Links
This page contains resources that I have found useful in my personal and professional life. It contains everything from quotes and books that I like to podcasts and videos.
If you don’t want to scroll through the entire list, you can click on one of the links below to filter the resources by specific category.
I will update this list as I discover new resources. If you have a resource you think I should add, please email me.
Seth’s website is a great resource on marketing and business in general.
He has recently updated it to WordPress and it looks impressive.
Lots of videos, podcasts and his over 7,000 blog posts (yes 7,000).
2018-05-15
I prefer to call them Bridge charts rather than Waterfall charts, but Waterfall is the common name.
Excel added Waterfalls in Excel 2016.
I think the name Bridge is more descriptive since a bridge takes you from one place to another which is what the chart does with values.
Waterfalls in nature only fall down, whilst a waterfall chart has measures that rise and fall.
This blog post show many examples. Most examples are not done in Excel.
2018-05-08
A good blog post on the when and how to use dotted lines in charts.
Dotted lines are great for lines you want on the chart but not featured.
Also for showing forecast values on the same chart as actuals.
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
2018-04-27
2018-04-27
Don’t forget, many people (mainly men) have issues seeing all the colours.
2018-04-02
Jon Peltier is a legend when it comes to charts in Excel – check out his post on Gannt charts in Excel.
Gannt charts are a project management tool that help you visualise and understand the relationships between tasks and how the project time line is progressing.
Evernote
2018-02-12
2018-02-12
I use Evernote all the time.
This post lists 38 ideas that can simplify improve your life.
2017-12-12
If you are after some worthwhile reading check out this list.
I have three of them and a few are on my wish list.
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
2017-10-30
2017-10-30
A nice example of how a chart changes as you develop the story and message behind it.
Note the additional change at the bottom of the post.
Katherine S. Rowell, M.S., M.H.A.
2017-08-29
2017-08-29
If you are ever tempted to start a column (bar) chart at a point other than zero, please read this post.
It also has suggestions for alternative chart types to handle comparisons.
Adam Saxton - Microsoft
2017-06-12
2017-06-12
All the Power BI whitepapers in one place.
Jon Acampora
2017-04-27
2017-04-27
A common Excel request is to be able to type characters and see the in-cell data validation drop down list reduce, based on what you have typed.
This free add-in from Jon Acampora (Excel MVP) does just that. He has recently added a few new features.
If you have long drop down lists this add-in is a great addition to Excel.
This link has a video of how it works and the new features like Auto Open when a data validation list cell is selected.
David Iseminger - Microsoft
2017-03-29
2017-03-29
If you are into statistics then you probably already know about the R language – but if you don’t it may be worth looking at.
It is open source code that is built to handle statistics and big data. It has some limitations when used with Power BI but it can be used on its own.
This article looks at using visuals created with R in Power BI.
DAX is the function and query language of PowerPivot and PowerBI. It has been around for a while, but it didn’t really have many editing tools until DAX Studio came around.
DAX Studio has been created by the SQLBI.com guys – the legends in PowerBI.
I saw a demo today at the Perth Modern Excel User Group at Microsoft Perth – its great.
Whilst it is a powerful editor, it is not just a code editor.
There are lots of options to allow you to optimise your DAX code. Lots of output options as well.
You can test and see how long it takes to run your DAX commands.
If you regularly use DAX in Power BI or PowerPivot then DAX Studio is a must have.
Chris Webb
2017-04-11
2017-04-11
Chris Webb’s BI website is a great resource on Power BI, DAX and Power Query and Power Pivot
This post shows how to hack DAX to display characters. Opens up some new possibilities.
Gilbert Quevauvilliers
2017-04-11
2017-04-11
Compare the offerings of the Free vs Pro versions of Power BI.
The Pro version costs about AUD10 – 15 a month.
Thanks to Gilbert Quevauvilliers for creating the infographic + sharing.
Bill Manville
Thanks to Bill Manville for sharing the add-in.
This is a free add-in that’s been around for a long time and it finds most of those frustrating links that may have been created by
- deleted files or folders
- moved files or folders
- renamed files or folders
- sheets copied between files
- charts copied between files
The add-in has been updated over the years so it now handles Power Query.
Matt Allington
2017-04-04
2017-04-04
A free Excel template that can
- create a PivotTable linked to your data model
- show you the memory usage of your model
- plus a listing and a definition of the measures you are using
2017-04-03
Some great tips on language usage with DAX and the M language in Power Query with examples and explanations.
You can download pdfs.
There are lots of Excel blogs out there.
This page lists a lot of the best ones (unfortunately my site isn’t listed yet – but you never know).
2017-04-03
Ability to connect to the Power BI dataset and the ability to create a Query based on an example column. Interesting times ahead.
Quick measures also added.
2017-03-22
When using charts/graphs in your presentations make sure you communicate the point of the chart/graph. Don’t assume the reader will get the point.
http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/blog/2017/3/22/so-what
The above blog post explains and demonstrates the issue well.
Power Query (Get & Transform) uses the M language to allow you to customise and build in flexibility to your queries.
Currently writing the M language is tricky to write. It is case sensitive and there is no built-in help to assist you using the language.
Apparently Microsoft is working on creating an M editor, but there is no time line on when it will be ready.
This article takes you through some steps to create your own editor using Notepad ++.
If you use Power Query a lot then this may be worthwhile.
2017-03-06
There is a new Matrix Visual report with more options. It has a separate icon so you can compare to the existing Matrix.
The new Numeric Range slicer looks interesting too.
Some informative charts showing how the world has change in the last 200 years.
Worth a look – some good trends there.
I have been listening to Tim Ferriss’s podcasts for a few years now.
Its brilliant!
As well as having many famous people on, he also has people who aren’t so famous but are amazing nonetheless.
Many episodes go over 2 hours.
Highly recommend – great for car travel.
There is occasional swearing, not much, but if you don’t like that, you have been warned.
The content is well worth ignoring the occasional swear word.
Ron DeBruin is an Excel MVP and has been for a long time.
His site has lots of excellent macro code and free Add-ins.
He has tips and macro examples for the Mac as well as Windows.
I have used his pdf creator code to create pdfs of certain sheets in a file.
If you want to learn about modifying the ribbon he has some great tips and examples.
He also has code examples for amending Excel’s pop-up menus.
Seth Godin
September 29, 2016
September 29, 2016
A short read – never stop learning, reading and asking questions.
September 30, 2016
Some great additions to the Power BI features this month.
More maps; dependencies view; show errors; Load More option to identify more columns in your data and converting a column into a list to name few.
A great site that has lots of free videos and other Excel content.
It covers the newer Power features of Excel plus the old standards of VBA and Dashboards.
A listing of all the DAX functions with their syntax.
DAX functions are used in Power BI and PowerPivot for Excel.
It is a reference site, not a training site.
It has been created by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari – legends in Power BI and all things DAX.
Link to DAX Guide