the Format pane (the paintbrush icon in the Visualizations pane), Displayed values card, set Content to Value and share. Each row shows its amount followed by its share of total (about 32% for Lighting).

10. In the same card, set Display units to None and type $ in Prefix. Amounts now read "$2,835".

11. Click Lighting, then Garden. Both values are checked; the regions chart now only shows sales for these two categories, and the summary below the list shows how many values are selected and how much they weigh in the total.

12. Click the Clear button in the header. The selection is emptied, the filter is removed, and the chart goes back to total sales.

Result: a slicer that filters the page by category and shows, for each category, how much it weighs in revenue.

Troubleshooting

What you see	Likely cause	Solution
No bars, no Top N button	The Measure (bars) well is empty, or Bars › Show / Quick actions › Top N ★ is turned off.	Drag a measure into Measure (bars) and check these toggles.
Values disappear when you filter elsewhere	This is normal Power BI behavior: only values with data are sent.	Right-click the field › Show items with no data, then set Layout › Values without data.
The visual checks a value on its own	Always keep one value selected is on in Single value mode.	Turn this setting off if the slicer can be left empty.
Months or codes are out of order	Sorting follows the measure.	Sort › Sort by = Model order (with "Sort by column" set in the model) or Label A → Z with Natural sort.
A warning icon says only the first n values are loaded	More than 100,000 distinct values in the field.	Filter the page or use a less detailed column.
Top N doesn't follow new data	Top N checks a list that is fixed at the moment you click.	Click Top N again after the refresh.
A value stays checked even though it no longer appears	Another slicer filtered it out; the selection is kept.	Click Clear, or uncheck it when it shows up again.
The "Premium preview" watermark appears	A ★ layout, a ★ summary text, a ★ style, or a click on Top N ★ / Paste a list ★ without a valid key.	Paste a key in Plume Studio License › License key, or turn off the ★ feature.
The visual's wells are in another language	Their names follow the language of Power BI Desktop.	Language and numbers › Interface language forces the language of the visual's texts.

Key takeaways

• A slicer filters the other visuals; Bar Slicer Plume adds to each value a bar that shows how much it weighs, calculated from the other filters on the page.
• One column in Field and one additive measure in Measure (bars) are all you need.
• Bars › Position and Displayed values › Content do most of the work on the look.
• Bookmarks and slicer sync work just like with the native slicer.
• Top N ★ and Invert check a list that is fixed at the moment you click.

Learn more

• Bar Slicer Plume: 9 how-to guides (Top N, Excel list, bookmarks…): recipes for common needs.
• Bar Slicer Plume: every field and setting explained: every field well and every setting.
• Getting started with Plume visuals: installation, license, styles and settings shared by all visuals.
• The visual's page: Bar Slicer Plume. Have a question? Support.