TEXT vs HTML report format: which to pick

Open most reports in the VICIdial REPORTS section and you get a small choice near the top: do you want the output in TEXT or in HTML? It looks trivial, but the right answer depends on what you are about to do with the numbers. Here is the plain version of each.

What each format actually does

TEXT renders the report as ASCII data in a fixed-width font. Every column lines up on a character grid, nothing wraps oddly, and the whole page is just monospaced characters. HTML renders the same data in a more visually pleasing layout, with proper table cells, shading, and spacing that is easier on the eyes.

The underlying figures are identical. A Disposition count or an agent total reads the same in both. The only thing that changes is presentation: TEXT is raw and rigid, HTML is styled and friendly.

When to pick TEXT

TEXT shines when the report is heading somewhere other than your eyeballs.

• You want to copy the block straight into a ticket, email, or chat where fixed-width characters keep the columns aligned.
• You are scraping or grepping the page from a script and want predictable, table-free output.
• You are on a slow connection or an old browser and want the lightest possible render.

When to pick HTML

HTML wins when a human is reading and the report is wide.

• You are scanning a Campaign summary with many columns and want the shading to help your eye follow a row.
• You are sharing a screen on a call and want something that does not look like a terminal dump.
• You want totals and headers to stand out without counting spaces.

How the choice flows

flowchart TD
  A[Open a report] --> B{Who reads it?}
  B -->|Script or ticket| C[TEXT - ASCII fixed font]
  B -->|Human, wide table| D[HTML - styled layout]
  C --> E[Same numbers either way]
  D --> E

Setting the default for everyone

If your team keeps flipping the toggle to the same format every time, set it once. Go to Admin then System Settings and change the Report Default Format value. From then on every report opens in your preferred format, and anyone can still switch per report when they need the other one. Most shops set HTML as the default for daily reading and let the few people running scripts pick TEXT by hand.

One thing the format choice does not cover is the live screens. The Real-time report is its own animated view with its own display options, so the TEXT-versus-HTML toggle does not apply there. If you are tuning that screen instead, see how to change the real-time report display options.

For where these reports sit in the wider picture, and how the System-Wide reports differ from the campaign-level ones, start with our guide to VICIdial reports. It maps out the whole REPORTS section so you know which report to open before you worry about its format.

The short version

TEXT for machines and ticket pastes, HTML for human reading. Set the default to whatever your team uses most and override per report when the occasion calls for it. Neither choice touches the data, so you can experiment freely without worrying about skewing a number.

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