What's the most intuitive control to sort a bar chart?

1. What is an absolute rule to follow when constructing bar charts?
2. Does it matter how you order a bar graph?

What is an absolute rule to follow when constructing bar charts?

The rule of thumb for standard bar charts can be applied in both variables: order the bars from largest to smallest unless there is an intrinsic order of levels. To clarify this rule for the secondary categorical variable, this decision should be based on the overall size of each categorical level.

Does it matter how you order a bar graph?

Even though the order of bars does not matter, choosing a certain order provides a particular visual image of the data.