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The Power BI Data Visualization World Championships is back! It's time to submit your entry. Live now!

burakkaragoz
Community Champion
‎12-10-2025 07:20 AM

The "Hidden" Gems That Will Save You Hours

Hi Community,

The November 2025 Feature Summary is officially out! While the headlines are dominated by the flashy new Copilot updates, I want to take a step back and focus on the features that actually impact our daily lives as report builders.

Sure, AI is great, but have you seen what they finally did to the Matrix visual? Let’s dive into the "builder-focused" updates that you might have missed this month.

1. The "Grow to Fit" Matrix (Finally!) 📏

We have been asking for this for years. In the November update, the Matrix visual now supports the "Grow to fit" option.

  • The Old Way: You had to manually drag column widths or accept that your matrix would look "empty" on large screens.

  • The New Way: Enable "Grow to fit," and the matrix automatically distributes the extra space evenly across columns.

Super User Tip: This is a game-changer for "Wall Display" dashboards where screen sizes vary. Go check your existing Executive Summary reports and toggle this on!

2. The New Card Visual is (Actually) GA 🃏

It feels like it has been in preview forever, but the New Card Visual is officially Generally Available (GA) as of this month.

  • This isn't just a status change; it means it's now safe for enterprise-critical reports.

  • The reference labels and layout controls are stable. If you are still using the "Old" Card visual, it is time to migrate.

3. Developer Mode: TMDL is Ready 💻

For the pro-developers among us, the TMDL (Tabular Model Definition Language) extension for VS Code is now Generally Available. If you are still struggling with huge .bim files in Git, stop what you are doing. TMDL makes version control readable and manageable.

4. The "Sleeper" Feature: Image Visual States 🖼️

This one flew under the radar. The Image Visual now supports states (Default, Hover, Pressed).

  • Why it matters: You can now create "app-like" buttons without complex bookmark hacks. You can change the image border or even the image itself when a user hovers over it.

Quick Decision Guide: New Card vs. Old Card

Since we now have the New Card (GA), the Old Card, and the KPI visual, here is my rule of thumb:
flowchard1.png

  • Need multiple KPIs in one container? -> Use New Card Visual (Better performance).

  • Need Reference Labels (vs Last Year)? -> Use New Card Visual.

  • Maintenance only? -> Keep the Old Card, but don't use it for new builds.

What is your favorite feature this month? Drop a comment below.I’m personally going to spend the weekend refactoring my matrices with "Grow to fit"!

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