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13. Excel Dashboards

13.6 Slicers and a Timeline for All Pivots

Steps in Excel

  1. Click in any pivot › PivotTable Analyze › Filter › Insert Slicer › tick City, Platform and Category › OK.
  2. PivotTable Analyze › Filter › Insert Timeline › tick Order Date › OK. Set the timeline to Days or Months (drop-down at its top right).
  3. Right-click each slicer › Report Connections… (called PivotTable Connections in some versions – may vary by version) › tick all five pivots › OK. Do the same for the timeline.
  4. Cut the slicers and timeline and paste them on the Dashboard sheet in a left-side panel.
  5. Format: Slicer › Buttons › Columns = 2 for City, 1 for Platform; choose a slicer style that matches your colours; Slicer Settings › tick Hide items with no data.
  6. Test: click Nashik – every card and chart must change. Click the Clear Filter icon on the slicer to reset.

Worked example – Nashik selected, Platform = FreshGo. Net Sales card shows only Nashik FreshGo sales, the trend line shows only Nashik, and the city bar chart shows one bar. If one chart does not change, its pivot is missing in Report Connections.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Many students insert a slicer and don't check whether it is connected to only one pivot – then the card shows one number and the chart shows another. Right-click each slicer › Report Connections and tick all the pivots, and finally click each city to check that the whole dashboard changes.

Worked example — slicers and a timeline for all pivots

Why

Aamir Khan in Pune and Liam Murphy abroad both need a clear, repeatable way to use slicers and a timeline for all pivots on a Orbit Logistics sheet without breaking totals.

What

Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots is the Excel idea this page teaches. We will walk one tiny example end to end.

How

  1. Open a blank sheet. In A1 type a short label for slicers and a timeline for all pivots.
  2. Enter a small made-up value for Aamir Khan using ₹ where money appears.
  3. Add a second value for Liam Murphy using € so you see mixed currencies stay numeric.
  4. Apply the method from this lesson step by step (menu or formula as shown above).
  5. Check the result still works inside SUM or a simple check cell.

Formula / action

Follow the formula or ribbon steps shown in this lesson (keep values numeric).
Result: The demo cell shows the expected result for Orbit Logistics's sample row.
Meaning: Once slicers and a timeline for all pivots is correct on one row, copy the same pattern down the column.

Practice tasks (10+)

Try these on a blank sheet. Open a hint only if you are stuck. No quiz — just practice.

1. Rebuild the smallest example of slicers and a timeline for all pivots on a blank sheet for Maple Bakery Co.

Hint: Use only the steps on this page. Keep numbers numeric.

2. Change one input for Rohan Patil and confirm the result updates.

Hint: If the result is stuck, check absolute vs relative references.

3. Repeat the same steps with a £ or € value for Sophie Martin.

Hint: Formatting must not break SUM.

4. Write the result meaning in one plain sentence next to the cell.

Hint: Imagine explaining it to a new joiners.

5. Add a second row and fill the method down.

Hint: Double-click the fill handle if the pattern is consistent.

6. Break the example on purpose, then fix it using this lesson.

Hint: Common break: text instead of a number.

7. Apply slicers and a timeline for all pivots to a 5-row made-up Maple Bakery Co table.

Hint: Keep column headers clear.

8. Check your answer with a simple total or COUNT.

Hint: A wrong total usually means a format or key mismatch.

9. Swap ₹ and $ on one column and re-check totals.

Hint: Stored values stay the same; only the display changes.

10. List two mistakes beginners make with slicers and a timeline for all pivots.

Hint: Look back at the tip box on this page.

11. Teach the steps out loud in under one minute.

Hint: Why → What → How.

12. Save the sheet as MapleBakery_practice.xlsx.

Hint: Use a clear file name for class.

Quick revision cards

Three standalone cards. Each one explains the idea with its own example. Scan the QR to open this lesson.

Revision card 1: What is Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots?
Card 1: What is Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots? · Download PNG
Revision card 2: Tiny example — Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots
Card 2: Tiny example — Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots · Download PNG
Revision card 3: Checklist — Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots
Card 3: Checklist — Slicers And A Timeline For All Pivots · Download PNG