More Plot Types (ggplot2)

In addition to the default plot types (dot plot, histogram, scatter plot, bar chart, hexagonal binning, and grid density), iNZight offers a range of alternative plot types built with ggplot2. These are available via the Plot Type dropdown in the Add to Plot panel and are labelled with a (gg) prefix.

Accessing gg plot types

1. Create a plot by selecting variables in the control panel
2. Open Add to Plot from the plot toolbar
3. Under Plot Type, use the dropdown to select an alternative (gg) plot type

The available options depend on the types of variables you have selected.

Required packages

ggplot2 plot types require several packages to be installed: ggplot2, ggtext, dplyr, tidyr, forcats, ggmosaic, waffle, ggthemes, ggbeeswarm, and ggridges. If any are missing, iNZight will display the installation command needed.

Survey data

ggplot2 plot types are not available when a survey design is active. Only the default iNZight plot types are supported for survey data.

Available plot types

Numeric variables (one numeric, or numeric vs categorical)

These are alternatives to the default dot plot and histogram:

Plot type	Description
(gg) dot strip	Individual points arranged along a strip
(gg) barcode	Thin vertical lines marking each observation
(gg) boxplot	Traditional box-and-whisker plot
(gg) beeswarm	Points spread to avoid overlap, revealing distribution shape
(gg) violin	Mirrored density curve showing distribution shape
(gg) density	Smooth density curve
(gg) cumulative curve	Cumulative frequency/proportion curve
(gg) column/row bar	Values plotted as individual bars (one numeric variable only)
(gg) lollipop	Dot-on-a-stick chart for individual values (one numeric variable only)

When a second categorical variable is selected:

Plot type	Description
(gg) density (ridgeline)	Overlapping density curves stacked by group
(gg) pyramid	Back-to-back bars for comparing two groups (binary second variable only)

Categorical variables (one or two categorical)

These are alternatives to the default bar chart:

Plot type	Description
(gg) column/row bar	Column or row chart of counts
(gg) stacked column/row	Stacked bars showing composition
(gg) lollipop	Dot-on-a-stick chart of counts

With one categorical variable only:

Plot type	Description
(gg) gridplot	A waffle-style grid showing counts per square
(gg) pie	Pie chart
(gg) donut	Donut chart (ring-shaped pie)

With two categorical variables:

Plot type	Description
(gg) frequency polygons	Line chart of category counts across groups
(gg) heatmap	Colour-coded grid showing counts at each combination
(gg) spine/pyramid	Spine plot for binary second variable
(gg) diverging stacked bar (Likert)	Diverging bars centred around a midpoint (3+ levels in first variable)

Multiple variables

When multiple categorical variables are dragged into Variable 1 simultaneously:

Plot type	Description
(gg) multiple bar	Side-by-side bars for each variable
(gg) multiple stacked column	Stacked column chart across variables
(gg) multiple binary column	Binary comparison chart (two-level variables only)

Themes

All gg plot types support a Theme selector in the Add to Plot panel. Themes control the overall visual style of the plot — background, grid lines, fonts, and colours.

The following themes are always available:

Theme	Description
Default	Standard ggplot2 grey theme
Black & White	White background with black elements
Light	Light grey background
Dark	Dark background with light text
Minimal	Clean, minimal styling
Classic	Traditional white background with axis lines
Void	No background, axes, or grid — just the data

If the ggthemes package is installed, additional themes become available:

Theme	Style
Stata	Stata statistical software
Wall Street Journal	WSJ chart styling
Tufte	Edward Tufte's minimalist aesthetic
Google Docs	Google Docs chart colours
FiveThirtyEight	FiveThirtyEight journalism style
Excel	Microsoft Excel default chart
Economist	The Economist magazine charts

If ggthemes is not installed, an "Install additional themes..." option appears in the dropdown.

Colour palettes

Many gg plot types provide a Colour palette selector for choosing a colour scheme. The available palettes vary by plot type and include both sequential and qualitative colour scales.

Rotation

Most gg plot types support rotation options:

• Rotate plot: Swap the x and y axes (e.g., turn vertical bars into horizontal bars)
• Rotate x-axis labels: Angle the x-axis labels for readability
• Rotate y-axis labels: Angle the y-axis labels for readability

Rotation is not available for pie and donut charts.

tip

Some plot types — such as boxplot, violin, beeswarm, and lollipop — are rotated (horizontal) by default. Ticking the "Rotate" checkbox will switch them to vertical orientation.

Plot-specific options

Certain gg plot types have additional controls:

Plot type	Options
Violin / Density	Smoothing adjustment slider
Barcode	Size slider
Barcode (grouped)	Width and height sliders
Beeswarm / Quasirandom	Point size, swarm width, and method
Dot strip	Point size and transparency
Lollipop	Line width, point size, and labels
Population pyramid	Number of bins
Diverging stacked bar	Cutpoint selection
Gridplot	Observations per square

Code access

For gg plot types, the Add to Plot panel includes two additional buttons:

• Store code: Saves the ggplot2 code that generated the current plot to the code history
• View code: Opens the stored code history window where you can review and copy ggplot2 code

This lets you reproduce the plot outside of iNZight or customise it further using R.

Interactive plots

Most gg plot types include an "Interactive Plot (via plotly)" button in the Add to Plot panel. Clicking it converts the current ggplot2 plot into an interactive plotly widget that opens in your web browser, allowing hovering, zooming, and panning.

This is not available for: pie, donut, gridplot, barcode, or ridgeline plots.

See Interactive Plots for more details.