Create visualizations and reports of your data using charts. Learn about chart types and building charts here.
Charts are one of the many layout options that you have in Coda. They allow you to create visualizations of the data you're tracking in your tables and views. You can have your data displayed in table form in one view, as a timeline chart in another view, and as a pie chart in another. You can even use charts to create compelling dashboards that display your data as needed. Continue reading to learn how to create and use charts in Coda.
Within this article, you’ll find...
Chart types
You can choose from a variety of chart types in Coda. Check out the list of available types below, including some links to more in-depth resources on specific chart types.
Timelines: Timelines allow you to visualize and track a series of events that take place over a specific timeframe, which is great for project tracking. Not that timelines require either start and end date fields, or start date and duration fields.
Bar charts: If you prefer, you can select your values to be stacked and can change the axis.
Pie charts: You'll select a category you want to use to create your pie slices.
Line charts: You can choose a smooth or angled line as well as whether or not you'd like to see each individual point.
Area charts: Like Bar Charts, you can stack your lines as well.
Scatter charts: This will allow you to see each point independently without linking them with lines.
Bubble charts: You'll need to select which attribute in your table you would like to contribute to the size of the bubble.
Word clouds: You'll use word clouds to see the trends in the text you have in a table - great for survey results!
Create a chart
There are two ways to create charts in Coda: from the slash command, or from a table’s options menu. Let's start with the slash command.
On any blank line in your doc, type /chart into the canvas
Select the type of chart you would like to build
Select the table or view you want Coda to use to build the chart
If you're already working on a table or view that you want to turn into a chart, you can do so via the table’s option menu:
Hover over the table and select Options in the upper right corner, then select See all options from the menu
-
At the top of the options menu, click on More then select Chart
Note: If you want to create a timeline chart, choose Timeline from the options instead
To change to a different chart type, click on Chart display. Then click into the Chart type field and choose an option from the dropdown.
Now you have your chart. Continue on to the next section to learn about customizing and utilizing your chart.
Use and customize charts
Just like any kind of table in Coda, you have lots of options for customizing and using your chart. For instance, you can filter a chart the way you would filter any other view type, or even apply sorting to change the order of data. But there are also some chart-specific customization options that we will cover below.
Customize your chart
No matter the chart type you are working with, you'll have access to the chart customization settings when you open Chart setup menu. To access this, hover over the upper-right corner of your chart, click on Options, then select Chart setup from the menu.
Here you can adjust the following, depending on the chart type:
Horizontal axis: Decide what value (column) from your table should be used as the horizontal axis.
Values: Identify the information you want to explore in your chart, and decide how it should be analyzed or quantified (sum, average, median, and much more).
Aggregate values: Toggle this on to combine values into a singe data point when multiple rows have the same content in column providing values for the horizontal axis.
Orientation: Choose between vertical or horizontal setups.
Segments: View data by type to compare and contrast. Additionally, you can choose the color for each segment.
Vertical axis: Optionally set minimum or maximum values for your vertical axis. You can also choose between either linear or logarithmic scales for this axis.
Stacking: You might want to see similar values in a stack - you'll set that up here. Choose between stacked and 100% stacked.
X-axis and Y-axis titles: Decide whether you want the x-axis and y-axis titles displayed or hidden on the chart.
Labels: Toggle this on to enable labels using values from the vertical axis.
Note that these settings may not be available on all chart types.
Zoom in on a chart
You may also want to take a closer look at a part of your chart. Not a problem! Simply click and drag on the portion of the chart you want to zoom in to. To zoom back out, hit the Reset zoom button.
FAQs
Can I change the colors used in a chart?
Yes! Simply hover over the upper right corner of your chart, click Options, and select Chart setup. Depending on your chart type and your settings, you’ll see some options to customize the colors used. For instance, if your bar chart utilized segments, you can choose the color for each segment. Or for your pie chart, you can choose the color for each value set.
Why is my chart not showing all my data?
If you notice something is missing from your chart, it's most likely because a value in one of the rows is not able to be calculated. Maybe you have a bit of text in the middle of a column of numbers, for instance. Double check that your table data all matches the same format.
Additionally, be sure to check that the data isn’t being omitted by any filter rules.
Can I manually resize charts?
It’s not possible to manually resize charts, but charts will automatically resize with your window. This way you can use all the space available to see data, and not have to scroll when you're on a small screen.
How do I change the order of information in my chart?
You can change the order of information by using Coda’s sorting feature (learn more here). Just click on Options in the upper right corner of your chart, select Sort, and start creating sorting rules. Note that values can only be sorted alphabetically or numerically. If you do not apply a sort rule, Coda will default to showing the rows/values in the order that they were originally created.
Can I display a chart without axis labels?
Yes. To hide axis labels, just hover over your chart, click Options in the upper right corner, and select Chart setup. Then search for the X-axis title and Y-axis title settings. Toggle these off to hide the axis titles from view.
Related resources
How to zoom in on charts | Coda Tips
How to build dashboards in Coda | Coda YouTube