I have written all sorts of organizational chart WebParts in the past leveraging various rendering engines and complex ruling, outputting in various formats with assorted hooked behavior wired to the org chart. Having studied users while they are interacting with the org chart software, something that I found is glitzy, flashy eye-candy org chart features have about an interest shelf-life of 5 minutes for the typical user. While numerous business circumstances can cultivate all types of useful material to incorporate into the software, they rarely make a long-term practical contribution to the applicability of the org chart software, and in my opinion deteriorate the direct usefulness. As by definition an organization chart is “a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/job” keeping it strictly within this scope is vital for product success.

So I decided to sit down, and write an organizational chart WebPart that just makes an org chart. That’s it. It draws an org chart. It doesn’t do anything else. But it sure can draw an org chart. A really simple one that is consummately faster than contestant WebParts.

To realize this requirement, I decided to utilize the Google Visualization API since it supplied fundamental minimum functions to integrate obligatory, decisive features. Using a primitive SharePoint list as the visualization data source it is also very unpretentious, generic and not irrevocably bound to an automated source. This obviously has pros and cons, but for me having control over the display is a big pro.

Outside of the lean features provided by the Google Visualization API, I wanted something that used a rendering engine that I didn’t have to maintain or even one that another company maintained and pushed out components as a shared library. I have had problems with that in the past with organizations using analogous libraries, and they might move a little quicker than I in retrofitting, so products reference discrepancy can occur.

Lastly, I wanted something small….a really concise solution not composed of numerous moving parts (under 10k packaged). Just a very maintainable, low chance of exception approach that had zero gold plating while staying within the realm of what a functional org chart should do. I wanted it as lean as possible, focusing not on features but on rendering speed.

Onto the SimpleChart WebPart!

The WebPart description file is Feature controlled, so activate the SimpleChart For SharePoint Feature from the  Site collection features:

One the activated the WebPart is pretty easy to find from the gallery:

Here are the default WebPart properties. Some of the properties will assume default values when not provided (like color etc.), others are necessary for the WebPart display.

Display Properties

The org chart has nominal configurable properties to manipulate the WebPart display:

(1) Allow HTML – If in the SharePoint list feed, the strings are stored as HTML tags they will be rendered as HTML. Best to keep this on.

(2) Allow Collapse – If you want to be really fancy, this makes the boxes collapse up and down. Oh la la.

(3) Background Color - For each element in the org chart the Hex Triplet (HTML Color) provided will apply style to the *unselected* boxes.

(4) Selected Color - For each element in the org chart the Hex Triplet (HTML Color) provided will apply style to the *selected* boxes.

Operational Properties

The other properties are related directly to the WebPart operation. In order to support a generic list datasource, the WebPart expects you to provide the SharePoint list name and associated field names, correlating to the properties of the user. Don’t worry about CAML delimiters; the WebPart will parse all the values correctly internally. So, before you start using the WebPart, make a list with:

• Employee Name
• Superior ID
• Employee Title
• Employee Phone
• Employee Address
• Employee Email
• Employee City
• Employee State
• Employee Country

So what’s it look like? Here is a screenshot of my list data source:

Now in the above, take note that the TITLE FIELD IS CHANGED TO EMPLOYEE TITLE. I used a custom list as the base template. If you really want you can download it here. I didn’t want to have a field that had no relevancy in the list, so it is best to repurpose it to hold the employee title.

The output from this data in SimpleChart is:

Pretty much all the fields being used are self -explantory. Superior (Manager) ID is the integer that correlates to to the Employee ID of the desired branch, that is pretty much the only relational field. Obviously, toggling the color values you can make some pretty awful charts:

leads to this beauty:

If you want support, use the contact form and drop me a line, leave something in the comments, whatever. I can tailor probably tailor the part to your organization requirements as well if you need help.

DOWNLOAD THE SIMPLECHART INSTALL PACKAGE

EDIT:

Download is down, new version out 10/16/2009 COB.

EDIT:

You can download the new version here.

I am considering extending the data sources to use either profiles or AD DS lookups as well. If there is sufficient interest I might just do that. Leave feature requests in the comments! I generally will put them if I I get bored.

Article Or Research Filed Under SharePoint Development| SharePoint Software.

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43 Comments »

1. 

   This…is…fantastic.

   We already implemented it for project based org charts (to describe teams). In under an hour were getting positive feedback.

   One of the better WebParts I have used.

   Thanks Adam!

   Comment by Steve Christopherson — September 29, 2009 @ 5:09 pm

2. 

   Just installed. Excellent!

   Easy to configure and using gvAPI as a rendering engine was an excellent idea.

   Comment by John — September 29, 2009 @ 8:20 pm

3. [...] Free SharePoint Organizational Chart Web Part – SimpleChart for SharePoint (SharePointSecurity.com)I have written all sorts of organizational chart WebParts in the past leveraging various rendering engines and complex ruling, outputting in various formats with assorted hooked behavior wired to the org chart. Having studied users while they are interacting with the org chart software, something that I found is glitzy, flashy eye-candy org chart features have about an interest shelf-life of 5 minutes for the typical user. While numerous business circumstances can cultivate all types of useful material to incorporate into the software, they rarely make a long-term practical contribution to the applicability of the org chart software, and in my opinion deteriorate the direct usefulness. As by definition an organization chart is “a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/job” keeping it strictly within this scope is vital for product success. [...]

   Pingback by Windows 7 in Action; Microsoft Executive Pay Cuts; Google Expands Wave Testing - SharePoint Daily - Bamboo Nation — September 30, 2009 @ 7:17 am

4. 

   Very nice WebPart Adam. We are using it on our project sites to build out team visuals.

   I like the idea of having some level of automation, but only as a side note. I think one of the reasons this is so nice is because you are not forced to use it in a particular context. But having the option would nice.

   Thanks!

   Comment by Jennifier — September 30, 2009 @ 8:02 am

5. 

   Works well. Would also like to throw in that some level of loosely coupled automation would be nice.

   Comment by Tony — September 30, 2009 @ 8:27 am

6. 

   It is definitly nice, but one thing I wouldn’t mind seeing added is the ability to move some of the org chart information to ToolTips.

   Comment by Rich — September 30, 2009 @ 11:34 am

7. 

   This is fabulous!! The AD datasource would be amazing or, in a perfect world, both an ad and custom list where the list can override relationships from ad. Great work!

   Comment by jon Adams — September 30, 2009 @ 2:26 pm

8. 

   I would be very interested to see the extension of this webpart’s data sources to include using profiles, AD DS and AD/LDS. It would also be nice to have a way to specify a level or starting point for where the Org Chart begins. A better way to explain it would be to allow a way to specify a “Superior ID” to begin the chart with. If using user profiles, it may be necessary to only show an org chart relative to a particular team etc.

   Comment by Allan — September 30, 2009 @ 3:22 pm

9. 

   Thanks everyone!

   I will be baking the requested features in shortly.

   Comment by adam — October 1, 2009 @ 8:06 am

10. [...] Free SharePoint Organizational Chart WebPart So I decided to sit down, and write an organizational chart WebPart that just makes an org chart. That’s it. It draws an org chart. It doesn’t do anything else. But it sure can draw an org chart. A really simple one that is consummately faster than contestant WebParts. (tags: 1_Component 2_Freeware 3_BusinessSoftware 4_SharePoint 4_ITManagement 4_Visualization 5_.Net 7_WebPart ActiveDirectory) Kommentar schreiben [...]

    Pingback by links for 2009-10-02 « Murratore’s Weblog — October 2, 2009 @ 5:02 pm

11. [...] Free SharePoint Organizational Chart WebPart – SimpleChart for SharePoint [...]

    Pingback by Links (10/4/2009) « Steve Pietrek – Everything SharePoint — October 4, 2009 @ 6:39 pm

12. 

    Looks great – very functional and informative. I like the AD lookup option, as we are using AD to run our SP security. Another potential enhancement would be to see pictures of the empolyees from a image list.

    Comment by SAS — October 5, 2009 @ 7:09 am

13. 

    I have done everything right even the list i used yours but iam getting message that add some items to list. the items are already there. Even my custom list is not working . :S

    Comment by Adeel — October 6, 2009 @ 4:58 am

14. 

    Are you sure the list name is correct in the properties? All the column properties are filled in?

    Comment by adam — October 6, 2009 @ 7:15 am

15. 

    Excellent work! I can see a lot of uses for this. Does the google visualization API require a connection to the internet? If so it might be worthwhile noting that. Simple and easy to use is definitely what people want in the org chart.

    Comment by Tristan — October 8, 2009 @ 4:55 pm

16. 

    Hi, I have install the datasource and the webpart and done all configuration as explained but I always get this message

    “Please Add Items To The Org Chart list”

    Any idea?

    Comment by Gabriel — October 13, 2009 @ 1:04 am

17. 

    Same problem as Adeel, everything seems correct, list names, property names, but still same message

    Comment by Gabriel — October 13, 2009 @ 7:26 am

18. 

    I will be looking at this today. I will post back when I find what the problem is.

    Comment by adam — October 13, 2009 @ 7:55 am

19. 

    Same error!

    “Please Add Items To The Org Chart list”

    Help-me

    Comment by Niccollas — October 15, 2009 @ 6:08 am

20. [...] as a datasource follows the same pattern that is detailed in the first version of this WebPart here. That post has the solution install instructions so I am not going to rehash [...]

    Pingback by ARB Security Solutions » SimpleChart (Org Chart WebPart) For SharePoint V2 – Now With Active Directory — October 16, 2009 @ 12:59 pm

21. 

    For everyone having problems, please visit the V2 page and download the package from there.

    Comment by adam — October 16, 2009 @ 1:41 pm

22. 

    I have ran the v2 install twice and still do not see the feature in the Site Collection Features. No errors on the install. Any ideas?

    Comment by Kevin — October 20, 2009 @ 6:07 am

23. 

    Hi Kevin,

    I fixed this problem wiht manual Deployment

    Central Administration > Operations > Solution Management.

    Comment by Niccollas — October 21, 2009 @ 10:11 am

24. 

    Hi,

    I Install V2 in MOSS2007 SP2, in ActiveDirectMode work fine, but in SharePointListMode show this:
    “Please Add Items To The Org Chart list” Same error in 1.0.0.0 version.

    My Farm
    02 – WebFronts in loadBalance
    01 – DataBase Server (SQL2008)

    Comment by Niccollas — October 21, 2009 @ 10:19 am

25. 

    @ Niccollas: Interesting, what does your list look like? That particuarlly error occurs when the exception is an ArgumentException when trying to build the list out, so the problem is *something* regarding the data source.

    Comment by adam — October 22, 2009 @ 7:19 am

26. [...] SimpleChart by ARB Security Solutions is a simplistic organizational chart displayed in a graphical manner.  This web part only accepts data from a SharePoint list, but with some creative thinking you can probably get your organizational data into a SharePoint list.  [...]

    Pingback by SharePoint 2007 – Org Chart Web Part Options « SharePoint Sherpa — October 23, 2009 @ 12:36 pm

27. 

    extending the data sources to use either profiles or AD DS lookups is a great idea. Please go ahead. I would also like to learn how you did all this as well.

    Comment by MJM — October 30, 2009 @ 5:11 pm

28. 

    Hi:

    Is it possible to include pictures into this organizational chart?

    Nadir

    Comment by Nadir Maroof — November 15, 2009 @ 6:01 am

29. 

    nada nada que lo que

    Comment by euclides — November 15, 2009 @ 7:00 pm

30. 

    OrgChart software is the Powerful Organizational Chart Software helps you to build Succession Planning Chart, Organizational Structure, Enable Resource Planning and Employee Communications.

    Comment by Orgchartpro123 — December 15, 2009 @ 10:11 pm

31. 

    Is it Open Source ?

    Comment by Ali Raza — December 15, 2009 @ 10:43 pm

32. 

    it sure can be if there is interest in the source code…

    Comment by adam — December 16, 2009 @ 7:54 am

33. 

    Having the same issue as Niccollas with the error message “Please Add Items To The Org Chart list” and I’ve successfully deployed and activated the feature. We have several sites within a site collection and workspaces under the sites. We would like to have an OrgChart list in each workspace (i.e., each of our projects needs its own project org chart with a PM at the top).

    Could really use your web part if I could get it to work. Is it looking for a single list at the site collection level? or is the context set to the local site/workspace? If you have this as open source, we can customize it to fit our needs.

    Comment by Ellen — December 17, 2009 @ 12:06 pm

34. 

    hi really interested in source code.

    all i need is to add picture

    Comment by ramnik — January 6, 2010 @ 9:24 pm

35. 

    I have downloaded the package and ran the install but I cannot find the webpart. I have looked under the site collection features to enable it but it is not there. It is also not listed when I go to web parts under galleries. Any ideas? The install says everything completed successfully. I don’t know if it makes any differnce but my inetpub directory is not on the C drive it is on d.

    Comment by Brad — January 14, 2010 @ 3:12 pm

36. 

    Brad:

    You have to deploy the solution from the SharePoint solution store. The install script only adds the solution

    @ everyone else having issues:

    I will look into the list datasource stuff this weekend. Sorry for the folks having issues.

    Comment by adam — January 15, 2010 @ 2:57 pm

37. 

    We tend to get a bit anxious about Google APIs in our shop. Does the WebPart have any hooks back into Google?

    Comment by Mark — January 26, 2010 @ 9:24 am

38. 

    Yup. sorry. Calls back to the Viz API’s.

    - Adam

    Comment by adam — January 26, 2010 @ 9:41 am

39. 

    Any update on the “Please Add Items to The Org Chart list” message? I’ve tried everything I can thing of and it never changes. There was mention of posting the source.. if that’s up somewhere I could take a swipe at figuring it out.

    Comment by Russell Dickerson — February 23, 2010 @ 9:56 am

40. 

    I am putting up the whole thing, source + the fix, this weekend.

    Comment by adam — February 24, 2010 @ 3:48 pm

41. 

    Thanks a lot…this is a really really helpful WebPart

    Comment by Kabir — March 1, 2010 @ 8:17 am

42. 

    I am also having problems with the install. I have added the solution, and deployed it. If I go into the central administration, it says that the solution is deployed to all applicable URL’s. However it does not show up in the site features to activate, or in the web parts list in SharePoint. Am I missing something?

    Comment by Jake — March 8, 2010 @ 2:54 pm

43. 

    Nevermind, I figured it out. I needed to be logged in as administrator, so I could site collection features. That is where it gets activate, not under site features.

    Comment by Jake — March 8, 2010 @ 4:18 pm

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