Pushing my VBA skills

While working at Three I have continued to push my (limited) VBA skills.  Today I have successfully managed to setup some code to password protect an entire spreadsheet at the push of a button and unprotect it with another.

I've also managed to get a number of charts to automatically adjust the y-axis values based on a cell value.  The reason for this is that when charting something that has a constant range between 99 and 100% you'll barely notice the differences if the scale starts at 0, as it would if using the standard Excel settings.  If you set the minimum scale value to 98% then you'll be able to see the trend in more useful detail.  However, if you get a value less than 98%, then you'll not see it on the chart.  Unless you set up some code that will change the minimum axis value to equal the minimum chart value :)

Now the trouble with this in a password protected workbook is that the charts won't update, the axis will remain fixed.  So I had to add code to the sheet with the charts to unprotect the sheet before adjusting the scale, and then protect the sheet again at the end.  It's all quite easy once you get the hang of it.  Coding is very modular; you can copy chunks from one part to another and increase the functionality of the Dashboard immeasurably.

When I get chance I'll upload some videos of it in practice and show you the magician behind the curtain.  Until then, you'll have to take my word for it :D

That's a lot of minutes spent watching my videos!

Well I've just noticed a new chart on the analytics section of my Youtube channel and noticed that my videos have been viewed for over 27,000 minutes!  That seems like quite a lot :)

Updated social media bits and pieces

An emergency at home this week meant that I was housebound for a couple of days.  I caught up with some work for Astrak and Castledene, and also had a play with some of my PMi Ltd social media bits and pieces.  You may have noticed that this blog looks a bit different for starters.  Also take a look at my Facebook business page as I've added a Blog, Youtube and Twitter feed.  It's all exciting stuff!  Click here to see it.

Follow my Youtube Channel!

If you're looking for some informative videos showing varying aspects of the dashboards that PMi Ltd offer then sign up to my Youtube channel.  18k+ views and 29 followers so far ... follow the link to join in :)

JedShieldsPMi Youtube Channel

Here's a sneak peek at one of the things I've been working on at Three.  There's a massive amount of data that needs to be monitored and assessed with regards to network capacity planning, so that your phones and mobile broadband won't grind to a halt during peak periods.  The sort of dashboards I build are perfect for helping the team assess the information easily in order to make informed decisions.

Three contract

I've just signed the paper work for a two month on-site contract with Three, the mobile phone company, where I'll be creating a number of KPI Dashboards and reporting solutions.  I'm looking forward to starting on Wednesday in Maidenhead.

Google Adwords Express campaign

Well I've finally dipped my toe and am trialling this for a month, since Google was kind enough to send me a voucher.  I think Google Adwords rather than Adwords Express will be more beneficial to me, but this is a good starter for ten. 

If anyone out there spots one of my adverts then please don't click on it as it'll cost me money! 

If you're reading this then you know how to contact me if you're after a Dashboard :)