Mike Alexander, from the Bacon Bits Excel blog, has just released a major update to his Dashboard Tools add-in. And the great news is that you can get a free copy for the next few days! Mike is making this available until May 7th, at midnight (Central Time Zone).

来自Bacon Bits Excel博客的Mike Alexander刚刚发布了其Dashboard Tools加载项的重大更新。 好消息是，接下来的几天您将获得免费副本！ Mike 可以在5月7日午夜(中央时区)使用此功能。

它有什么作用？ (What Does It Do?)

Mike describes this add-in as "a utility that helps you quickly and easily create stylized graphics for your dashboard, find viable color schemes, and create dashboard mock ups."

Mike将此外接程序描述为“一种实用程序，可帮助您快速轻松地为仪表板创建风格化的图形，找到可行的配色方案并创建仪表板模型。”

I don't have any artistic skills, so these tools let me add some nice graphics to a dashboard, without spending hours fussing with the built-in Excel shapes. Then, I can spend my time on the important work -- putting the numbers onto the dashboard.

我没有任何艺术技能，因此这些工具使我可以在仪表板上添加一些精美的图形，而不必花费大量时间来处理内置的Excel形状。 然后，我可以将时间花在重要的工作上-将数字显示在仪表板上。

没有任何附加条件 (No Strings Attached)

I downloaded a copy, to see what's new, and didn't even have to provide an email address – just click the link on Mike's blog post, to instantly download your copy of the Dashboard Tools.

我下载了一份副本，以查看最新消息，甚至不必提供电子邮件地址-只需单击Mike博客文章上的链接，即可立即下载Dashboard Tools的副本。

Then, unzip the file, and put a copy of the DataPigDashboardTools.xlam file in your AddIns folder. Open Excel, and activate the add-in in Excel. There are instructions on my Contextures website, for installing an add-in.

然后，解压缩该文件，然后将DataPigDashboardTools.xlam文件的副本放入您的AddIns文件夹中。 打开Excel，然后在Excel中激活加载项。 我的Contextures网站上有关于安装外接程序的说明。

查看仪表盘工具 (See the Dashboard Tools)

After you activate the add-in, click the Insert tab on the Excel Ribbon, to see the DataPig Dashboard Tools group.

激活加载项后，单击Excel功能区上的“插入”选项卡，以查看“ DataPig仪表板工具”组。

The download file includes a short User Guide, so take a quick look at that to see all the features and commands.

下载文件包含简短的《用户指南》，因此请快速浏览一下以查看所有功能和命令。

仪表板工具的新增功能 (What's New in Dashboard Tools)

There are several new features in this version of the Dashboard Tools, and you can read more about them on Mike's blog:

此版本的“仪表板工具”中有几个新功能，您可以在Mike的博客上了解有关它们的更多信息：

• Shapes for infographics 图表的形状
• Map Shapes 地图形状
• Vector Icons 矢量图标

And, of course, the previous tools are still available:

而且，当然，以前的工具仍然可用：

• Capture Color 捕捉色彩
• Customize Percents 自定义百分比
• Mockup Tools 样机工具

尽快获得您的副本 (Get Your Copy Soon)

As I mentioned, Mike is giving this away for free only until May 7th. So, if it's something you need, get your copy soon!

正如我提到的，Mike仅在5月7日之前免费提供此赠品。 因此，如果您需要它，请尽快获取副本！

And please say thanks to Mike, when you download your copy.

当您下载副本时，请感谢Mike。