Interactive Chart with filtering

Hi guys, new to the site so let me know if I'm doing anything wrong and I'll improve!

So I have a large chart of data with tens of thousands of cells. My task is to create a tool that will create a dynamic and interactive column chart that is linked to either drop down boxes or a search bar. These should be able to filter the data by several different fields and preferably be able to select more than one option in each criteria.

I have tried several approaches to this including using Excel VBA, slicers and combining data validation boxes with the VLOOKUP function however I have run into problems with each one.

I understand how to do this using pivot charts however the project requires me to do it without.

Any pointer in the right direction as to what technique is best would be much appreciated. I am using Excel 2010.

Thanks so much!

The task essentially needs a dashboard that is quick and easy to filter. Having a few drop down boxes next to each other that a search can be applied to would be easier than the regular filters due to the number of fields that need to be sifted through. Any other suggestions would be very helpful thanks!

Originally Posted by MrShorty

Dashboards are well outside my expertise, so I will defer to others. It might help you get a better response if you pose a more specific question. What part of building this dashboard are you stuck on? If it helps, I put "Excel dashboard" into my favorite internet search engine and found this tutorial amongst many others: http://chandoo.org/wp/excel-dashboards/

Thanks for your advice, will definitely try this.

Originally Posted by dflak

Have you tried putting your data into Excel Tables and building the chart off the table? I ran a quick test with slicers against the same table used to make the chart and it selected just fine.

This worked for me too. The issue with slivers is there isn't a way of searching through items which makes it not very user friendly when you have so many pieces of data. Is there any way of adding a search bar to this?