If you've been creating simple graphs with things like GD in PHP, it just might be time for the new kid on the block to move in on the action - PHP/SWF.

Yes, it uses Flash-based technology to create the results, but when it builds off of an XML file and automatically creates very nice looking results (see here), who can really complain?

PHP/SWF Charts is a simple, yet powerful PHP tool to create attractive web charts and graphs from dynamic data.

Use PHP scripts to generate or gather the data from databases, then pass it to this tool to generate Flash (swf) charts and graphs. The same tool also accepts XML dynamic data. PHP/SWF Charts makes the best of both the PHP and SWF worlds. PHP scripts provide integration, and Flash provides the best graphic quality.

So, head on over and give it a look. They support all sorts of charting types too, including: line, pie, 3D pie, column, 3D column, bar, area, candlestick, and scatter plotting. Best of all, using it is as simple as including the charts.php file into your file and calling any of its long list of functions to quickly and easily build your graph.

One of my personal favorite features - the live_update function...