Create a pie chart
The Pie chart (also called Pictogram or Pictorial Chart) displays relative proportions of multiple classes (categories) of data.
When to use a pie chart?
The Pie chart is useful for making comparisons between different categories.
It allows you to clearly see the composition of the data set, since each slice represents the portion of the data set and its corresponding category.
It can only be used if the sum of the individual parts (categories/slices) cumulate to form a meaningful whole (entire dataset).
If you need to compare more categorizations/dimensions, the bar chart may be a better choice (article here).
Create a pie chart
To create a Pie chart:
- Select the "Analytics" module in the main menu (left)
- Click on the "+" sign
- To create the new analytics report, you must:
- Enter a title
- Select a dataset
- Choose an output type (in this case: Pie chart)
- Save
- A draft data visualization will be displayed
- To configure the report:
- Click on the "Toolbox icon" to open the configuration panel (top right-hand corner)
- Configure the chart to fit your needs
- Click "Generate" to view the result
- Click "Save" to save the report
- If you open this pie chart again in the future, it will be automatically updated to reflect the newly added data. Therefore, if you wish to keep the report that reflects the current data, you need to export it.
Configuring the pie chart
The following parameters are displayed in the Pie chart configuration panel:
| Parameter | Details | Example or Link |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation method | Allows to select the calculation that will be applied (Average, Sum, Count, etc.). | For more details, you can read the "Calculation methods" article. |
| Field | If the labels are displayed, you will see the proportion of the slice. | Example: The dataset has 15 rows. 3 of them are in category A. Then if this box is checked, it will display "20%" instead of displaying "3" in the slice representing category A. |
| Parts/colors | Field (categories) that will be compared. | Example: gender/region/budget line, etc. |
| Distinct values | Allows to count items only once and avoid duplicates. | Example: a participant could have attended multiple activities of the same type. If you need to count participations only once per attendee/type, then you need to select the Attendee field as a distinct value. For more details, you can read the "Distinct count" article. |
| Position of labels | Allow to specify if you want to display the values on the chart. | Hide, inside or outside. |
| Dropdown lists: use predefined colors | Allows to colors slices using the colors attributed to each category. Otherwise, colors will be attributed randomly. | For more details, you can read the "Manage system lists" article. |
| Filters | Allows to filter out part of the dataset. | This is optional. |
Example
In this example, we want to visualize the proportions of male vs. female beneficiaries.
This example uses the data set of the "Beneficiaries" form.
| Parameter | Chosen option for the parameter |
|---|---|
| Calculation method | Count |
| Display the value as a percentage | Checked (yes) |
| Parts/colors | Gender |
| Distinct values | Not applicable - Empty |
| Position of labels | Inside |
| Dropdown lists: use predefined colors | Checked (yes) |
| Filters | Project = the project for which we want that information |