The most important task of jQuery charts is transforming the raw rather clumsy and dull looking data into attractive and interactive charts and graphs that will not only make the facts and figures colorful and hence interesting to the reader but will also make things simpler for the users to understand.
These JavaScript chart libraries that have hit the market of late, are particularly famous for their rather huge range of attractive features that include as many as seven types of charting with line, bar and pie being the most famous amongst them. Another great feature of these chart libraries is their option of zoom-in and zoom-out the charts, while the tooltips offer additional information than the general information about the data points and levels. These libraries generally come up with a number of options that helps in customization. All the information can be found documented on one particular page and this helps in easy and effective referencing.
Some interactive jQuery charts
A few charting libraries have come up with drawings of vector graphics for JavaScript library. The JavaScript library can be subdivided into a number of sub-libraries and this helps in downloading the particular type of chart that the user may be interested in creating. Another type of charting library is pretty tough to master but is an excellent tool when it comes to visualization of data. It is modular in nature and helps in working just with those parts, which the users need for keeping the pages light. Apart from various advanced effects of animation, it has an outstanding capability of captivating as well as engaging the users. Various types of charts and a user-friendly helper class, along with some other features make this library indeed an outstanding one.
Certain jQuery charts and graphs, help in using the plugins for visualization of the requirements. A particular type of charting library helps in generating various charts by using canvas element HTML5. It has as many as 14 options that help in customization of the charts.
There are some libraries that only take care of the bubble diagrams that we find in the charting options. However, a newer version is likely to be published which will see expansion of this library and the inclusion of feature pies, line graphs and the bar graphs. The plugin has as many as 14 options that you can use for customizing the look of a diagram along with various tooltips that provide additional information regarding a particular bubble when the user takes the mouse over the bubble.
Another type of chart library, that is created and designed in Germany, is actually a standalone library of JavaScript that is designed to plot the rather complicated geometrical shapes and figures as well as data like the Bezier curves, various differential equations, and a lot more. It has various features of animation like the moving graphs, different interactive components like the sliders to experiment with the changing values of the variables, and a lot of charting options from which the user can choose.
You will also come across certain types of jQuery charts that use various HTML5 canvas for compatibility with the modern browsers, along with a steady support from the Internet Explorer. Generally, these charts are available with six kinds of charts that include points, pie, bars, lines with points, as well as the area graphs. These graphs would allow display of the legends which are exceedingly configurable and this helps in proper identification of the items on the charts. Also, you can follow Useful CSS Graph and Chart Tutorials.
Free jQuery Charts and Graphs
Chartist: Simple Responsive Charts
Chartist is created with responsiveness in mind and is built on SVG principles. So that it is an ideal option for modern projects that need to clearly display data or stats in the website, tablets and cell phones.
It is a super lightweight library that offers only necessary instruments for building either static or dynamic graphs. It is friendly and handy for both designers and developers.
Interactive CSS3 & jQuery Graph
The great advantage of this jQuery plugin is interactivity. It is also light and sophisticated. Valeriu Timbuc masterfully uses popular JavaScript-powered plotting plugin ‘Flot’ and standard CSS properties to create a simple tool for generating custom animated charts. The tutorial takes one hour of your precious time in order to clarify all the points that are unclear. Both newbies and pros find it useful.
Highcharts
High charts is a small yet flexible JavaScript library that allows you to put data into an elegant and well-organized dynamic charts. Based on new techniques provided by HTML5, it does not require any extra plugins to reveal its potential.
It is fully compatible with all the major browsers, even including IE6. What’s more, it has a plenty of navigation options such as preset date ranges, date picker, scrolling or panning.
jqPlot
jqPlot does not have a stylish fancy design yet it is quite powerful in what it should do. It works well with data, and represents it in a non-intrusive manner, shaping boring statistics into an eye-pleasing and engaging presentation. It is versatile and expandable. As for key features, they are:
- line style options with marker styles;
- horizontal and vertical bar charts;
- drag and drop points;
- log axes with tick marks;
- up to 9 Y axes;
- trend lines that are generated automatically;
- and last but not least, shadow control for neatening lines, marks, and grids.
Flot
Flot is a tiny plotting jQuery library that is widely used by developers. It is defined by a simple and elegant look so that you won’t find here anything decorative, only clean shapes and solid or semi-transparent color backdrops. It has numerous additional features and animation options that help to tune up the component to meet your needs and desires.
It was successfully tested with IE6+, Chrome, and old versions of Safari, Firefox.
jQuery Sparklines
JQuery Sparklines is an online tool for generating small inline charts from the data supplied via standard HTML method or advanced JavaScript means. You are able to choose from
- bar charts;
- composite lines;
- composite bar;
- discrete with or without threshold;
- tristate charts;
- pie charts;
- bullet charts;
- box plot and some others.
As usual, you can alter coloring.
TufteGraph
TufteGraph generates clean and plain charts that get its beauty from flat style and plenty of white space. It leverages jQuery to do all the heavy lifting, so it works very fast and almost without crashes. As for customization, you are welcomed to make any changes you need or want, just open the main CSS style file and alter it.
Note it was tested only in Firefox 3 and Safari 3.
JS Charts
JS Charts is an easy way to quickly build beautiful charts. Though, in some cases it requires a little coding, yet it is quite intuitive even for non tech-savvy people. You can setup it online and integrate into any project without the hassle and bustle. It includes instruments for creating:
- flat or 3d dimensional pie charts;
- flat or 3d dimensional bar charts;
- regular line charts.
There are also some extra features that add luster to the presentation such as animations or customization methods.
Google Chart Tools
Google Chart Tools is a professional and lightweight toolset that lets you display live data in an organized and neat way. Thanks to a huge gallery of predefined charts you can find the necessary component in seconds. Use basic customization tools for making it suitable for your website’s aesthetics. Without extra plugins, the graph will look excellent across various platforms, devices, and browsers.
GraphUp – jQuery Plugin
GraphUp is a premium jQuery plugin that is packed with useful tools and features. It is super lightweight and well documented. It is also extensible so that you are allowed to broaden its possibilities through creating custom cleaners, painters and color maps. Thanks to progressive enhancements the graph visualizes data in browsers even without native JavaScript support.
isoChart
IsoChart is spiced up with the 3d dimensional appeal. The plugin generates fantastic isometric renderings that draw the whole attention to data. Skillfully using SVG or VML vector graphics, it creates pseudo 3D image charged with interactive nodes. Moreover, it is based on two reliable libraries that make it safe and trustworthy.
Conclusion
Although plugins are free of charge so that they do not have a proper dashboard, yet they perfectly fulfill their essential function. Not only do they visualize statistics through classic graphs but they also provide you with a whole scope of options to make the presentation look outstanding. You can set coloring, manipulate with legends or axes and even add interactivity or work with live data. Unfortunately, not all of the listed above can guarantee you a good result across various devices, yet the majority of them are compatible with old versions of popular browsers, and that is quite impressive and beneficial.
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