Plotting method for netify objects — plot.netify • netify

Creates customizable network visualizations from netify objects using ggplot2. Supports cross-sectional and longitudinal networks with extensive options for mapping network attributes to visual properties.

Usage

# S3 method for class 'netify'
plot(x, auto_format = TRUE, ...)

Arguments

x

A 'netify' object containing network data to visualize.

auto_format

Logical. If TRUE (default), automatically adjusts plot parameters based on network characteristics such as size, density, and structure. This includes "intelligent" defaults for:

Node size (smaller for larger networks)
Edge transparency (lower for denser networks)
Text labels (enabled for small networks)
Curved edges (for small dense networks)
Isolate removal (for large networks)

Set to FALSE to disable all automatic formatting. Individual parameters can still be overridden even when auto_format is TRUE.

...

Additional arguments controlling plot appearance:

Value

A ggplot2 object that can be further customized with additional layers, scales, themes, etc. For longitudinal networks, includes facets for each time period.

If return_components = TRUE, returns a list of plot components that can be manually assembled or modified.

Details

Naming Conventions:

The function supports two naming styles for parameters:

Recommended: Use node_* for node attributes and *_by for variable mappings (e.g., node_size_by = "degree")
Legacy: Use point_* for nodes and *_var for variables (e.g., point_size_var = "degree")

Default Behaviors:

For weighted networks, edge transparency maps to weight by default
For directed networks, arrows are added automatically
For longitudinal networks, time periods are shown as facets
Isolates are removed by default (set remove_isolates = FALSE to keep)

Customization Tips:

Use mutate_weight to handle skewed weight distributions
Combine fixed and variable aesthetics (e.g., fixed color with variable size)
Add ggplot2 layers after the plot call for further customization
Use select_text for selective labeling in dense networks

Layout Parameters

layout: Character string specifying the igraph layout algorithm. Options include: "nicely" (default), "fr" (Fruchterman-Reingold), "kk" (Kamada-Kawai), "circle", "star", "grid", "tree", "bipartite" (for bipartite networks), "randomly", and others. For ego networks, additional options are available: "radial" (ego-centric with optional grouping) and "concentric" (ego at center with alters in rings). See get_node_layout and get_ego_layout for full details.
point_layout: Optional data.frame or list of data.frames containing pre-computed node positions with columns 'actor', 'x', and 'y'. Overrides layout if provided.
static_actor_positions: Logical. For longitudinal networks, should node positions remain constant across time? Default is FALSE.
which_static: Integer. When static_actor_positions = TRUE, which time period's layout to use as template? If NULL (default), creates composite layout from all time periods.
seed: Integer for reproducible layouts. Default is 6886.

Display Control

add_edges: Logical. Display edges? Default is TRUE.
add_points: Logical. Display nodes as points? Default is TRUE.
add_text: Logical. Add text labels to nodes? Default is FALSE.
add_text_repel: Logical. Add text labels with automatic repositioning to avoid overlaps? Default is FALSE. When TRUE, overrides add_text. Uses ggrepel for positioning.
add_label: Logical. Add boxed labels to nodes? Default is FALSE.
add_label_repel: Logical. Add boxed labels with automatic repositioning to avoid overlaps? Default is FALSE. When TRUE, overrides add_label. Uses ggrepel for positioning.
remove_isolates: Logical. Remove unconnected nodes? Default is TRUE.
curve_edges: Logical. Use curved edges? Default is FALSE.
use_theme_netify: Logical. Apply netify theme? Default is TRUE.
facet_type: Character. For multilayer longitudinal networks, controls faceting style: "grid" (default) creates a 2D grid with time × layer, "wrap" creates wrapped facets with combined time-layer labels.
facet_ncol: Integer. Number of columns for facet_wrap layouts. Only used when facet_type = "wrap" or for single-dimension faceting.
rescale_edge_weights: Logical. For multilayer networks, should edge weights be rescaled to a common 0-1 range across all layers? This is useful when layers have very different weight scales. Default is FALSE.

Subsetting Parameters

node_filter: An expression to filter nodes. The expression can reference any nodal attribute. For example: node_filter = degree_total > 5 to show only nodes with total degree greater than 5. The expression is evaluated in the context of the nodal data, so any node-level variable can be used.
edge_filter: An expression to filter edges. The expression can reference any edge attribute (including 'weight' for weighted networks). For example: edge_filter = weight > 0.5 to show only edges with weight greater than 0.5. The expression is evaluated in the context of the edge data, so any edge-level variable can be used.
time_filter: For longitudinal networks, a vector of time periods to include in the plot. Can be numeric indices or character labels matching the time dimension. If NULL (default), all time periods are plotted. For cross-sectional networks, this parameter is ignored.

Node Aesthetics

Fixed aesthetics (same for all nodes):

node_size or point_size: Numeric. Size of all nodes.
node_color or point_color: Color of node borders.
node_fill or point_fill: Fill color of nodes (note that fill will only work with certain shapes).
node_shape or point_shape: Shape of nodes (see ?pch).
node_alpha or point_alpha: Transparency (0-1).
node_stroke or point_stroke: Width of node borders.

Variable aesthetics (mapped to data):

node_size_by or point_size_var: Column name for size mapping.
node_color_by or point_color_var: Column name for border color.
node_fill_by or point_fill_var: Column name for fill color (note that fill will only work with certain shapes).
node_shape_by or point_shape_var: Column name for shape.
node_alpha_by or point_alpha_var: Column name for transparency.

Edge Aesthetics

Fixed aesthetics:

edge_color: Color for all edges. Default is "black".
edge_linewidth: Width for all edges. Default is 0.5.
edge_linetype: Line type (1=solid, 2=dashed, etc.).
edge_alpha: Transparency (0-1).
edge_curvature: Curvature amount when curve_edges = TRUE.
edge_arrow: Arrow specification for directed networks. Example: arrow(length = unit(0.2, "cm")).
adjust_arrow_endpoints: Logical. Should arrow endpoints be adjusted to stop at node boundaries? Default is FALSE. Only affects directed networks.
edge_arrow_gap: Numeric. Additional gap between arrow tip and node boundary as a proportion of node radius (0-1). Default is 0.2. Only used when adjust_arrow_endpoints = TRUE.
edge_arrow_size_scale: Numeric. Scale factor for converting node sizes to coordinate units. If NULL (default), automatically calculated based on plot range.

Variable aesthetics:

edge_color_by or edge_color_var: Column name for color mapping.
edge_linewidth_by or edge_linewidth_var: Column name for width.
edge_linetype_by or edge_linetype_var: Column name for line type.
edge_alpha_by or edge_alpha_var: Column name for transparency. For weighted networks, defaults to the weight variable if not specified.

Text and Label Options

Selective labeling:

select_text: Character vector of node names to show as text. When used, text labels will automatically use geom_text_repel to avoid overlaps.
select_text_display: Alternative text to display (same length as select_text).
select_label: Character vector of node names to show with boxes. When used, labels will automatically use geom_label_repel to avoid overlaps.
select_label_display: Alternative labels (same length as select_label).

Text aesthetics:

text_size: Fixed size for all text. Default is 3.88.
text_color: Fixed color for all text. Default is "black".
text_alpha: Fixed transparency for text.
text_size_by: Variable to map to text size.
text_color_by: Variable to map to text color.

Label (boxed text) aesthetics have similar parameters with label_ prefix.

Text repel parameters (when add_text_repel = TRUE):

text_repel_force: Force of repulsion between overlapping text. Default is 1.
text_repel_max_overlaps: Maximum number of overlaps to tolerate. Default is 10.
text_repel_box_padding: Padding around text. Default is 0.25.
text_repel_point_padding: Padding around points. Default is 0.
text_repel_segment_color: Color of connecting segments. Default is "grey50".

Label repel parameters (when add_label_repel = TRUE):

Similar to text_repel but with label_repel_ prefix
label_repel_label_padding: Padding around label boxes. Default is 0.25.
label_repel_label_r: Radius of label box corners. Default is 0.15.

Scale Labels

Customize legend titles:

node_size_label or point_size_label: Legend title for size.
node_color_label or point_color_label: Legend title for color.
edge_alpha_label: Legend title for edge transparency.
edge_color_label: Legend title for edge color.

Highlighting Parameters

highlight: Character vector of node names to highlight with different colors. Non-highlighted nodes will be colored grey. Highlighted nodes can also be automatically enlarged if highlight_size_increase is greater than 1.
highlight_color: Named vector of colors for highlighted nodes. If NULL, uses default distinct colors (red, blue, green for up to 3 nodes, or a color palette for more). Names should match the values in the highlight parameter. Example: c('USA' = 'blue', 'China' = 'red', 'Russia' = 'green').
highlight_label: Title for the highlight legend. Default is "Highlighted".
highlight_size_increase: Numeric factor(s) to increase size of highlighted nodes. Can be a single value (applied to all highlighted nodes) or a vector of length length(highlight) + 1 where each value corresponds to a highlighted node and the last value applies to "Other" nodes. Default is 1 (no size increase). Example: c(3, 1, 1, 0.5) for 3 highlighted nodes where the first is 3x larger, the next two are normal size, and all others are half size.
show_other_in_legend: Logical. Include "Other" category in legend? Default is FALSE. When FALSE, only highlighted nodes appear in the legend.

Ego Layout Parameters

For ego networks (created with ego_netify), additional layout options control the ego-centric visualization:

ego_group_by: Character string specifying a nodal attribute to use for grouping alters in ego layouts. For "radial" layout, creates sectors. For "concentric" layout, determines ring assignment.
ego_order_by: Character string specifying a nodal attribute to use for ordering alters within groups or rings. Common options include "degree_total".
ego_weight_to_distance: Logical. For weighted networks with "radial" layout, should edge weights determine distance from ego? Higher weights place alters closer to ego. Default is FALSE.
ego_ring_gap: Numeric (0-1). Gap between concentric rings as proportion of radius. Only for "concentric" layout. Default is 0.3.
ego_size: Numeric. Relative size of central area reserved for ego. Larger values create more space between ego and alters. Default is 0.1.

Special Parameters

mutate_weight: Function to transform edge weights before plotting. Example: log1p for log(x+1) transformation. Applied before mapping to aesthetics.
return_components: Logical. Return plot components instead of assembled plot? Useful for manual customization. Default is FALSE.
style: A style function (e.g., style_budapest). Applies a complete visual style including colors, shapes, and layout preferences.

Examples

# Load example data
data(icews)

# Basic cross-sectional network
icews_10 <- icews[icews$year == 2010, ]
net_10 <- netify(
    icews_10,
    actor1 = "i", actor2 = "j",
    symmetric = FALSE,
    weight = "verbCoop"
)

# Simple plot with auto-formatting (default)
plot(net_10)


# Plot without auto-formatting for full control
plot(net_10, auto_format = FALSE)


# add nodal stats to netlet
net_10 <- add_node_vars(
    net_10,
    summary_actor(net_10),
    "actor"
)

# Customized plot with new naming convention
plot(net_10,
    edge_color = "lightgrey",
    node_size_by = "degree_total", # Instead of point_size_var
    node_color = "steelblue",
    edge_alpha_by = "verbCoop", # Instead of edge_alpha_var
    node_size_label = "Degree",
    edge_alpha_label = "Verbal Cooperation"
)


# Longitudinal network example
net_longit <- netify(
    icews,
    actor1 = "i", actor2 = "j",
    time = "year",
    symmetric = FALSE,
    weight = "verbCoop",
    nodal_vars = c("i_polity2", "i_log_gdp")
)

# Add network statistics
net_longit <- add_node_vars(
    net_longit,
    summary_actor(net_longit),
    actor = "actor",
    time = "time"
)

# Plot with multiple aesthetics
plot(net_longit,
    # Edges
    edge_color = "grey70",
    mutate_weight = log1p, # Transform weights
    # Nodes
    node_size_by = "degree_total",
    node_color_by = "i_polity2",
    # Labels
    node_size_label = "Total Degree",
    node_color_label = "Polity Score",
    edge_alpha_label = "Log(Verbal Coop.)",
    # Layout
    static_actor_positions = TRUE # Keep positions constant
)


# Selective labeling example
plot(net_10,
    node_size_by = "degree_total",
    select_text = c("United States", "China", "Russian Federation"),
    text_size = 3,
    text_color = "darkred"
)
#> Warning: Removed 149 rows containing missing values or values outside the scale range
#> (`geom_text_repel()`).


# choose alternative labels for selected text
plot(net_10,
    node_size_by = "degree_total",
    select_text = c("United States", "China", "Russian Federation"),
    select_text_display = c("USA", "CHN", "RUS"),
    text_size = 3,
    text_color = "darkred"
)
#> Warning: Removed 149 rows containing missing values or values outside the scale range
#> (`geom_text_repel()`).



# Time subsetting example
plot(net_longit,
    time_filter = c("2010", "2011", "2012")
)


# Node subsetting example
# democracies with high GDP
plot(net_longit, node_filter = ~ i_polity2 > 6 & i_log_gdp > 25)


# use return_components=TRUE
# to get back ggplot2 pieces of plot
g10 <- plot(
    net_10,
    node_alpha = .8,
    arrow = ggplot2::arrow(length = ggplot2::unit(0.01, "inches")),
    node_size_by = "degree_total",
    node_size_label = "Log(Degree)",
    edge_alpha_label = "Log(Verbal Coop.)",
    remove_isolates = TRUE,
    mutate_weight = log1p,
    return_components = TRUE
)

# Manually assemble with custom modifications
# to scale aesthetics such as edges
g10$base +
    netify_edge(g10) +
    ggplot2::scale_alpha_continuous(range = c(0.01, 0.2)) +
    netify_node(g10) +
    theme_netify()