Scatter

Powerful scatter plot with optional time slider, mini charts, and tracker lines

Updated 7 years ago by Template retirement home

How to use this template

Scatter

A template for creating two-dimensional scatter plots, ideal for showing correlation, trends and outliers. Extra information can be encoded using colour, shape and size, and data can be divided (or “faceted”) into multiple smaller datasets using the “Grid of charts” feature.

Data requirements

To make a simple scatter chart, all you need is two columns of data: one for the x (horizontal) axis and one for the y (vertical) axis. Each row is plotted as a “dot”, and the spread of dots on the chart shows the relationship between the two metrics. Addition columns can be used to set the colour, size and shape of the dots, or to create interactive controls and custom popups.

Showing change over time

If your data has a column with years or dates, you can create an animated scatter showing change over time, as popularised by Hans Rosling’s famous TED talks. Select a “Time” column to create a slider and choose one or more “Name” columns so the template knows which rows represent the same thing. Rows with the same name will be animated through time and also joined together with lines (which can styled or turned off in the settings panel).

Tips

  • Overwhelmed by the number of points? Choose a “Filter” column to create a menu to switch between subsets of the data.
  • Want to compare subsets alongside each other? Select a “Grid of charts” column to create an array of mini charts.
  • Want to show a custom popup? You can include as many “Info” columns as you like, and advanced users can even use HTML and CSS to pull in pictures from a column of image URLs.
  • Try making a Flourish story to guide an audience through different views of your scatter visualisation.

This section documents API usage specific to this template, so for an introduction we suggest you refer to the generic API documentation instead.

template: _192

version: _10

Template data

There are three different formats in which you can supply data to this template. The most convenient for you to use likely depends on the source of your data, as described below.

1. Array of arrays, and a bindings object

You can supply arrays of arrays to opts.data, which might look like:

{
    data: {
        data: [
            [ "DataColumn1Value1", "DataColumn2Value1",
            [ "DataColumn1Value2", "DataColumn2Value2",
            [ "DataColumn1Value3", "DataColumn2Value3",
            ...
        ]
    }
}

where each array of arrays represents the rows in a data sheet.

To tell the API how the values from each column should be associated with the keys that the template is expecting, you must also supply an object attached to opts.bindings. (The meanings of the keys in the bindings object are documented below.) The minimal bindings you can supply for this template are as shown in this example:

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    bindings: {
        data: {
            x: 0, // index of a column in your data
            y: 1, // index of a column in your data
        }
    },
    data: {
        data: [
            [ "DataColumn1Value1", "DataColumn2Value1",
            [ "DataColumn1Value2", "DataColumn2Value2",
            [ "DataColumn1Value3", "DataColumn2Value3",
            ...
        ]
    }
}

All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    bindings: {
        data: {
            x: 0, // index of a column in your data
            y: 1, // index of a column in your data
            name: [2, 3, ...], // index(es) of column(s) in your data
            color: 4, // index of a column in your data
            size: 5, // index of a column in your data
            shape: 6, // index of a column in your data
            facet: 7, // index of a column in your data
            slider: 8, // index of a column in your data
            filter: 9, // index of a column in your data
            metadata: [10, 11, ...], // index(es) of column(s) in your data
        }
    },
    data: {
        data: [
            [ "DataColumn1Value1", "DataColumn2Value1",
            [ "DataColumn1Value2", "DataColumn2Value2",
            [ "DataColumn1Value3", "DataColumn2Value3",
            ...
        ]
    }
}

2. Array of objects with arbitrary keys, and a bindings object

This format is most likely useful when you have data from an external source, such as CSV data loaded from d3-dsv. You should supply this attached to the opts.data, which might look like:

{
        data: [
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            ...
        ]
    }

... but with the keys being the column headers from your source data instead. You must also supply an object attached to opts.bindings. The minimal bindings you can supply for this template are as shown in this example:

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    bindings: {
        data: {
            x: "DataHeader1",
            y: "DataHeader2",
        }
    },
    data: {
        data: [
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            ...
        ]
    }
}

All possible bindings that you can supply are shown in this example:

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    bindings: {
        data: {
            x: "DataHeader1",
            y: "DataHeader2",
            name: ["DataHeader3", "DataHeader4", ...],
            color: "DataHeader5",
            size: "DataHeader6",
            shape: "DataHeader7",
            facet: "DataHeader8",
            slider: "DataHeader9",
            filter: "DataHeader10",
            metadata: ["DataHeader11", "DataHeader12", ...],
        }
    },
    data: {
        data: [
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            { "DataHeader1": ..., "DataHeader2": ..., ... },
            ...
        ]
    }
}

(As before, the keys containing "Header" would be replaced by column names from your data source.)

3. Array of objects with template-defined keys

There is an alternative format you can use, which is likely to be easier to use if your data is not from a spreadsheet source. With this alternative format you supply your data to the template as an array of objects, attached to opts.data, where the keys must be those used by the template, as documented below. In this case there is no need to supply a bindings object, since the key names are already those expected by the template. The required properties in the data object are as follows (scroll down for a description of what each property is):

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    data: {
    data: [
        {
            x: ...,
            y: ...,
            name: [...],
            metadata: [...]
        },
        ...
    ]
},
    ...
}

And the full list of all possible properties is as follows:

{
    template: "_192",
    version: "_10",
    data: {
    data: [
        {
            x: ...,
            y: ...,
            name: [...],
            color: ...,
            size: ...,
            shape: ...,
            facet: ...,
            slider: ...,
            filter: ...,
            metadata: [...]
        },
        ...
    ]
},
    ...
}

Meanings of the template data keys:

  • data.x: x
  • data.y: y
  • data.name: Select multiple columns if required to make a unique name.
  • data.color: Colours the dots based on numbers or categories
  • data.size: Sizes the dots based on numbers or categories
  • data.shape: Sets the shape of the dots based on numbers or categories
  • data.facet: Creates a mini chart for each value in the selected column
  • data.slider: Creates a time slider and connects/animates dots with the same name
  • data.filter: Creates a control based on the contents of any column
  • data.metadata: Makes additional columns (text, emoji, image URLs, etc) avaiable in custom popups

Template settings

Options for opts.state.

Page design

bg_color color

Backgro… colour. The background colour behind the chart

Title/nav text. Affect title, subtitle and slider label

facet_title_color color

Chart name. Only used in grid mode

slider_buttons_color color

Slider. Only used when you have a “Time slider” column selected

title string

Title.

subtitle string

Subitle.

title_padding number

Title/controls padding. The padding in pixels around the controls and text above the chart

legend_show boolean

Show legend.

Dots

default_color color

Default colour. Used when Color column is unspecified or empty

data_point_default_size number

Default size. In pixel area. Only used when Size column is unspecified or empty. Subject to scaling with the chart size (see seeing below).

Min: 1

default_shape string

Default shape. Used when Shape column is unspecified or empty

Allowed values:

  • symbolCircle (Circle)
  • symbolCross (Cross)
  • symbolDiamond (Diamond)
  • symbolSquare (Square)
  • symbolStar (Star)
  • symbolTriangle (Triangle)
  • symbolWye (Wye)

palette string

When colouring by a category column. Choose from the list of D3 and ColorBrewer schems or enter a custom pallete as a comma-separated list of colour codes or names (e.g. #343434, red, rgb(28,28,28)). Ignored unless selected “Colour” column contains words.

Predefined values:

  • schemeCategory10 (10 colours (bold))
  • #5F4690,#1D6996,#38A6A5,#0F8554,#73AF48,#EDAD08,#E17C05,#CC503E,#94346E,#6F4070,#994E95,#666666 (12 colours (rainbow))
  • #7F3C8D,#11A579,#3969AC,#F2B701,#E73F74,#80BA5A,#E68310,#008695,#CF1C90,#f97b72,#4b4b8f,#A5AA99 (12 varied (mixed))
  • schemeCategory20 (20 colours (paired))
  • schemeCategory20b (20 colours (dark groups))
  • schemeCategory20c (20 colours (light groups))

spectrum string

When colouring by a number column. Ignored unless selected “Colour” column contains numbers. These schemes are drawn from D3 and ColorBrewer.

Allowed values:

  • interpolateBlues (Blues (linear))
  • interpolateGreens (Greens (linear))
  • interpolateGreys (Greys (linear))
  • interpolatePurples (Purples (linear))
  • interpolateReds (Reds (linear))
  • interpolateBuGn (Blue-Green (linear))
  • interpolateBuPu (Blue-Purple (linear))
  • interpolateGnBu (Green-Blue (linear))
  • interpolateOrRd (Orange-Red (linear))
  • interpolatePuBuGn (Purple-Blue-Green (linear))
  • interpolatePuBu (Purple-Blue (linear))
  • interpolatePuRd (Purple-Red (linear))
  • interpolateRdPu (Red-Purple (linear))
  • interpolateYlGnBu (Yellow-Green-Blue (linear))
  • interpolateYlGn (Yellow-Green (linear))
  • interpolateYlOrBr (Yellow-Orange-Brown (linear))
  • interpolateYlOrRd (Yellow-Orange-Red (linear))
  • interpolateInferno (Inferno (spectrum))
  • interpolateMagma (Magma (spectrum))
  • interpolatePlasma (Plasma (spectrum))
  • interpolateWarm (Warm (spectrum))
  • interpolateCool (Cool (spectrum))
  • interpolateViridis (Viridis (spectrum))
  • interpolateOranges (Oranges (spectrum))
  • interpolateBrBG (Brown-BlueGreen (diverging))
  • interpolatePRGn (PurpleRed-Green (diverging))
  • interpolatePiYG (Pink-YellowGreen (diverging))
  • interpolatePuOr (Purple-Orange (diverging))
  • interpolateRdBu (Red-Blue (diverging))
  • interpolateRdGy (Red-Grey (diverging))
  • interpolateRdYlBu (Red-Yellow-Blue (diverging))
  • interpolateRdYlGn (Red-Yellow-Gn (diverging))
  • interpolateSpectral (Spectral (diverging))

fill_opacity number

Dot opacity.

Max: 1

stroke_opacity number

Outline opacity.

Max: 1

stroke_width number

Outline width.

data_point_min_size number

Min size. In pixel area. Used when you have a Size column selected. Subject to scaling with the chart size.

Min: 1

data_point_max_size number

Max size. In pixel area. Used when you have a Size column selected. Subject to scaling with the chart size.

Min: 1

responsive_dots boolean

Scale dots based on chart size. Makes the dots get bigger or smaller relative to the chart size. Turn off to specify a fixed sizes regardless of chart size.

Layout

facet_aspect number

Chart height (as % of chart width). Height as percent of width

facet_fixed_cols boolean

Grid mode: fix columns. Turn on to specify the number of columns in the charts grid. Ignored if you don't have a grid/facet column selected.

facet_cols number

Number of columns in charts grid. How many columns of charts there should be in the grid. Ignored if you don't have a grid/facet column selected.

Min: 1

facet_min_w number

Min chart width in charts grid. Determines how many columns of charts there are in the grid. Ignored if you don't have a grid/facet column selected.

Margins

margin_top number

Top.

margin_right number

Right.

margin_bottom number

Bottom.

margin_left number

Left.

Line styles

lines_show boolean

Shows lines.

line_width number

Line width.

line_opacity number

Line opacity.

Max: 1

line_curve string

Line style.

Allowed values:

  • curveLinear (Straight)
  • curveNatural (Curve (Natural))

X axis

x_axis_label string

X axis label.

x_axis_min number

X min.

x_axis_max number

X max.

x_axis_matching boolean

Matching X axis across charts grid.

x_axis_log boolean

Log scale. Ignored if axis is showing categories rather than numbers

x_axis_show boolean

Show x axis.

x_axis_padding_left number

X axis padding. Horizontal space between the y and x axes

x_axis_show_domain boolean

Line at bottom.

x_axis_num_ticks number

Number of tick marks. Approximate. The actual number will depend on the range of values, chart size, etc.

x_axis_tick_dashed number

Tick dash size. Zero for a solid line, bigger numbers for bigger dashes

x_axis_color color

Text colour.

x_axis_tick_color color

Tick colour.

x_axis_tall_ticks boolean

Tick marks full height.

x_axis_ticks_inline boolean

Tick labels next to line.

x_axis_prefix string

Number prefix. Optional text (e.g. currency symbol) to include before the axis tick marks

x_axis_suffix string

Number suffix. Optional text (e.g. units) to include after the axis tick marks

Y axis

y_axis_label string

Y label.

y_axis_min number

Y min.

y_axis_max number

Y max.

y_axis_matching boolean

Matching Y axis across charts grid.

y_axis_log boolean

Log scale. Ignored if axis is showing categories rather than numbers

y_axis_show boolean

Show y axis.

y_axis_show_domain boolean

Line at edge.

y_axis_num_ticks number

Number of tick marks. Approximate. The actual number will depend on the range of values, chart size, etc.

y_axis_tick_dashed number

Tick dash size. Zero for a solid line, bigger numbers for bigger dashes

y_axis_color color

Text colour.

y_axis_tick_color color

Tick colour.

y_axis_wide_ticks boolean

Tick marks full width.

y_axis_ticks_inline boolean

Tick labels above line.

y_axis_prefix string

Number prefix. Optional text (e.g. currency symbol) to include before the axis tick marks

y_axis_suffix string

Number suffix. Optional text (e.g. units) to include after the axis tick marks

show_popups boolean

Show popups.

Text colour.

Backgro… colour.

Backgro… opacity.

Font size.

Min: 1

Custom popup contents.

Popup content. The text to appear in the popup. You can use {{column_name}} to add a value from your data. It must be in a selected column, but you can add columns to “Metadata” if you just want to include them for use in the popup. Advanced used can include HTML to apply layouts, formatting, images, etc.

Slider and filter

filter_type string

Filter control type. Only used when a filter column is specified. "Auto" creates a button group if there is enough space, or a dropdown if there is not.

Allowed values:

  • auto-buttons (Auto)
  • dropdown (Dropdown)
  • grouped-buttons (Grouped buttons)
  • floating-buttons (Buttons)

slider_play boolean

Play button next to slider. Only used when a “Time slider” column is selected

time_label_show boolean

Show time label in slider mode. Ignored unless a “Time slider” column is selected

time_label_color color

Label colour.

time_label_opacity number

Label opacity.

time_label_font_size number

Label size. As a percent of the default size; the actual size scales with the chart

Animations

data_trans_duration number

Animation duration. The duration of the animation for each dot or axis, in miliseconds

data_trans_stagger number

Animation stagger. The delay between each dot starting to move, in miliseconds; set to 0 to have all dots move simultaneously