Category: Excel

Adding Check Boxes

1 of 4: Adding Check Boxes

In these four post we will will create an interactive report using Check boxes and DSUM (and without the using macros). In this first of four, we start with adding Check Boxes.

Since Excel 2007, the use of macros in spreadsheets have added an additional element of complexity. Macros must now be stored in XLSM format, which raises a red flag in excel as a potential threat. In this series of posts, we eschew VBA and ActiveX automation, in exchange for ‘old fashioned’ excel programming, using form controls and statistical functions.

Check Box

Adding Check boxes to your spreadsheet can make it easier for you and your reviewers to edit spreadsheet data. The Check box tool is found on the Developer Tab. To add the Developer tab, click File, Options, Customize Ribbon, and check Developer.

To Add a Check box

  1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Insert Check box (Form Control).
  2. Using the mouse, Click & Drag to draw a Check box control. A Check box control is placed, consisting of the Check box and the label text.
    Tip: Hold down the ALT key as you Click & Drag to draw an object equal in size to the selected cell.
  3. Right + Click on the Check box control and select Edit Text. An insertion point appears.
  4. Delete the Check box label text (e.g. Check Box 1).
  5. Click & Drag rightmost selection handle to reduce the size of the Check box control.
  6. Enter your text into the cell that contains the Check box.
    Tip: To indent the text, on the Home ribbon, click the Alignment dialog launcher and increase the cell Indent to 2.

 

alignmentNext: Linking the Check Box to a Cell!

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Additional reading:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

April Fools’ Tips & Tricks

 Happy April 1st.

First the tip: When leaving your PC unattended, press WINDOWS KEY + L to lock your screen and keyboard. This will prevent you from falling prey to any seasonal pranks (like these).

Now the tricks: Here is a short list of relatively harmless April Fools’ pranks you could play on a friend’s unlocked PC.

Windows

Change the Double+Click speed

“My mouse is broken”

  1. Click Start, type “mouse”, select Settings filter, then click Change Mouse Settings.
  2. Select the Buttons Tab.
  3. In the Double-Click area move the slider bar to the fastest setting.
  4. Click OK.

Flip the Screen

They might need to stand on their heads for a bit

  • Press CTRL + ALT + DOWN ARROW to rotate the display 180°
  • To return screen to normal press CTRL + ALT + UP ARROW

Excel

Cursor Up on Enter

Gravity will seem to have taken a holiday as Enter moves the cursor up instead of down.

  1. File/ Options / Advanced.
  2. In the Editing section, check After Pressing Enter move selection,
  3. For Direction select Up.
  4. Ok.

Ribbonus-Interruptus

Formula entry is problematic when pressing = moves the focus from the sheet to the Ribbon.

  1. File/ Options / Advanced.
  2. In the Lotus Compatibility section, in the Microsoft menu key field type  =.
  3. Ok.

 

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

MS Office on the iPad

Microsoft Office, for the iPad is finally here!

After years of working with 3rd party viewers, you can now open and view Documents, Spreadsheets and Slides using MS Office for iPad. Tap the Share button to open an attachment in its respective Office application. The look and feel are just like using a streamlined (portable) version of your desktop Office.  That is to say, it won’t have all the same features, but for on-the-go computing it works great.

The apps are free, however, to unlock the full potential you’ll need to subscribe to Office 365. This is the Office via Cloud (aka SAS) and will enable you to create, save and edit files.

I have never been a big fan of editing on a tablet and Word for the iPad has yet to convince me otherwise. I do, however, appreciate being able to view and create spreadsheets while away from my desktop, using Excel for the iPad. But the real winner thus far (less than 24 hours into install) is PowerPoint for the iPad. Now I can display a presentation directly from my iPad to a projector/monitor and use familiar presentation controls, complete with laser pen, highlighter and notes (sweet!)

Comments and questions are always welcome!hɔuᴉnb

 

Excel NCAA templates

March Madness is upon us!

In 1892 Coach James Naismith hammered two peach baskets into the gym balcony, and forever changed how we use Excel!

NCAA_LooneyToons

Using these free templates available in Excel, you can plot out your final four projections!

To access NCAA templates

  1. Click File and select New.
  2. In the Search Office Templates field type ‘NCAA‘ (no quotes) and press the search arrow. The search results will populate the dialog.
  3. Select preferred template and click Download.

ncaa

from Wikipedia:

[Naismith] divided his class of 18 into 2 teams of 9 players each and set about to teach them the basics of his new game of Basketball. The objective of the game was to throw the [ball], into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was halted so the janitor could bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. Later, the bottoms of the fruit baskets were removed. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, MA, on March 11, 1892. That day, he asked his class to play a match in the Armory Street court: 9 versus 9, using a soccer ball and two peach baskets.

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Additional reading:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Excel Indents

Excel Indents

Want to make your spreadsheet more legible? Indents, added where appropriate, will make your spreadsheet easier to mentally digest.
Sadly, it won’t make bad financial news easier to swallow.

Watch this 15 second video to learn the what you need to know.

Indent a cell

  1. Select the cell(s) to indent
  2. On the Home tab, in the Alignment Group, click the dialog launcher Dialog Launcher
    (or press CTRL + SHIFT + F to display the Font dialog and click the Alignment tab).
  3. In the Text alignment section, click the Horizontal drop-down and select Left (Indent).
  4. In the Indent field, type or select preferred indent increment (i.e., 1, 2).
  5. Click OK.

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Additional reading:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Excel Sparklines

Be Trendy!

Sparklines

Sparklines are an easy way to add visual trend-lines to your tabular data.
And what better way to distract your audience than by dangling something sparkly in front of them!

Watch this 60 second video to learn the what you need to know.

Inserting Sparklines to your Excel data

  1. On the Insert tab, in the Sparklines group, click Sparkline type (e.g., Line). The Create Sparklines dialog appears.
  2. In the Data Range field enter the values to be charted.
  3. In the Location Range field enter cell range where char is to be displayed.
  4. Click OK.

Tip: With an inserted sparkline selected, the Sparklines Tools: Design tab appears on the Ribbon. Use the tools on this tab to change colors and add markers.

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Additional reading:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Bubble Charts

Break out the Bubbly!

Its well past the new year so a little bubbly is long overdue. Bubble charts are great in that they allow you to graph in 3 dimensions: Length, Height and Breadth (or area). Although the steps below are written with Excel in mind, they can also be applied to PowerPoint.

Watch this 3½ minute video to learn the basics regarding interpreting and creating bubble charts.

Creating a Bubble Chart

  1. Input your data, placing the X-axis data in the first column, Y-axis data in the second column, and the area (bubble size) in the third column.
  2. Select the data.
  3. On the Insert tab, in the Chart group, Click XY and select from Bubble types. A Bubble chart is added to the worksheet

Note: If necessary click Switch Row/Column (on the Chart Tools:Design tab) to swap the series data.

Adding Data Labels

  1. CLICK on one of the bubbles in the series. The entire series becomes selected.
  2. RIGHT+CLICK  one of the selected bubbles and select Add Data Labels. Data labels will appear.
  3. To format label appearance and content, RIGHT+CLICK on a bubble and select Format Data Labels.

Formatting the Bubble Appearance (Fill)

  1. CLICK on one of the bubbles in the series. The entire series becomes selected..
  2. CLICK (again) on the bubble. The single bubble will be selected.
  3. RIGHT+CLICK on the selected bubble and select Format Data Point. The Format Data Point dialog/pane appears.
  4. Select Fill and set the fill options (e.g., color, pattern, fill, etc).
  5. Close.
  6. Repeat as necessary for remaining bubbles.

Cheers!
hɔuᴉnb

Additional reading:

Comments and questions are always welcome!