Basic Bar Charts | Compare Categorical Metrics with Clarity

Basic Bar Charts are a cornerstone of data visualization—ideal for comparing values across categories in a clear, linear format. Whether you're analyzing revenue by region, order volume by product, or support tickets by team, bar charts help surface disparities and performance gaps instantly.

The Edilitics Visualization module lets you build Basic Bar Charts using a point-and-click interface, with built-in options for aggregation, formatting, and interactivity. Each chart is grounded in a governed dataset, ensuring consistent filters, logic, and display across all dashboards—no duplicate effort, no guesswork.

When to Use a Basic Bar Chart#

Chart Configuration in Edilitics#

Inputs Required#

• 1 Category Field (Row)

  Used for bar groupings (e.g., Region, Product, Agent Name)

• 1 Numeric Field (Column)

  Used for bar height (e.g., Revenue, Count of Tickets, Average Score)

📌 If the column is non-numeric, Edilitics automatically aggregates it by count.

How to Configure a Basic Bar Chart#

• Select "Basic Bar" from the Chart Library

• Choose your category (row) and numeric (column) fields

• Apply aggregations

  Choose from: Sum, Count, Average, Min, Max, Median, Percentile, etc.

• Customize chart appearance

  Use the Format tab to adjust:

  • Bar color, width, and spacing

  • Font, axis titles, legend, gridlines

  • Chart title and subtitle (position, font, style)

• Enable interactivity

  • Tooltips on hover (see next section)

  • Filters (sheet-level or dashboard-wide)

  • Data labels and sorting

• Add to dashboards

  Embed this chart within a multi-sheet dashboard. You can rearrange, format, and apply shared filters across charts.

Feature Highlights#

Auto-Aggregation#

• Edilitics intelligently applies count-based logic to non-numeric columns.

• For numeric fields, you can define custom aggregations during setup.

Custom Tooltip Design#

• Tooltips are styled automatically based on your theme (light/dark).

• Configure font, prefix/suffix, decimal precision, and display units (K, M, B).

• Supports dynamic formatting for currencies, percentages, scientific notation, and more.

Label & Value Styling#

• Configure bar labels (data values) and axis labels independently.

• Supports:

  • Font size, weight, and color

  • Number formatting (decimals, commas)

  • Prefix/suffix (e.g., “$”, “users”, “hrs”)

  • Text casing (title case, upper/lowercase)

Dynamic Sorting Options#

• Sort by value (ascending/descending) or alphabetical by category.

• Sorted charts help surface key patterns quickly (e.g., top-selling products).

Conditional Formatting#

• Apply color rules or highlights based on metric thresholds.

• Useful for spotlighting top 5 performers or flagging underperforming items.

Filtering#

• Apply pre-filters to reduce backend query cost

• Add post-filters for interactive exploration

• Show filters as part of the dashboard UI

📘 Learn more: Filter Types in Visualizations

Best Practices for Bar Charts#

How Edilitics Is Different#

Unlike most dashboard tools, which allow unrestricted drag-and-drop on raw datasets (risking inconsistent logic across users), Edilitics:

• Requires data to be cleansed, transformed, and shared in advance

• Applies standard aggregation and formatting logic across the board

• Helps teams visualize governed metrics without reinventing each chart

This ensures every bar chart you build is consistent, scalable, and trustworthy—whether viewed in isolation or across dashboards.

Basic Bar Charts remain one of the most powerful tools for categorical comparison—and Edilitics ensures you can build them quickly, interactively, and consistently. With built-in aggregation, rich formatting, and governed datasets, your bar charts will not only look great—they’ll drive decisions.