Stacked area
Series stacked over time. What the stacked area is for, the data it needs and every option it has.
2 min read
On this page
Series stacked over time. It sits in the Time series group of the widget library.
When to use it#
Use a stacked area to show how parts build a total over time: cash split across accounts, spending by category each month, or portfolio value by asset class. The top edge is the total.
When to pick something else#
- Only one series? It draws as a plain Area chart anyway.
- Need to compare each part's own trend precisely? Use a Line chart; only the bottom band has a flat baseline.
- Care about each part's share rather than the amounts? Use a 100% stacked bar.
- Few periods and exact totals matter? Use a Stacked bar.
The data it needs#
Pick these in the Data tab of the inspector. BankSync suggests a column for each when your source has an obvious match.
| Field | Needed | Pick | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| X axis | Yes | a category or a date | |
| Y axis | Yes | a number | |
| Series | Optional | a category | |
| Color | Optional | a category |
Rows that share a category are combined before drawing: choose Sum, Average, Count, Min or Max on the value field. See Binding data.
Stacked area options#
This chart has no options of its own; everything on its Style tab is the shared chart styling below.
Shared chart styling#
Every chart also has the shared styling options. These apply to this one:
- Legend: position, layout and which series show.
- Axes: titles, tick labels and number format.
- Grid, title, padding and background.
- Value labels on the marks.
- Categories and labels: top N with "Other", sort order, readable labels, the handwritten callout.
- Style: corner radius, line width, opacity and animation.
- Tooltip on hover.
- Click to filter: clicking a mark can filter the rest of the dashboard. See Filters and cross-filtering.
- Colours: follow the dashboard palette or pick one for this chart.
Messy data#
- A missing value counts as zero inside the stack, so a band pinches to nothing for that date rather than breaking.
- Negative values stack below zero, separately from positive ones.
- More than 8 series: the 7 largest keep their colour and the rest merge into Other.
- Values on the same date are summed by default; for balances, set the value's aggregate to Last.
- The tooltip lists every band plus a Total.
On a phone#
Stacked areas hold up at full phone width because the total shape is still readable. The legend moves below the chart on narrow widths; with many bands it is cut to a row with "+N more", so limit phone versions to about four series.
Related charts#
- Line chart: Time series over any field
- Area chart: Stacked or overlaid area
- Sparkline: Tiny inline trend
- Stream graph: Centered stacked area
- Step line: Discrete jumps over time
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