Visualize
The Visualize dropdown gives you publication-ready statistical charts driven by your processed data. Each chart is interactive Plotly — zoom, hover, export to PNG.
[Screenshot: PCA plot colored by sample groups]
Open a visualization
Click the Visualize tab dropdown in the top action bar. Pick a chart type from the menu.
Available charts
| Chart | What it shows | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| PCA | Principal component analysis in 2D or 3D | Sample clustering, outlier detection |
| Correlation | Sample-to-sample correlation matrix heatmap | QC — replicates should correlate |
| Heatmap | Metabolite intensity matrix with hierarchical clustering | Pattern discovery across many compounds |
| Box Plot | Distribution of intensities by sample or metabolite | Spotting outliers per compound |
| Dendrogram | Hierarchical clustering tree | Sample or metabolite relationships |
| Volcano | Log2 fold-change vs −log10 p-value | Differential analysis between two groups |
| QC Dashboard | Detection rates + verdict distribution + scoring summary | Top-line health check |
| Metabolite Network | Correlation-based network of co-regulated metabolites | Module detection |
| Sample Network | Similarity network of samples | Replicate consistency at a glance |
| Bipartite Network | Sample-to-metabolite connection graph | Top contributors per sample |
| Pathway Network | KEGG pathway mapping | Biological context |
Settings sidebar
Each chart has a collapsible Settings sidebar on the right with chart-specific options. Common ones:
| Setting | Where it appears | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Normalization | Heatmap, PCA, networks | Z-score, log2, raw, or median centering |
| Clustering | Heatmap, dendrogram | Linkage method (ward, complete, average) and metric (euclidean, correlation) |
| Group coloring | Most charts | Color points by the sample groups you defined in the sidebar |
| Threshold sliders | Volcano, networks | Fold-change cutoff, p-value cutoff, edge threshold |
| 2D / 3D | PCA | Toggle dimensionality |
Volcano plot — special requirements
Volcano needs exactly two sample groups. Set them up first:
- Open the sample selector sidebar from the Peak Picking view
- Use the lightning-bolt button to auto-group, or manually assign samples to two groups (e.g.,
WTandKO) - Switch to Visualize → Volcano
- Configure the fold-change and p-value cutoffs in the sidebar
Compounds passing both thresholds appear as colored points. Hover any point for the compound name and stats.
[Screenshot: volcano plot with significant compounds highlighted]
Network charts
The four network types use different inputs:
- Metabolite network — edges are pairwise correlations between metabolites
- Sample network — edges are pairwise correlations between samples
- Bipartite network — edges connect samples to their top contributing metabolites
- Pathway network — edges come from KEGG pathway membership
Adjust the edge threshold slider to control density. Drag nodes to rearrange.
Exporting charts
Plotly's built-in toolbar (top-right of each chart) has:
- 📷 Camera — download as PNG
- 🔍 Zoom, pan, reset
- 📏 Box select — for downstream filtering
For publication-quality SVG export, use your browser's screenshot or print-to-PDF — Plotly's PNG export is currently raster only.