How to Connect Your Chart to a CSV File in Google Drive

One of the most powerful and robust features of the Charts Plugin, is the ability to connect your chart to a CSV file from Google Drive, and display real-time data. Instead of manually entering the data in Charts Ninja, or importing a CSV file every time you make changes, let the real-time features of Google cloud do the magic for you.

Since importing a CSV file, you can't manually select color for each dataset. As such, you use the color scheme. We will cover the both in this tutorial.

Note: This feature is only available in the premium version of Charts Ninja

Before importing, it is important to save the Google Sheets file as a CSV. First, create a chart you want to display in Charts Ninja. This how you will place the data for rows and columns so that Charts Ninja parses the data with no hiccups:

1. Go to sheets.google.com and click Blank to create a new sheet.
   

2. To save time and use an example Chart, go to your Charts Ninja, and copy the entire dummy chart.

3. Now paste it in the new spreadsheet you created.
   

4. Now click File, and then Publish to the web

5. In the display popup, select Comma-separated values (.csv) select a Sheet and click Publish .
6. It is important to note that at the time, Charts Ninja only features one sheet of data. Hence, selecting an entire document will result in errors. Also ensure that the Automatically republish when the changes are made is checked so that whenever you make an update to the data, it syncs in real-time and reflects the changes at Chart Ninja.
   
   

6. You will see an alert by Google Drive, confirming whether you want to publish it to the web. Click OK

7. Select the link and press Ctrl + C to copy.
   

8. Now head over to the Data Editor in Charts Ninja. Against Data Source, select Dynamic URL from the drop-down menu. Select CSV in Data Format and paste the URL in Remote URL. Once done, click Preview at the top right to preview the changes.
   

9. If everything goes as planned by following all steps so far, you will see the data reflected in the preview!

10. As mentioned earlier, a CSV file only saves your chart data, thereby rendering entire formatting such as colors is useless. But, as mentioned earlier, Charts Ninja is here to back you up! To change the Chart’s color scheme, you need to click Look & Feel and click the plus icon against Color Scheme. Add or change your color scheme.
    

11. This is how the chart will look in preview once you change the color scheme

Want more customization? Head over to the following tutorial where we guide you on how to change the look and feel and set a unique color scheme for your charts.

How to change the look and feel and set color scheme for your charts

Leverage the power of Google’s cloud storage and showcase your chart using Sheets web link.