Improved: Stacked column charts

David Kokkelink

Stacked column charts are a great way to show how a distribution changed over time. They’re used for survey results, spending breakdowns or the development of revenue and profitability of a company.

If you want to try the improved stacked column chart for yourself, hover over the example chart below and click on “Edit this chart” in the top-right corner to open Datawrapper and this chart in a new browser tab. You need to be on your computer for this. The button won’t appear on your smartphone or tablet.

Today, we are launching a set of improvements that are making stacked column charts as good as possible:

• Direct labeling: Instead of using a legend, you can now label the areas of your columns directly. This vastly improves legibility since your readers do not have to color-match the legend to the individual areas.
• Grid lines and value labels: You can now choose to show or hide all grid lines, axis and value labels based on how it makes sense for your particular chart.
• Connected areas: To show how a distribution changed over time, you can now connect the areas to make changes more obvious. This is a great, lightweight alternative to a stacked area or line chart.
• Mobile display: You can change the spacing and layout of your chart specifically for mobile devices, so your readers get an ideal perspective on every platform.

Click here to read a detailed breakdown of the new features in Datawrapper Academy. All of these improvements are immediately available for both existing and newly created stacked column charts. If you have any feedback or improvements, don’t hesitate to reach out to @datawrapper on twitter, or to support@datawrapper.de.

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David Kokkelink

(he/him, @DavidKokkelink) is a co-founder and co-CEO of Datawrapper. Originally a software developer, he works across our customer-facing and product development teams to make sure Datawrapper is headed in the right direction. David lives in Berlin.

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