Visualization
This section brings together tools and libraries to turn data into clear, useful visuals (charts, dashboards, networks, or narratives). To make choosing easier, we group them into 4 categories based on the main goal.
Pick a group based on your goal: “I need a chart”, “I need a dashboard”, “I need relationships”, or “I want to tell a story”.
For building single charts (bars, lines, comparisons, etc.) for a website, report, or project. Use this when your goal is “I need a chart”.
Includes: Chart.js, D3.js, Apache ECharts, Recharts, Chartkick, Plotly.js, Vega-Lite, Vega , Observable Plot y RAWGraphs
For building dashboards with multiple charts, filters, and connected data. Use this when you want “everything in one place” or to share with a team.
Includes: Apache Superset, Grafana (OSS) y Graphite
To answer “who connects to whom”. Use this when your data is relationships (people, entities, links, citations) and you want clusters or key nodes.
Includes: Cytoscape, Cytoscape.js, Gephi, igraph, sigma.js, Graphviz, SNAP y vis.js (community)
For telling a story step-by-step with text, media, and sometimes maps or a timeline. Use this when your goal is communication and guided storytelling (education, outreach, culture).
Includes: TimelineJS, StoryMapJS, Neatline, MapStore (GeoStory) y GeoNode (GeoStory)
Some tools are not strictly “visualization”, but are often used beforehand (data cleaning/prep). For example: OpenRefine.