[DOCS-13557, DOCS-13567] Fix rollup wording and clarify distribution histogram types by evazorro · Pull Request #35813 · DataDog/documentation

evazorro · 2026-04-07T18:41:20Z

What does this PR do? What is the motivation?

Fixes DOCS-13557 and DOCS-13567 (both were small updates so I'm combining them into one PR)

Changes "enforce" to "specify" in the rollup interval section, which was confusing because the word was used inconsistently on the same page
Adds a new section to the Distribution widget page clarifying the difference between "histogram of points" and "histogram of groups" (common source of customer confusion per @amymzhou)

While I was already in these files I fixed a few style issues I noticed (e.g. "data point" -> "datapoint," "timeframe" -> "time frame," etc., per Vale rules).

Merge instructions

Merge readiness:

Ready for merge

Additional notes

@hydrosquall, I added you as a reviewer because I sourced some of the info on histogram of points vs. groups from comments of yours in Jira.

github-actions · 2026-04-07T18:45:34Z

Preview links (active after the `build_preview` check completes)

Modified Files

hydrosquall

Thanks Eva!

hydrosquall · 2026-04-07T18:57:16Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md

-**Note**: This visualization type is useful only when data is aggregated across tag keys, such as for each `host`.
-1. Make a selection in the "`avg`/`max`/`min`/`sum by`/" control to see your data across the associated tags.
+1. Choose the data to graph. The Distribution visualization supports metrics, live processes, APM request latency, log events, and RUM events.
+   **Note**: This visualization type is useful only when data is aggregated across tag keys, such as for each `host`.


I think this sentence might no longer be relevant, it applied only when "histogram of groups" was the only type. The "histogram of points" feature enables this visualization to be useful even in the "I don't have a tag key" case.

Thank you! Removing

hydrosquall · 2026-04-07T18:58:23Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md

 ---

-The Distribution visualization shows data aggregated across one or several tags, such as *hosts*. Unlike the [heatmap][1], a distribution graph's x-axis is quantity rather than time.
+The Distribution visualization shows data aggregated across one or several tags, such as *hosts*. Unlike the [heat map][1], a distribution graph's x-axis is quantity rather than time.


I think heatmap may still be 1 word based on https://docs.datadoghq.com/dashboards/widgets/heatmap/

You... are so right! Let me ask my team why our Vale rule specifies otherwise. We might just need to update the rule.

Rule update in progress: DataDog/datadog-vale#87

Thanks for flagging!

hydrosquall · 2026-04-07T19:01:08Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md

-1. Choose the data to graph.The Distribution visualization supports metrics, live processes, APM request latency, log events, and RUM events.
-**Note**: This visualization type is useful only when data is aggregated across tag keys, such as for each `host`.
-1. Make a selection in the "`avg`/`max`/`min`/`sum by`/" control to see your data across the associated tags.
+1. Choose the data to graph. The Distribution visualization supports metrics, live processes, APM request latency, log events, and RUM events.


I'm not sure if we should still list all of these individually, as we support several more types than this now. Rather than list all 15+ sources, it may be simpler to reframe to "many sources including ..." followed by a sampling to avoid giving the impression that other sources aren't supported.

Great callout! I'll update.

joepeeples

A couple non-blocking edit suggestions, thanks!

joepeeples · 2026-04-07T19:29:38Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md

-1. Choose the data to graph.The Distribution visualization supports metrics, live processes, APM request latency, log events, and RUM events.
-**Note**: This visualization type is useful only when data is aggregated across tag keys, such as for each `host`.
-1. Make a selection in the "`avg`/`max`/`min`/`sum by`/" control to see your data across the associated tags.
+1. Choose the data to graph. The Distribution visualization supports metrics, live processes, APM request latency, log events, and RUM events.


joepeeples · 2026-04-07T19:31:09Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md


+#### Histogram of points vs. histogram of groups
+
+The Distribution widget supports two histogram types:


Slightly more future-proof, in case we add more histogram types later:

Suggested change

The Distribution widget supports two histogram types:

The Distribution widget supports these histogram types:

Love it. Added along with other changes locally

joepeeples · 2026-04-07T19:32:27Z

content/en/dashboards/widgets/distribution.md

+- **Histogram of points**: Each individual datapoint (for example, a raw request latency measurement) contributes to a bucket based on its value. Use this when you want to see the full distribution of measurements across all recordings.
+- **Histogram of groups**: Each group (such as a service or host) is first reduced to a single aggregated value (for example, the p75 latency), and then those aggregated values are distributed across buckets. The resulting shape reflects the spread of per-group summary values, not individual measurements.
+
+**Note**: Because these two types aggregate data differently, switching between them can significantly change the shape of the histogram.


Convert to <div>-format alert for more visual styling?

amymzhou

Thank you Eva 👏

Fix rollup enforce wording, clarify distribution histogram types

157a132

evazorro marked this pull request as ready for review April 7, 2026 18:45

evazorro requested a review from a team as a code owner April 7, 2026 18:45

evazorro requested review from amymzhou and hydrosquall April 7, 2026 18:46

hydrosquall approved these changes Apr 7, 2026

View reviewed changes

joepeeples self-assigned this Apr 7, 2026

joepeeples approved these changes Apr 7, 2026

View reviewed changes

amymzhou approved these changes Apr 8, 2026

View reviewed changes

evazorro added 2 commits April 8, 2026 12:29

Revise with review feedback

5eb826f

Heatmap back to one word

8b431de

evazorro merged commit e58e567 into master Apr 8, 2026
15 checks passed

evazorro deleted the eva/DOCS-13557-DOCS-13567-dashboard-widget-clarifications branch April 8, 2026 21:01


		#### Histogram of points vs. histogram of groups

		The Distribution widget supports two histogram types:

	The Distribution widget supports two histogram types:
	The Distribution widget supports these histogram types:

Conversation

evazorro commented Apr 7, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

What does this PR do? What is the motivation?

Merge instructions

Additional notes

Uh oh!

github-actions bot commented Apr 7, 2026

Preview links (active after the build_preview check completes)

Modified Files

Uh oh!

hydrosquall left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

joepeeples left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

amymzhou left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

4 participants

evazorro commented Apr 7, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Preview links (active after the `build_preview` check completes)