Creating a semaphore thermometer chart

For example, a worksheet set up to track daily progress toward a goal: 1000 new sales in 10 days. Cell C16 contains the goal value, and cell C17 contains a simple sum formula:

= SUM (C5:C14)

Cell C19 contains a formula that calculates the percent of goal (see Creating a simple thermometer chart):

= C17 / C16:

To create the chart like this one, do the following:

   1.   Add additional data to see different colors for different volumes (in this example, cells C20:C23):

   2.   Select cells C20:C23.

   3.   On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click the Insert Bar or Column Chart button:

Choose Stacked Column:

   4.   Do one of the following:

• Right-click in the chart area. In the popup menu select Select Data...:
  

  Then in the Select Data Source dialog box, click the Switch Row/Column button:

  
• On the Chart Design tab, in the Data group, click the Switch Row/Column button:
  

   5.   Remove the horizontal (x) axis and the legend. Make any other adjustments to get the look you desire (see Creating a simple thermometer chart for more details).

   6.   Right-click in the data series and choose Format Data Series... in the popup menu:

   7.   On the Format Data Series pane, on the Fill tab, choose the color you prefer:

   8.   In the Format Data Series pane, choose different colors for every series. You can choose different series by selecting each data series on the chart or in that pane by clicking the arrow next to Chart Options:

Make any other adjustments to get the look you desire.

See also this tip in French: Comment créer un graphique de thermomètre de sémaphore.