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Advocate IHi MS team,
Thanks for some of these updates (especially the donut chart centre value which has been requested for so long), however the current update has created a really messy situation for us given how much we rely on our custom JSON theme to ensure brand compliance, and the fact we now have to release a new theme file to prevent styles for new reports breaking by default (unless every user remembers to revert the base theme to 'classic' 2026, which they won't).
Specifically, the default slicer behaviour still reverts to the list rather than the dropdown. However, if it's still planned that it will eventually revert to a dropdown style as a default, that would mean swapping around our current defaults would end up being redundant anyway, and as you're aware, changing style presets after the fact (i.e. renaming/removing them after application) leads to formatting errors and in extreme cases a break of function. This is significant when it can potentially effect hundreds of embedded PBI reports available to external customers.
I've included the previous posts about this with responses from DataZoe below for context, please advise if there's a timeline for when this will be 'fixed/attempted again', thanks.
My original query above (from July update thread)Data Zoe's responseMy follow-up with further questionAlso, if you can respond to my query from last month about the image visual functionality (copied below, also from the July comments thread) that would also be helpful, but the priority is definitely the default slicer behaviour/formatting mentioned above.
Finally an update for alyssaphil, this month the PBI release updated in the app store version within 24 hours as expected, so it seems last months delay (thankfully) was an anomaly.
I'm also looking for a best practice for custom theme JSON. As im seeing it now the best thing to do is start with the modern theme as base and only add specific elements. Am I right?
My current custom theme is behaving very weird in some areas like for example font types and sizes for totals.
Advocate IIn our case we have very specific requirements due to the context of brand compliance, UI/UX consistency for commercial product etc.
However, if you're broadly 'open' to MS's (quite significant) changes to chart styles and functionality (plus slicers etc.) then yes, the ideal approach is to leave as much possible to the 'base theme' and only override the formatting you require to be bespoke, keeping your theme file as small and easy to manage as possible. This is also mentioned on the MS general (custom) theme page.
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/report-themes-create-custom (for some reason I can't post links so please add the usual 'https' if you want to visit it [or this may work by default, not sure])
This was the approach we took several years ago (back when navigators didn't exist and the default text box didn't even feature bullets!) when we first built our theme file, but since then we now have a detailed and well functioning UI/UX setup, so I've had to do the opposite and add multiple formatting values to better control the interface design. (Ironically though the 'new' donut chart inner radius now matches our original bespoke value of 70%.) Also, I've added multiple bespoke features using custom presets to facilitate custom icons and component-like bespoke formatting functionality etc., so for us there's no dialing it back at this point.
Anyway, the TL;DR is that yes, unless you require a specific set of formatting values and already have a well established 'custom' look and function in place, the path of least resistance is to leave as many default settings in place as you reasonably can, and only change/override the settings you need to.
Just bear in mind as MS makes changes with certain updates, you may see multiple changes to your reports depending on previous defaults being modified with certain releases, especially around areas like spacing, previous items that were switched off by default being switched on etc.
Microsoft EmployeeOn the custom theme, you can specify in the custom theme which base theme you want it to use. They don't have to remember to change it back, when you specify it in the custom theme it will apply automatically.
We are working on getting the custom theme slicer mode set in the custom theme to apply correctly, but it would apply only when you create the slicer.
Advocate IThanks for the response DataZoe . I'm aware of the ability to control/select the base theme in the theme file, but the problem is the way in which it presents in the menu and the fact PBI now defaults to the new base theme (and new default page size) when creating a new document, so to future-proof both the theme file and future PBI file creation, I've had to update it to deal with the new base theme and reset the page size to the expected scale in the theme file, then rush release the theme file update to account for the new (file creation) default behavior. We were already planning for this so most of the work was already in place, but the fact it's been made GA while the default slicer is still reverted to list (vs. dropdown) is problematic and leaves us in a rather awkward situation with the style presets for the slicer, as they were built around the idea that the default would now be dropdown.
Also, a quick note to say I really appreciate that the 'custom default page size behaviour' has at least been fixed (so that it appears as a proper default now when specified in the theme file), that was really important for us, so thank you and the team for that!
Regarding the note about how it presents though, this is important because with the scale of our organization, 'new' PBI users/authors are coming 'online' all of the time, and not everyone is going to understand to not click this unless they remember being told not to do so:
This was a test I did just now to make sure the behaviour hasn't changed (which would have made some of my concerns null and void), but as you can see, unfortunately even if I specify an older base theme in the custom theme file, PBI still presents as though the base theme can/should be updated, rather than simply accepting the selected base theme as the new default, and suppressing the option to update the theme (which would be ideal).
I appreciate the language doesn't explicitly state that you need to update, and even warns it may introduce 'minor' changes to the report (although that's very subjective depending on the custom theme file/formatting options being used), but many people will just see 'Update theme' and click it instinctively as the implication is still there, hence we've instead made sure our theme file is compatible with the latest base theme to avoid any confusion and extra details to remember for users utilizing PBI.
Also, regarding this comment: We are working on getting the custom theme slicer mode set in the custom theme to apply correctly, but it would apply only when you create the slicer.
Thank you for this, but just to clarify, are you still planning to have the default/regular slicer be in dropdown mode (when created) by default in the future? And if so, could you give a possible timeline please? I want to avoid switching around style presets because it would create havoc for report authors/editors in the future (I've tested this scenario extensively), but if I have a sense of when it will be updated I can at least give users a target date/timescale (even if vague) for when the current workarounds will no longer be necessary.
