Charts And Graphs WordPress Plugins

In today’s article, we’ll raise a list to explore the best charts and graphs WordPress plugins. To perfectly visualize data across your WordPress website easily and in that way that you want to.

Data visualization is the process of taking raw (usually numerical) data and converting them into a visual presentation. Techniques for converting raw data have existed for many decades already. However, we have only seen such a steady influx of functional data visualization tools, libraries, and WordPress plugins in the last five years. That humans learn better through visual data is a known fact, but that’s not the only reason why data visualization works. For example, when we analyze the performance of two websites where their analytics data are in, it is easier to understand all large data sets through visual portraits than it is to read every single statistic through text.

Charts and Graphs WordPress Plugins

Visualizer — Charts and Graphs WordPress Plugin

Visualizer is a versatile charts and tables solution from ThemeIsle. In the free version, you can create tables, pie charts, line charts, area charts, geo charts, bar charts, column charts and scatter charts. If you’re using the WordPress classic editor, you’ll see a button for Visualizer in the toolbar; when Gutenberg is in use, Visualizer will be available in the main block menu. Make sure ‘Visual Editor’ mode is selected in both setups to see the Visualizer button.

Unfortunately, when Gutenberg was being used I was unable to create a new chart. I had to switch to the Classic Editor to see available charts. Bizarrely, you can insert charts you created previously when Gutenberg is activated — you just can’t create new ones. Switching to the Classic Editor lets you see all chart options, in addition, a premium chart options that aren’t available in the free version.

Data can be uploaded for your table or chart from a CSV file. You can upload this directly or import it from a URL. A premium version of Visualizer is available from £57 per year. It adds four more chart types: Gauge, candlestick, timeline, and combo. One of the coolest features of the premium version is the ability to create charts from posts, pages, and other custom post types. Additional options are made available for charts too, and it adds functionality to create private charts, and for users to edit charts.

While the premium version of Visualizer adds many useful options, I suspect most WordPress users will be happy with the features available in the free version.

Responsive Charts

Responsive Charts is an affordable chart WordPress plugin solution that lets you create seven animated chart types. All charts are created using Charts.js. The seven chart types are a pie chart, doughnut chart, bar chart, line chart, polar chart, radar chart, and bootstrap progress bars.

Charts can be inserted into your content using shortcodes, or directly into page templates using PHP. In the chart settings area, you can name your chart, select your chart type and define the width of the chart. There’s a large style settings area with dozens of options too. From here you can change margins, padding, typography, and colors.

Data can be inserted manually at the bottom of the page in multiple data sets. If you prefer, you can upload data directly via a CSV file. A CSV template is provided to help you see how the data can be organized before uploading. Unfortunately, there’s no way to preview your chart while creating it. You need to insert the shortcode into your content area to preview it and see any changes you’ve made. Thankfully, the charts that are inserted into your website look great.

While it’s not free to download, at $16 Responsive Charts is a fairly affordable solution. It has a lot of useful styling options and lets you upload large amounts of data using CSV files. Be sure to check out the admin demo of Responsive Charts to get a better understanding of what the plugin can do.

WordPress Charts

WordPress Charts is an easy-to-use chart solution that’s free to download. It uses Chart.js and HTML5 to create animated charts. Six charts are available: Pie chart, doughnut chart, polar area chart, bar chart, line chart, and radar chart, and you can insert them into your website using shortcodes or via a widget. You’ll find the shortcodes area under the Media menu in your WordPress admin area. An example shortcode is provided for each type of chart, and underneath is a list of dozens of shortcode attributes that can be used to build your charts.

Charts look fantastic: They’re fast-loading, and are animated when they first load, making your page look very professional. To change any aspect of your chart, you simply need to modify the values and attributes in the shortcode. If you’re looking for a simple chart solution, WordPress Charts is a good option as it makes adding basic charts a breeze. Those of you who are looking to add more complex charts may find the shortcodes system and lack of options a little frustrating, so I recommend looking for a more advanced solution.

Easy Charts WordPress Plugins

Easy Charts is a free charts WordPress plugins solution that was developed using the uvCharts Javascript library. A total of 12 chart types are available: Bar chart, stacked bar chart, step up bar chart, percent bar chart, area chart, stacked area chart, percent area chart, line chart, pie chart, doughnut chart, polar area chart and waterfall chart. Charts are in there as a custom post type, and you add data through a customizable table that lets you easily change figures. Moreover, we can add columns and rows at the click of a button.

A shortcode appears for your chart. If you prefer, though, you can insert charts using the Easy Charts button from the editor page, and simply selecting the one you want to insert. As long as you’ve saved your data, you’ll be able to see a preview of your chart. By changing the chart type in the configuration area and then saving your chart again, you can see how your data looks in all 12 chart types.

The number of customization options available in Easy Charts is incredible. Feel free to change every aspect of your chart. Whether it be styling, margins, labels, typography or captions. There’s no general settings area available for Easy Charts, but there is an information page that details feature such as the ability for users to download charts as images. With a ton of options, 12 chart types, and several pre-made color schemes, Easy Charts is a great choice.

amCharts: Charts and Maps

In comparison to the other plugins in this article, amCharts: Charts and Maps are geared more towards advanced WordPress users than beginners. The plugin was by the charts and maps Javascript service, amCharts. Nine types of charts are available: XY chart, pie chart, sliced chart, Sankey diagram, radar chart, gauge chart, chord diagram, treemap, and map. In the plugin settings area, you can choose whether resources are remotely or locally. You can also add custom resources to the existing extensive list of Javascript libraries.

For each type of chart, you can define the default Javascript resource libraries, HTML and Javascript used. These settings will be there as a starting point for whatever new chart you select. You can then modify the data as you see fit. Once you know how it works, you’ll appreciate how powerful amCharts can be. You can change a chart from one type to another at any time, but be aware that when you do this all the data in the resources box, HTML box, and Javascript box will revert back to the settings you defined in the main plugin settings page for that particular chart type.

Check out amCharts: Charts and Maps if you’re an advanced user who wants more control over the Javascript libraries in use. If you do use the main amCharts service, you should also check out the amCharts Embed WordPress plugin from Rami Yushuvaev, which lets you embed the charts you’ve created with the plugin.

UberChart

Retailing at $30, UberChart is an advanced chart solution that offers 240 customizable options per chart and 30 customizable options per data set. A total of ten chart types are available: Line charts, area charts, bar charts, horizontal bar charts, pie charts, doughnut charts, radar charts, polar area charts, scatter charts and bubble charts. We can edit any charts you create can be easily later at the click of a button. You can also duplicate charts and use them as a template for new charts.

Moreover, we can improve the data via a CSV file or copy and post it directly into the data area from spreadsheet software such as Excel. There are a ton of styling options, including padding, margins, colors, radius length and more. A preview of your chart appears in the heart of the settings page. Many users will just use the default styling setup, but, if you want to customize your chart designs, you can change everything from tooltips and titles to chart legends.

With hundreds of options, a good selection of chart types, and support for multiple languages and WordPress multisite, UberChart is one of the best chart solutions available today. Check out the UberChart examples page to see the quality of charts and graphs that we can create using the plugin.

WordPress Graphs & Charts

Developed using HTML5 Charts and Graphs WordPress Plugins, the Vue.js Javascript framework, and Chart.js, WordPress Graphs & Charts is a simple solution that supports eight chart types. The available chart types are a pie chart, doughnut chart, polar chart, bar chart, line chart, radar chart, bubble chart and scatter chart. If the classic editor is on, you’ll see a button to ‘Insert Graph’ in your editor toolbar. Unfortunately, when Gutenberg is active, there’s no block available for WordPress Graphs & Charts. This is obviously an error that Gutenberg is active by default in WordPress now.

When you click on the ‘Insert Graph’ button, you’ll add a graph. You can then select the type of graph you’d like to use. I love how the plugin lets you add data to a chart. Whenever you add data, define labels or change colors. It updates the modifications immediately in the chart preview on the right-hand side. In this regard, it works in a similar way to the WordPress customizer. Finally, the chart will appear in your content area via a shortcode. You can go back and edit your charts at any time by clicking on the ‘Insert Graph’ button again. A list of your charts will appear here.

WordPress Graphs & Charts is a good alternative to WordPress Charts. It’s a basic plugin that doesn’t let you change the type of charts you create. Nor does it allow you to upload data via CSV files. Despite these limitations, it’s easy to recommend WordPress Graphs & Charts to anyone who’s just looking to add simple charts and graphs to their content. Hopefully, they’ll add support for Gutenberg in the future.

M Chart — Charts and Graphs WordPress Plugins

M Chart is a free WordPress plugin that lets you use either Chart.js or Highcharts libraries. The general settings page lets you decide whether charts preview and whether remote embedding of charts is in. Only four chart types are available: Line chart, column chart, bar chart, and pie chart.

We can add data can be easily in your chart by adding your values to a table. You simply double-click on a cell and then enter your data. If you prefer, you can upload data using a CSV file. There’s also an option to export chart data to a CSV file. This is a great feature and something that’s missing from most other chart plugins. A preview of your chart appears underneath the data section. When you change your chart type in the section below the preview area, the preview updates.

You define the height of your chart, and you can choose to display a legend. For each axis, you add a title and select a unit. You can select from dozens of types of units including distance, currency, website traffic and more. M Chart is a great free chart solution. It’s easy to add data and insert completed charts into your content using shortcodes. I do feel, though, that as it has just four types. You may want to look at some alternative chart solutions first.

WP Charts and Graphs

Last on our list is the free plugin WP Charts and Graphs. This basic plugin supports six chart types: Pie chart, polar chart, doughnut chart, line chart, bar chart, and radar chart. All you need to do is add titles and their corresponding data, then click the generate button.

When you click the generate button, a preview of your chart will appear alongside the shortcode. You’ll need to insert it into your page to display the chart. You can make quick edits to your chart later by simply modifying the values within the shortcode. WP Charts and Graphs are unashamedly basic. There’s no dedicated settings page, no page that lists previously created charts. No way to change the colors in use. If you can accept the limited set of customization options on offer. Finally, you’ll appreciate how quick and easy the plugin is to use.