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Pie Chart

Display percentages and other proportional information at a glance

Peter Novosel avatar
Written by Peter Novosel
Updated this week

Pie charts are a great way to visualize percentages and proportional information at a glance. This guide explains when to use them, how to configure them, and practical use cases.

Plan Availability

All plan types

Permissions

Workspace Admins, Solution Creators and Solution Managers: Can create, modify, delete, and manage Pie Charts.

Related Reading


When Should I Use a Pie Chart?

Pie Charts are perfect for visually representing "part-to-whole" relationships in your data. Use them when:

  • You want to display data as percentages of a whole.

  • It's essential to show whether a category has a big slice or a small slice.

Avoid Pie Charts If:

  • You’re analyzing data over time (use Line or Area charts instead).

  • Your data includes more than six categories, as too many slices can be hard to interpret.

  • Precise comparisons between similar-sized categories are needed (Bar or Column charts work better).


Configuring Pie Chart Saved Views

Follow these steps to create and customize your Pie Chart:

  1. Add a New Chart View
    Chart Overview

  2. Select Pie Chart Type
    Go to the Chart Settings panel and choose the Pie Chart option.

  3. Specify the Chart's Values

    • Choose the field(s) containing the data yo u want to display. Options include:

      • Numeric fields (e.g., Number, Currency).

      • Text or list-type fields (e.g., Single Select, Linked Record) to count individual values.

  4. Pick a Group By Field

    • For single-value charts, you can group data by fields like Text, Date, or Lists.


  5. Pick a Chart Total

    • Displays the total value of the Pie Chart.

    • You can choose to calculate the total for a specific field, with options for MIN, MAX, and AVG values.

  6. Dynamic Filter

    • Set filters for data that can change over time with a single click, such as status, priority, or numeric fields.

  1. Advanced Options

    • Provides additional customization, including the ability to show data labels on the chart for better readability.

Value Aggregation Options

Aggregation Type

Description

Sum

Adds up values.

Avg

Calculates the average of values.

Min

Displays the smallest value.

Max

Displays the largest value.

Count

Display’s amount counted

Multiple Values in Pie Charts

If you select multiple values:

  • Click Add New to include more fields.

  • Note: Group By is disabled and locked for multiple values.


Configuring Pie Chart Widgets

Pie Charts can also be added as widgets on dashboards for enhanced visualization. Here’s how:

Note: All of the configuration is the same as we've described above, with a handful of minor differences:

  1. Widget Name
    Provide a name that describes the data.

  2. Select Table
    Choose the Table containing the data for your chart.

  3. Add Widget
    Configure parameters and click Add Widget to place the chart on your dashboard.

Note: Filtering can be used in a pie chart widget allowing the user to filter by criteria. To learn more check out this article


Practical Use Cases and Scenarios

1. Category Composition

Scenario: Display market share for web browsers.
Solution: Create a Pie Chart to highlight dominant and smaller categories clearly.

2. Emphasize a Small Fraction

Scenario: Highlight a minor percentage within a dataset.
Solution: Use a Pie Chart to make the small slice visually distinct.

3. Visualizing Resource Allocation

Scenario: Show how resources are distributed across departments.
Solution: Use a Pie Chart to present proportional data effectively.

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