Often, while creating a complex model or dashboard, you may want to include additional training material in the workbook. So let us learn how to embed flash movies, youtube videos etc. in to Excel workbooks.
To Embed Flash Movies, Youtube Videos in to Excel, follow these steps.
Step 1: Go to Developer Tab
Go to Developer tab in excel ribbon and locate insert button. From here, select the insert button and click on “More controls”. See this illustration.
PS: If you do not have developer tab, learn how to enable it.
Step 2: Insert a Shockwave Flash Object
From the list of controls shown, select the one that says “Shockwave flash object”. Once you do that, your mouse pointer changes to + sign. Draw a rectangle to insert a flash object on to your Excel workbook.
When you finish drawing, you will see a crossed-out rectangle, like this:
Step 3: Set properties of the Flash Object
Right click on the rectangle now and select properties. Locate the property Movie and set it to the path of your Youtube video along with ?fs=1&hl=en_US in the end, like this.
Step 4: Exit Design Mode
Close the properties window. Now, from Developer tab, click on the big button that says “Design Mode” to exit design mode.
Instantly you will see the youtube video loading in the embedded flash object.
Click play to watch it.
Bonus tips:
- You can use design mode to resize the youtube video size.
- You can embed other flash movies, flash games etc. using the same technique. The path of movie can be a URL or a local computer path.
- You can also embed other types of objects like Quick Time Movies, Windows Media Player movies etc.
Gotchas You should be aware of:
- Do not save in compatibility mode. While saving the workbook, select XLSX format if you are running Excel 2007 or above. If you save the workbook in compatible mode, you may not see the videos working when you re-open it.
Download this Excel Workbook that has a Youtube Video that Explains how to Embed Youtube Videos in to Excel
That is right. I have made a youtube video explaining how to embed youtube videos in to excel. Then I embedded that youtube video in to an excel workbook 😀
Click here to download the excel workbook.
More Excel Howtos:
- Using Word-art in Excel
- How to make a birthday reminder in Excel
- How to insert currency codes & other special symbols in to Excel
- … More Excel Howtos & Excel Video Tutorials
PS: Special thanks to Manzoor for sharing this technique on our forums.
18 Responses to “Best Charts to Compare Actual Values with Targets – What is your take?”
Great post. I can't vote, though, because the answer I want to put down is "it depends". As with all visualisations, you've got to take into account your audience, your purpose, technical skills, where it will be viewed, etc.
I'm with Andy: It depends. Some I would use, some I might use, some I won't touch with a barge pole.
Naturally I have comments 🙂
The dial gauge, though familiar, is less easy to read than a linear type of chart (thermometer or bullet). It's really no better than the traffic lights, because all it can really tell you is which category the point falls in: red, yellow, or green.
By the same token, pie charts are so familiar, people don't know they can't read them. Remember how long it takes kids to learn to read an analog clock?
Bullet charts don't show trends.
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or ine component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
[...] Best Charts to Compare Actual values with Targets (or Budgets … [...]
I voted for #6 even though I agree with the other comments that it depends.
The majority of the votes are for the #2, thermometer chart. I still have yet to understand what happens when you are above plan/goal, which was brought up in yesterday's post.
Also, I agree with Jon in that it would be better to flip the series and make the filled part the target or goal and the line or marker the actual.
I am also a fan of using text when appropriate if the data is among other metrics in a type of dashboard. Calling it out by saying actual and % achievement is a good option.
Another "it depends" vote. Are you just looking at one or are you comparing a number of targets with actuals? You didn't include a text box. The problem with sentences is that they can get lost in a page of gray text. A text box can call attention to the numbers and line them up effectively.
I'm with Jon: "Some I would use, some I might use, some I won’t touch with a barge pole" and I'm surprised that some of your readers voted for the last group.
Jon says:
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or line component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
Why does this make more sense? I like 6 the way it is, although I would use a heavy dash for the plan/target marker.
"It depends" is also my take. What I usually try to drill into my clients dashboard design is the fu ndamental difference between spot results (am I on target for this month) and long term trends.. I always try to create 3 different set of graphs to represent real perormance:
- spot results vs objectives
- cumulative results vs objectives
- long-term trend (moving average) mostly) to see where we're going
[...] Best Charts to Compare Actual Values with Targets – What is your take? (tags: excel charts) [...]
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Jon says:
With any of the charts that have a filled component and a marker or line component, it makes more sense to use the filled component (area/ column) for target, and the lines or markers for actual.
Why does this make more sense? I like 6 the way it is, although I would use a heavy dash for the plan/target marker.
I totally agree, Bob. I would normally favour a line for the target and a column for the actual, you can see quite easily then which columns break through the line, then.
[...] best charts to compare actual values with targets — den Status mal anders zeigen, z. B. als Tacho [...]
Thermometer charts: "Not appropriate when actual values exceed targets" - this is easily solved by making the "mercury" portion a different color from the border, then you can clearly see where the expected range ends and the actual values keep going.
People seem to knock gauges quite a bit in dashboarding, but trying to show comparison of realtime data between operating sites and targets for each site can easily be done with a bank of gauges that have the optimal operating points at 12 o'clock.
The human eye is great at pattern stripping, and any deviation of a gauge from the expected 12 position will quickly register with an operator and attract his attention. Using a colour background, or meter edge, will also indicate the sensitivity of a particular site.
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I am wondering how will the plotting work, for some of the targets which may have been achieved before time. E.g. for the month of Jul the target was 226 and the actual was 219. So the chart will show a deficit in meeting the target by 7 points but what if this 7 may have been completed earlier in month of June. So ideally it not a deficit.