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Intermediate Excel

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Introducing Pivot Tables

2:01 with Tyler Tallon

A pivot table is a dynamic report that can summarize and display data in various ways. Let's take a look at how interactive pivot tables are used and practice rearranging data quickly so that we can analyze interrelationships between the data.

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Please note that this is a new spreadsheet, different from the one you used in the previous stage:

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    [MUSIC] 0:00
    Let's talk about one of my favorite 0:03
    tool in Excel the Pivot Table. 0:08
    A pivot table is a dynamic report that can summarize and 0:13
    display data in various ways. 0:17
    I love how interactive pivot tables are. 0:19
    They allow you to rearrange data quickly so 0:22
    that you can analyze interrelationships between the data. 0:24
    A few people here at Treehouse have told me they're excited for 0:28
    me to explain how pivot tables work. 0:31
    Pivot tables are an awesome tool because of how they expose relationships 0:33
    between data. 0:37
    Let's talk about how they work. 0:39
    Here we have a spreadsheet that shows sales for a fictional store. 0:41
    And if you'll like to follow along we can find a link to this spreadsheet in 0:45
    the project files. 0:48
    Before we create the pivot table, 0:50
    we need to make sure that the data is formatted correctly. 0:52
    For the pivot table to work properly, 0:55
    we need to make sure that each column represents a category. 0:57
    And that each column has a header, telling us what that category is. 1:01
    In addition to properly formatted columns, you'll also need properly formatted rows. 1:05
    Each row should contain an entity, or instance of a particular record. 1:10
    Also, make sure there are no blank columns or rows, or summary columns or rows. 1:15
    Let's look at an example of a spreadsheet that is not formatted properly. 1:22
    On the Store Data2 tab you'll notice we have a blank column for 1:26
    column D and we have blank rows and subtotals. 1:30
    Also, there are no category headers for the first three columns. 1:33
    We would not be able to use this data for a pivot table until we cleaned it up. 1:38
    Now let's look at one that is formatted properly. 1:42
    You'll notice there are no blank rows or columns and no summary or sub total rows. 1:45
    You'll also notice we have headers for each category. 1:51
    Now that we have conferred our data is formatted properly, 1:54
    let's move on to the next video where I'll show how to build a pivot table 1:57

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