Project Timeline Chart

[DashboardNovice]

I'm working here: http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/07/09/project-milestones-in-timeline/

I am following these steps exactly as they are stated and I feel as though they are not clear enough. Step #3 says "Now, select the date and dummy columns and insert a line chart."

I found out that if your "dummy" table is below the "milestone" table, this will not work. However, if the dummy table is to the right of the milestone table, then you can plot something. This should have been mentioned in the instructions.

After adding the Height series in step #4, I see something very similar to the picture shown for step #5, except that for me Excel is graphing heights of zero, whereas the chart under Step #5 doesn't graph zeros. How is that being done?

Also after step #4, I was showing April and May on the time line (Excel automatically inserts them since they were skipped in the milestone table). Good thing I was able to figure out how to omit these months, which was to change the X axis type from Date to Text. This should have been mentioned. Not everybody knows how to fix this.

So at this point, I believe the chart shown in Step #5, should really appear after Step #4.

Step #5 says to change the chart type of the height series to a bar chart. This is incorrect. It should read column chart. The result I got appears to be the same as the picture in Step #7. The picture in step #7 should be in step #5.

Now onto step #6, "We will also set the horizontal / axis labels for the height series as the “milestones”. I guess I did this right.

Step #8, Now, we will add data labels to the height series. Set the label type as “category.” Ok, I did that, but instead of getting milestones I got numbers. And yes, when I right click on the Height series, Select data, select the Height series in the left window pane, the horizontal axis labels do show as Milestones with #N/A so I did set this up correctly. When I add data labels, why do I get numbers instead of milestones?

Step #11, part 3. How do you align the chart title to the right?

 

[DashboardNovice]

I'm working here: http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/07/09/project-milestones-in-timeline/

Step #8, Now, we will add data labels to the height series. Set the label type as “category.” Ok, I did that, but instead of getting milestones I got numbers. And yes, when I right click on the Height series, Select data, select the Height series in the left window pane, the horizontal axis labels do show as Milestones with #N/A so I did set this up correctly. When I add data labels, why do I get numbers instead of milestones?

I managed to figure this one out (on my own (again)). Step #8 says, "now, we will add data labels to the height series. Set the label type as “category.” " To be more clear it would have been helpful to say, right click the Height series, selected Format data labels, then under Label Options/Label Contains select the checkbox next to category. If this were mentioned in the article (and it should have been) this would have saved me a lot of time and frustration. I am posting my solution here so that anybody else who is learning this will be helped.