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[FEATURE]: Flexible tick label positioning on categorical axes (anchoring + between-category placement)

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Assessment

Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Newbie friendliness
38/100
Issue type
Feature
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
javascript
Domain
data-visualization

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points; start by locating categorical-axis tick-label rendering and its existing tests in plotly.js. Define the scope between horizontal anchoring and fractional placement, then verify that grouped categorical labels can align left, center, or right and that between-category positions behave correctly.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

feature

Description
Add support for more flexible positioning of tick labels on categorical axes, to correctly handle grouped or hierarchical categories—especially when groups contain an even number of items.
Specifically, this request proposes:

  • Configurable horizontal text anchoring for tick labels (left, center, right), and
  • Optional placement of tick labels at fractional (non‑data) axis positions, i.e. between two categorical ticks.

Currently, tick labels are always centre‑anchored on discrete tick positions, which prevents accurate or visually correct centring for even‑sized groups.

Why should this feature be added?
This is a recurring UX limitation in real‑world charts that use:

  • grouped or hierarchical categorical axes,
  • experimental or test‑matrix layouts,
  • manufacturing and operational visualisations.

For even‑sized groups, the true visual centre lies between two categories, but:

  • tick labels cannot be placed between ticks,
  • text anchoring cannot be adjusted,
  • whitespace or HTML hacks are neutralised by automatic centring,
  • annotations are not a clean substitute for tick labels.

Providing:

  • anchor control (left / centre / right) would address many alignment issues with minimal complexity, while
  • fractional tick‑label positioning would solve the problem exactly for grouped categories.

Together, these features would significantly improve readability, reduce workarounds, and enable precise hierarchical labelling without breaking Plotly’s axis model.

Mocks / Designs
Conceptually:

  • a grouped label whose left edge aligns with a group boundary (e.g. at x = 1.5),
  • or a label centred between two categorical ticks rather than on a data point.

A simple screenshot of a grouped categorical axis with an even number of categories clearly illustrates the current limitation.

Image

Notes

  • Applicable to plotly.js and all language bindings (Python, R, etc.).
  • Most visible when compressing or centring hierarchical tick labels.
  • Proposed as:
    • Primary feature: tick‑label horizontal anchoring
    • Advanced extension: fractional / between‑category tick placement
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
18.3k
Forks
2k
Avg merge
1d 14h
Merged PRs (30d)
21

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

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