These are a joke, right?
If you create a Chart, you have to put the data for the chart in the chart macro. This means your data table exists only to create the chart. It does not exist as a table of data that users can see, edit, or interact with; it merely exists as private data for the chart.
But if I am going to have a private data set to produce a graphic image... then why wouldn't I just create the chart in Google Sheets and paste the graphic image into Confluence? I would get a vastly better chart, with more options. The only problem is that the data to create the chart is locked behind some arbitrary wall. But... that's true with Confluence charts, too, since they are locked inside a chart macro.
Now if I create a table, I can then insert a chart linked to that table. But suddenly the formatting options are crippled, and my table has to be exactly the right format. For example, the data has to be per column, not row; because the field to specify otherwise only appears for charts, not charts made from tables. In other words: the chart you get from the chart macro is not the same chart you get from insert chart from table macro.
(Again, Atlassian wrote the chart macro, and then wrote a similar but not equal macro for charts from tables; instead of, you know, writing a generic chart macro and then allowing you to easily create a generic chart linked to a table. Because Atlassian does not know how to write a function. )
And never mind if I want some charts on a top-level page to summarize data found in child pages. Haha!
Of course I know that Stiltsoft has a plugin that solves most (or probably all) of these issues. So maybe Charts, as implemented by Atlassian, are deliberately useless placeholders so you'll go buy Stiltsoft's very nice offering?
At this point, why doesn't Stiltsoft just offer a competing product that is actually complete, out of the box, without having to layer on dozens of other plugins to achieve even the most basic functionality? I'd buy that.
