When to use a donut chart
- Composition of a whole — showing shares of a metric across a small set of categories.
- Composition plus total — the ring shows each category’s share while the center shows the aggregate.
- Small category sets — 4 to 8 segments is ideal. Beyond that, the chart gets crowded.
Configure a donut chart
Mandatory fields
1
Pick a data source
In the Data sources section, select the data source to include. Donut charts support both ad and non-ad data sources and can pull from a blended source.
2
Pick a Metric
Click Edit on the Metric field to open the picker panel. Pick up to 20 metrics to make available in the widget’s dropdown, reorder them if needed, and set the active one shown by default. The active metric renders as the values sizing each ring segment and the center value — for example, Spend, Impressions, or Conversions.New custom metrics can be created directly from the picker panel without leaving the chart widget.
3
Set the Group by
Click Edit on the Group by field to open the picker panel. Pick up to 20 breakdowns to make available in the widget’s dropdown, reorder them if needed, and set the active one shown by default. The active breakdown determines how the metric is split into segments — for example, Campaign name produces one segment per campaign. Donut charts don’t render time-series, so date values (Day, Week, Month, and so on) aren’t valid Group by choices.To show a single full ring representing the metric total without splitting, select the No grouping option (though a donut chart with no grouping is a single unbroken ring, so most configurations use a real Group by).New custom breakdowns can be created directly from the picker panel without leaving the chart widget.
Optional fields
- Widget filter — narrow the data feeding the widget. See Filters.
- Period — override the dashboard’s date range. See Date ranges.
- Hide metric value — hide segments whose Ad Spend, Impressions, or Link Clicks meet a threshold. Two blocks are available: a preset “Value = 0” checkbox per metric, and a custom threshold block with an operator (default
≤) and value. Both can be combined. - Display settings — controls Number of items (All, 5, 10, 15, 20; default 10), Sort order, and a Hide “others” toggle for the aggregate residual segment.
- Data labels — show the value or percentage on each segment. On by default for donut charts.
- Chart controls — toggle whether Chart controls render on this widget. On by default.
Chart controls
Chart controls are toggled on or off per widget from the Chart controls switch in the widget settings panel. When off, Chart controls don’t render on the widget; when on, the dropdowns configured below appear on the widget. Some key settings can be updated directly from the widget header without opening the settings panel. The Chart controls on a donut chart expose:- Chart type — a switcher on the left of the widget header to change to another chart type.
- Sort order — change segment ordering inline.
- Metric — swap the plotted metric inline.
- Group by — change how the metric is split into segments inline.
Center value
The donut’s hollow center shows the total of the selected metric across every visible segment plus the aggregate residual. Font settings for the center are configurable in widget styling. If a custom breakdown is applied, the center value is set to0 — because a custom breakdown’s per-label totals don’t roll up to a single parent metric.
Comparison mode
Donut charts do not render comparison values. Even when the Compare toggle is on, the donut draws only the primary window. For a chart with comparison support, use a column chart, horizontal column chart, or line chart.Widget styling
Global widget style settings — font, border, background, and color themes — apply to every widget through the Dashboard style settings. On top of those, Donut chart widgets have style options unique to this widget type:- Metric name font — weight, size, and HEX color for the metric name label around the donut center.
- Metric value font — weight, size, and HEX color for the aggregated total rendered in the donut’s center hole.
- Color type — toggle between Solid and Gradient for the ring fill.
- Data text — when data labels are enabled, the Data Label color (HEX) and the Data Label Stroke (HEX + opacity + stroke weight) are configurable.
Troubleshooting
The donut is one solid ring with no segments
The donut is one solid ring with no segments
The Group by is set to No grouping. Set a Group by to a field like Channel to split the total into segments.
Center value shows 0
Center value shows 0
A custom breakdown is active. Center values only compute against the parent metric — when a custom breakdown is applied, the center is forced to
0.Segments are hard to distinguish
Segments are hard to distinguish
Too many small segments. Reduce Number of items in Display settings, apply a widget filter, or pick a coarser Group by.
Related
Pie chart
Same idea without the center value display.
Column chart
Precise comparisons across categories.
Single metric
Show the total without segmentation.
