Simple charts

Simple charts

Simple charts such as line charts, bar graphs or pie charts are really useful to enhance presentations, reports and other types of content. These can help all kinds of organizations, like companies or NGOs, to report and visualize the data they produce and consume.

However, if you have ever had to include or insert any of these simple graphs within a report, surely you have encountered a series of very common problems. You may not know what type of chart to use, you may find it difficult to import charts into other types of files, you may not know how to download or publish interactive charts, or if you update any missing data or information, you may have to repeat the entire operation again.

In this tutorial, we will give you a step by step guide on how to use Datasketch Apps to make simple graphics. It is simple and it can save you a lot of time.

1.  The app’s home screen will look like this:

Data upload

1.  Click on Data Upload

1.  You can use the sample data that you will find by default as soon as you enter the application, or you can copy & paste data, upload a CSV or XLS file or even import a spreadsheet from Google Sheets.

We have chosen to load a database in CSV format from the National Network of Public Libraries of Colombia. This data contains information such as the departments, municipalities and type of population where the country’s public libraries are distributed.

Here’s a link to the data source: https://www.datos.gov.co/Cultura/Directorio-de-la-Red-Nacional-de-Bibliotecas-P-bli/a5h9-fqe9/data

Edit uploaded data

1.  If you discover any errors in your data while loading it, don’t worry! You still have time to correct these inconsistencies. Go back to your database in the Data Preview module and edit the column or row where you found the error by double-clicking it. You will automatically be able to edit the box you require.

If you find more than 10 errors in your database, we recommend that you go back to your original table and review it, so you can correct it comfortably and reload it without errors.

1.  Also, in the Data Preview section you can determine the variables you want to use.

In the case of public libraries in Colombia, we wanted to graph the variable department.

Customize options

1.  In the Visualization Design panel you can customize chart titles, chart styles, value labels, number processing, captions, logos and other graphic elements in your charts.

Your visualization will automatically change according to your specifications; you can preview it in the Visualization Preview module. You can also select the type of visualization most convenient to you in the Visualization Type section.

In this example we used a treemap to communicate our data. This chart consists of a large rectangle that contains other rectangles within it. Each rectangle represents a category and has a size, which indicates the value of the variable. Each rectangle/category is positioned in hierarchical order according to its value.

Export results

1.  When you finish customizing your graph, you can use the Download button. When you click on it, several format options will be displayed. Choose the one that suits you better.

If you choose the Save/ Publish option, you can add the name and description of your visualization, save it in your DSLibrary and get the link to embed it in other web pages.