Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-1

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1 Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2 TOPICS COVERED: In this module, we continue learning how to creatie professional, dynamic business dashboards in Excel. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Markets Display Named Formula (0:35) Formatting the Markets (1:44) Calculating the Performance Indicators (3:30) Meta Data Tab (5:14) Using Shapes in the Dashboard (10:51) Dynamic Text in Shapes (15:20) Fine Control of Moving Charts (19:21) Fruits of Our Labor (20:05) When constructing our dashboard, you can place data in cells, in the chart, or in shapes. We'll be using all three techniques in this dashboard. Markets Display Named Formula (0:35) We need the market labels in our dashboard. So let's grab those from the table data and copy them into a column at the left of our chart. Then, create a named formula that refers to that range called markets_displayed. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-1

2 Formatting the Markets (1:44) We want to format the markets_selected range with light gray borders and blue text. Additionally, we want to add some conditional formatting for the actual market selected by the user. To do this: Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-2

3 (1) Add conditional formatting. a) Create the rule as illustrated above. b) Format with dark blue fill, with white font. (2) Apply to the appropriate cells. (3) Define selected in the name manager. Since it will be updated with VBA, we can just set it up as equal to a constant for now, so set it equal to 1. (4) This is the final look of the conditionally formatted cells. Calculating the Performance Indicators (3:30) To calculate the performance indicators, it will be convenient to have quick access to four particular months of data from within the larger data table. We can do this with named formulas that return those particular four rows. (see the image above) *Note the use of the VALUE function to return the appropriate dates based on string input. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-3

4 Do the same for jan_2000_data, mar_2010_data, and mar_2011_data. Meta Data Tab (5:14) It's always best to do the data mining tasks on another tab. So create a new worksheet for this meta data. All formulas in the image above can be found in the workbook provided in the ExcelHero forum for this module. One thing to note when copy/pasting or using the fill handles to copy formulas across columns... Remember from Module 6 that structured references fill differently than when thier formulas are copied. The ranking of the performance indicators is calculated in Rows Row 16 contains all the Summary information which was simply copied from the NYTimes piece. And Rows show indicators and ranking data of the selected market. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-4

5 This should be pretty basic stuff for EHA students at this point in the course. Using Shapes in the Dashboard (10:48) Shapes are not confined by the worksheet grid and offer picture-perfect placement on our dashboards. The textbox that can be inserted from the Insert tab on the Ribbon is just an Excel Rectangle Shape. Simply insert and format. Also, text strings within textboxes can be formatted independently. When dragging textboxes onto a chart, it appears that the textbox is part of the chart, but in this case, it is not. We can make a shape part of a chart by pasting a shape onto the chart. So cut the textbox. Select the chart. Paste the textbox. Now it is part of the Chart Group. Now, unfortunately, placement of the textbox is more difficult. The arrow keys do not work to mvoe the textbox. You can only use the mouse. One helpful option, by pressing the Shift key, Excel will move the textbox only horizontally or vertically. Just 18 more textboxes to go! Clone from the existing textbox and start formatting! Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-5

6 Dynamic Text in Shapes (15:20) Text on a shape can be made dynamic by selecting a shape and then entering a formula into the formula bar. Keep in mind, the only formulas that will work must result in a simple cell reference, as illustrated above. When you use formulas in textboxes, text formatting applies to the entire shape. Thus, a workaround is to sometimes split text into two separate textboxes. You can easily group the shapes afterward for easy placement. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-6

7 Textbox Tiles (18:17) You can group groups as well, ultimately creating larger "tiles" that are easily movable around the Dashboard. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-7

8 Fine Control of Moving Charts (19:21) In newer versions of Excel, you may use the arrow keys to adjust a charts position in the worksheet. To do so, hold down the Control and Shift keys and then click on the Chart. You'll notice the handles on the Chart are somewhat similar to those of a regular shape. This is how you know that you can now move the chart with the arrow keys. Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-8

9 Fruits of Our Labor (20:05) At this point, the look of the dashboard and functionality of the data mining formulas is all working. The only thing left to do is work on the VBA! Module 7 - Housing Bubble Dashboard - Part 2-9