ExcelDashboardWidgets

Hi Everyone,

I cannot get the dashboard to look aestetically pleasing. Can someone email me a template they created that has 5 categories and one that has 6 categories? I'll be able to modify the template for my purposes...

I love the tool, but I'm clearly not savvy enough to get this thing looking like the sample.

Thanks,

Dave-
dave@velocityadvisorygroup.com

Hi Dave

Thanks for the message - we are really happy to help you through your Excel dashboard project to completion!

However, before starting, can we trouble you for a little more clarity. On the unlocked version of the dashboard spreadsheet there is a tab called "How to Design a Dashboard". It is helpful for us to understand the following..

1. What are the key metrics that your dashboard is trying to track?
2. Over what timeframe (e.g. hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) do you want to track these metrics?
3. What types of widgets do you want to use to track these metrics (e.g. dials, traffic lights, thermometers)?
4. How do you want to layout your dashboard (you mentioned a dashboard with 5 categories and 6 categories - what exactly do you mean?)

As mentioned in the tutorial on the tab called "How to Design a Dashboard" - it is really helpful to have a paper sketch of the dashboard you are trying to create before starting out - for example...
Looking forward to hearing your reply and better understanding your needs..

Cheers

DashboardWidgets

Thank you for your reply.

I believe that I can set the metrics, timelines, etc. once I have a template. The items I'd like to add to the dashboard are:

1) Total income- Actual vs budget
2) Net Income - Actual vs budget
3) Obtain 1000 Facebook "likes" (Maybe a thermometer?)
4) $131,000 billable per FTE
5) 4 face-to-face customer/prospect appointments per month
6) $65 average per ticket

Thanks,


Dave-

Hey Dave

Based on the information you provided we've come up with the following example for you.

Because of the limited information, we've made a few assumptions along the way (i.e. we've assumed that you are tracking your performance metrics over a monthly interval).

We started out by making a sketch to help us visualize the dashboard.
Then we built the dashboard by copying and pasting and then configuring each widget (widget-by-widget) in a new spreadsheet.
The unlocked version can be downloaded by commercial license holders in the download area here...
http://www.exceldashboardwidgets.com/ph ... f=25&t=169

You'll notice that the format follows the same setup as the tutorial (i.e. there are 3 tabs - the dashboard, a configuration page, and a calculations page).

As mentioned in another tutorial, the easiest way to manipulate (and change the stack order) of the many elements that make up these widgets is by using the Excel 'Selection Pane' (HOME > EDITING > SELECT & FIND > SELECTION PANE).

Also, another common error is that when you change the data values of any text fields the formatting resets itself (so you have to re-style the font-size, font-type and font-color each time).

Let us know if you would like to know more in terms of how we set up each of these widgets.

Warmest regards

DashboardWidgets

This is great and exactly what I was trying (unsuccessfully) to acheive. Thank you so much!

My Best,

Dave-

Hey Dave

No problems - feel free to post any more questions that you may have.

Cheers

DashboardWidgets