How to split bars instead of stacking them

stacked_bar_plot_alternative.qmd

---
output: html_document
editor_options: 
  chunk_output_type: console
---

```{r}
setwd(here::here('stacked_bar_alternative/'))
camcorder::gg_record(
  dir = 'img',
  height = 16,
  width = 16,
  unit = 'cm',
  dpi = 300
)

```

# Packages, Sizes, Fonts and Colors

```{r}
library(tidyverse)
library(patchwork)

# General
text_color <- 'grey40'
font_family <- 'Fira Sans'
color_palette <- viridisLite::mako(6)[-c(1, 6)]
font_size <- 7
grid_color <- 'grey70'
grid_style <- 3

# Legend
legend_width_cm <- 0.4
legend_font_size <- 6

# Titles
title_color <- text_color
title_font_family <- 'Merriweather'
title_size <- 18
smaller_title_size <- 11

# Caption
caption_color <- text_color
caption_font_family <- font_family
caption_size <- 7
```

# Create data for bar charts

```{r}
mpg_2008 <- mpg %>% 
  filter(
    year == 2008,
    !(class %in% c('2seater', 'minivan'))
  ) %>% 
  mutate(
    class = case_when(
      class %in% c('compact', 'subcompact') ~ '(Sub-)Compact',
      class %in% c('pickup', 'suv') ~ 'Pickup/SUV',
      T ~ str_to_title(class)
    ),
    manufacturer = str_to_title(manufacturer),
    manufacturer = fct_infreq(manufacturer) %>% fct_rev()
  )
```

# Stacked bar plot

```{r}
unsplit_plot <- mpg_2008 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(y = manufacturer, fill = class)) +
  geom_bar(position = position_stack(reverse = T)) +
  scale_fill_manual(values = color_palette) +
  scale_x_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.1))) +
  scale_y_discrete(expand = expansion(mult = 0)) +
  geom_vline(xintercept = 0, size = 1) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = smaller_title_size
    ),
    axis.text = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = font_size
    ),
    strip.text = element_text(
      color = text_color,
      hjust = 0, 
      margin = margin(l = -0.5, b = 5)
    ),
    legend.key.size = unit(legend_width_cm, 'cm'),
    legend.text = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = legend_font_size
    ),
    legend.title = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = legend_font_size
    ),
    legend.margin = margin(),
    legend.position = 'top',
    plot.title.position = 'plot',
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major = element_line(size = 0.5, linetype = grid_style, color = grid_color)
  ) +
  labs(
    x = element_blank(), 
    y = element_blank(), 
    fill = element_blank(),
    title = 'Number of car manufacturers (stacked by car classes)'
  )
```

# Split Plot

## Split classes

```{r}
class_plots <- mpg_2008 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(y = manufacturer, fill = class)) +
  geom_bar() +
  scale_fill_manual(values = color_palette) +
  facet_wrap(vars(class)) +
  scale_x_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.1))) +
  scale_y_discrete(expand = expansion(mult = 0)) +
  geom_vline(xintercept = 0, size = 1) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    axis.text = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = font_size
    ),
    strip.text = element_text(
      color = text_color,
      hjust = 0, 
      margin = margin(l = -0.5, b = 5)
    ),
    legend.position = 'none',
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major = element_line(size = 0.5, linetype = grid_style, color = grid_color)
  ) +
  labs(x = element_blank(), y = element_blank())
```

## Create a bar chart for totals

```{r}
total_plot <- mpg_2008 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(y = manufacturer)) +
  geom_bar(fill = color_palette[4]) +
  scale_x_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.1))) +
  scale_y_discrete(expand = expansion(mult = 0)) +
  geom_vline(xintercept = 0, size = 1) +
  facet_wrap(vars('Total')) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    axis.text = element_text(
      family = font_family, 
      color = text_color,
      size = font_size
    ),
    strip.text = element_text(
      color = text_color,
      hjust = 0, 
      margin = margin(l = -0.5, b = 5)
    ),
    legend.position = 'none',
    axis.text.y = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
    panel.grid.major = element_line(size = 0.5, linetype = grid_style, color = grid_color)
  ) +
  labs(
    x = element_blank(), 
    y = element_blank(),
  )
```

## Arrange classes and totals with {patchwork}

```{r}
split_plot <- wrap_elements(
  plot = class_plots + 
  total_plot +
  plot_layout(widths = c(0.75, 0.25)) +
  plot_annotation(
     title = 'Number of car manufacturers (split by car class)',
     theme = theme(
       plot.title = element_text(
         family = font_family, 
         color = text_color,
         size = smaller_title_size
        )
     )
  ) &
  theme(
    plot.margin = margin(),
    plot.background = element_rect(fill = viridisLite::mako(6)[6], color = NA)
  )
)
```

# Put together comparison with {patchwork}

```{r}
unsplit_plot /
  plot_spacer() /
  split_plot  +
  plot_annotation(
    title = 'Splitting stacked bar plots gives each group a\nreference line for easier comparisons',
    caption = 'Data: {ggplot2} R package | Graphic: Albert Rapp @rappa753',
    theme = theme(
      plot.title = element_text(
        size = title_size,
        family = title_font_family,
        color = title_color,
        face = 'bold',
        lineheight = 1
      ),
      plot.caption = element_text(
        size = caption_size,
        family = caption_font_family,
        color = caption_color
      )
    )
  ) +
  plot_layout(heights = c(0.425, 0.01,  0.575)) &
  theme(
    plot.background = element_rect(fill = viridisLite::mako(6)[6], color = NA)
  )

```

Thank you. This code is great. This is good work