Bar chart race – an overview

What is it for?

Use this template to visualize the changing fortunes of people or groups in competition with each other, like political candidates, countries' populations or football teams.

How to get started

1

The first thing you need is a CSV or Excel file of your data. 

2

In your dataset, there should be a row for each participant in the race – like each candidate or each football team. The first column should contain the name of each participant, and each of the subsequent columns should represent a “stage” of the race – like a specific date, week or year. 

TIP: Keep in mind that the data has to be cumulative. Use the =SUM function in Google Sheets or Excel to get the running totals. Read more about this here.

Name	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Lance Armstrong	0	4	7
Chris Hoyle	0	3	6

3

This template supports automated column selection, so once you've input your data, your numerical columns should be automatically bound under Values. You should be able to see a preview of your chart in the bottom right corner – if something looks wrong, you might have to change some of the column settings under Select columns to visualize in the Data tab.

4

In your bar chart race, you can also add captions. These will appear in front of your racing series at specific times that you can assign in the Captions tab. Read more about them in this help doc.

5

Once you have uploaded your data, switch to the Preview tab to tweak the styles of your chart. Under Setup, you can choose whether your visualization should display bars or columns, as well as specify the maximum number of series visualized.

6

Under Colors, you can choose specific colors for your bars or color them by category – you can find more information here. You may also want to adjust the speed and animation of your visualization under the Timeline & animation settings.

7

Once you're happy with your chart, publish and embed your visualization! 🎉 Alternatively, you can record a video or a GIF to upload to social media.

WARNING: Please note that except on our paid plans, it’s strictly required to include a link back to the Flourish homepage wherever you publish or embed a video or GIF made with Flourish.