Thank you for the report.
This is not a bug. The chart works like this by design.
The plugin sends your X values to the chart as a list of labels. The chart treats them as simple text, not as dates. So every label gets the same space, even if the dates are years apart.
To place the bars by real time, the chart needs a time axis. The plugin does not have this option yet. But as it is easy to add feature. We have added it to the next 3.0.3 update you will get today.
How you will use it:
Open your chart in the Chart Builder, then Go to the Advanced tab and Check “Scale X axis by date/time”. Click Update.
Now the bars are placed by real time. Big gaps between dates show as big gaps on the chart.
Some notes:
- It works for Bar and Line charts.
- Your X values must be dates. For example 2024-02-23, 2024-02, 2024 or 2024-02-23 14:30.
- If one X value is not a date, the chart uses the normal axis like before.
- The bar width comes from the two closest dates. So if two dates are very close and the others are far, the bars will be thin.
Update 3.0.3 does not show up in admin, why?
It is not there yet. It will be released today
Something is not quite right. I get 4 fat bars with default x-axis, but I get 2 very thin bars when checked for continuous time.
Hello,
Thank you for the new version!
Two points:
1. On the Bar chart, at continuous time, the actual bars are too thin, you barely see them especially when they are very close. The bars should be easily visible, or the chart does not make sense.You can choose a certain bar thickness and go with that all the time.
2. On the x-axis, at continuous time, there are dates which are not coming from the data. I think you take the earliest and the latest, calculate the time maybe and then evenly scatter the x-axis points, something like that… I think it is better to show ONLY the data points on x-axis!
Thanks again for your work,
Kostas
Thank you for one more report. We appreciate it. You will get a new fixed update today.
Hello.
Thank you for the new (v3.0.5) fixed update.
The bars are nice and should do the work.
The only point I could raise is when two (or more) dates are very close, they are shown as one, with their dates one over the other. There should be a way for them to be shown as two (or three, etc), maybe putting their dates one below the other?
Issue is shown here:
https://www.simcom.net.gr/dokimi/screenshot-01.png
Thanks,
Kostas
Hello.
- overlapping – will be fixed in 3.0.6.
- Bars drawn as one: not a bug, needs an explanation
A real time axis places a bar at the exact position of its date. These two dates are one day apart on an axis spanning three years, so their positions differ by about two pixels. Each bar is 24 pixels wide, so they overlap almost completely. That is what “scaled by real elapsed time” means, and it is the trade-off I flagged when we added the option and when we fixed the bar width. Any chart library behaves the same way. There is no positioning trick that keeps both real time and two visibly separate bars for dates this close. His options are to keep the time axis and read the second bar from the tooltip and the staggered label, to aggregate the query by month so close dates merge into one bar, or to turn the option off for that chart and get evenly spaced bars.
Note: The Y axis in his screenshot runs from 2.85 to 3.15 because every value is 3 and the axis is not anchored at zero. The “Force Y axis to start at 0” box in the Advanced tab fixes that. Not a bug.
Hi Elvin,
Thanks for the elaboration.
I understand all this, and I agree with you. I am not hunting for bugs, I just liked your plugin and thought I could use it in my current project. Then I began to find “this and that”.
By overlapping (“overlapping – will be fixed in 3.0.6.”) I suppose you talk about the dates on x-axis. If the dates can be placed apart, then its a good indication that there more than one bar there!
Thanks again,
Kostas
Hi Kostas,
Yes, I mean the dates on the X axis.
In 3.0.6, when two dates are very close, the second date goes one line below the first. Up to three lines are used. So when you see two dates one under the other, you know there are two bars at that spot.
If more than three dates are very close, the extra dates are hidden. The tooltip still shows them when you move the mouse over the bar.
The bars themselves still overlap. That is normal for a time axis. Two dates one day apart on a three year axis are at the same spot.
Your reports are welcome. They help to make the plugin better.
Best regards, Elvin
Hi Elvin,
Yes, your specification is great!
It would be very easy for an external observer to understand what the chart shows.
I am eagerly waiting for this update!
Thanks again.
Best regards,
Kostas
Hi Elvin,
I tried it (3.0.6), it works like a charm!
Excellent work.
Thanks a lot,
Kostas
