glymotif
A glycan motif matcher trading convenience wrappers for speed, strictness and explicit specs.
Comparison · Analytics
qqman vs vellumverse
A side-by-side editorial comparison of qqman and vellumverse — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
qqman vs vellumverse: at a glance
What is qqman?
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
qqman does two things: manhattan() and qq() plots for genome-wide association study results. Its six visible releases run from 2014 to a single 2017 packaging fix, and the last release with any user-facing change shipped in 2015. The archive is non-monotonic — a 0.0.0 tag published after 0.1.1 archives the pre-package standalone script — so version order and publication order disagree.
What is vellumverse?
A meta-package whose entire changelog is a version pin, tracking an ecosystem moving faster than it is.
vellumverse attaches the vellum graphics ecosystem in one library() call, reports which versions loaded, lists the bundled packages and surfaces functions masked across them. It is deliberately dependency-light, having dropped rlang and declared only what the conflict reporter actually uses. Since 0.2.0 every release has been a version pin bump rather than new behaviour of its own.
qqman vs vellumverse: editorial side-by-side
qqman
0.0ANALYTICS
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
◆ Current state
qqman does two things: manhattan() and qq() plots for genome-wide association study results. Its six visible releases run from 2014 to a single 2017 packaging fix, and the last release with any user-facing change shipped in 2015. The archive is non-monotonic — a 0.0.0 tag published after 0.1.1 archives the pre-package standalone script — so version order and publication order disagree.
◆ Where it's heading
The real development window was 2014 to 2015. The 0.1.2 release did the substantive work, replacing the assumption that SNPs are evenly distributed across chromosomes and handing users control of axis limits, labels and log transformation; 0.1.3 then added annotation by p-value threshold and top-SNP-per-chromosome. After that the package stops. Notably, the archival 0.0.0 entry records that the original script had confidence intervals on QQ plots and richer highlighting than the released package ever regained.
◆ Prediction
With one packaging fix in the last decade, these entries support no prediction of further releases. The package reads as complete for its narrow purpose rather than abandoned mid-arc.
vellumverse
5.0ANALYTICS
A meta-package whose entire changelog is a version pin, tracking an ecosystem moving faster than it is.
◆ Current state
vellumverse attaches the vellum graphics ecosystem in one library() call, reports which versions loaded, lists the bundled packages and surfaces functions masked across them. It is deliberately dependency-light, having dropped rlang and declared only what the conflict reporter actually uses. Since 0.2.0 every release has been a version pin bump rather than new behaviour of its own.
◆ Where it's heading
The release record is an index of other packages' work: four of the last six entries do nothing but raise the floor on vellum, vellumplot and vellumwidget. The cadence tells the real story, with pins moving roughly weekly and each bump chasing a minor release somewhere downstream, so the meta-package is currently a distribution convenience rather than a component. The one genuinely structural release in the window was 0.2.1, which trimmed the dependency surface to keep an attach-only package cheap to install.
◆ Prediction
Expect the pin bumps to keep pace with the ecosystem's weekly releases rather than any feature of its own, and the pin on vellumplot to move again as the interaction grammar the widget now depends on continues to land. Whether vellumverse ever grows beyond attach-and-report is not visible in these entries.
Alternatives to qqman and vellumverse
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either qqman or vellumverse.
glyrepr
The type system the rest of the glycan stack is built on, being hardened one breaking change at a time.
glyanno
Glycan annotation stops depending on the database having seen the structure before.
glydraw
SNFG glycan cartoons stopped being pictures and became ggplot2 geoms, guides and axis labels.
glyenzy
Glycan biosynthesis as a traceable enzyme graph, now including sulfation and gaps it can bridge.
KLINK
Forensic kinship testing with linked STR markers, now peer-reviewed and taking data from anywhere.
See all qqman alternatives → · See all vellumverse alternatives →
Recent activity from qqman and vellumverse
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 14d agovellumversePins raised to vellum 0.6.6, vellumplot 0.9.0, vellumwidget 0.8.0
- 20d agovellumversePins raised to vellumplot 0.8.0 and vellumwidget 0.7.0
- 27d agovellumversePins raised to vellum 0.5.0, vellumplot 0.6.0, vellumwidget 0.6.0
- 1mo agovellumversePins raised to vellum 0.4.0, vellumplot 0.5.0, vellumwidget 0.5.0
- 1mo agovellumverseDependency surface trimmed to keep the meta-package light
- 1mo agovellumverseAdopts vellum's renamed vl_* graphics primitives
- 9y agoqqmanREADME image path fix for pandoc
- 11y agoqqmanAnnotate SNPs by p-value threshold or per-chromosome top hit
- 11y agoqqmanChromosome ticks stop assuming even SNP spacing; axis control opens up
- 12y agoqqmanArchival tag for the pre-package standalone script
- 12y agoqqmanVignette touch-up
- 12y agoqqmanZenodo archival tag, no code change
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between qqman and vellumverse?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. vellumverse is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is qqman better than vellumverse?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. vellumverse is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to qqman?
Top qqman alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "qqman alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/qqman-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to vellumverse?
Top vellumverse alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "vellumverse alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/vellumverse for the full list with editorial commentary on each.