Some people use Excel for simple things, like a shopping list, or a bit of homework. Other people are more ambitious, and spend their days analyzing data. It’s funny though – the shopping list people seem happier than the analysts. But either of those activities is better than helping your dad with his Excel problems….
Now that more people are using the Excel 2010 beta, they’re tweeting about it. Some are excited about the new features, others…not so much. Some of my clients use Walmart Retail Link reports, so I’ll have to warn them about the problem in 2010. And speaking of features, that person who needs the opposite of…
People love pivot tables, with the exception of a few, including the person who posted the first tweet shown below. The rest of us are glowing, while living the easy life. A Good Pivot Table Excel and pivot tables were created by someone with a deep-rooted hatred for people. It’s been three days, and I’m…
Welcome to the weekend edition of Excel Twitters. It’s time to relax with friends and family, have some fun, and think about non-work things. Speaking of fun, I don’t think that any Excel message provides more entertainment value than that “Minor loss of fidelity” alert. (Note: You can find a bit of help with Excel…
Another day in Twitter, another word to Google. I’d never heard of Heinzelmännchen – had you? However, there have been more than a few Excel files that tested my swagger! It’s a Living sometime an excel analysis may not mean anything and can be made to say anything that you wanna point to………. still got…
Some days we like formulas, some days we hate them, and some days we don’t even know which formula to use. Oh well, at least we have our friends to support us during the tough times. Or do we? Tomorrow Will Suck Finished a budget management solution in Excel incorporating forecast and actuals variance analysis,…
Excel tweets are not only entertaining, they’re educational. For example, I thought rigmarole was correctly spelled rigamarole, but either spelling is accepted, at least in North America. And this batch of tweets had me googling for Balboa Turkey Trot, W2tF, Rick Flair, and FFXII. So little time, so much to learn! New Words I managed…
Millions of entries, thousands of rows, too many files. Sometimes Excel chokes on the numbers and sometimes it shocks us with its powers. And I’ve had those pivot table brain cramps, but have never run into male and female cells. Take a Nap productivity would improve by 15% minimum if Office 2007 was capable of…
It’s Monday, so we’re back to work in Excel, complaining about our bosses, clients and homework assignments. That student might be in for a shock though, if he does become self-employed. Can he really avoid Excel? Even Tiger Woods was mentioned in the Excel tweets. That’s a sign that he’s becoming successful! Sadly Lacking Sometimes,…
It’s Sunday – a day to relax with your family, or a nice Excel workbook. In today’s Excel tweets, people are helping their parents, and debating whether working in Excel is heaven or hell. Family Time Just received a "helpdesk" call from my mom. Seems she hit Ctrl-P on an Excel spreadsheet without setting a…
Finally, it’s the weekend – time for some Excel fun and games. I’m not sure why an Excel party would be adult only. Maybe that’s because of all the swearing that can occur when the formulas don’t work. And Excel is manly? Who knew? But it’s nice to see people spelling colour correctly. 
Excel-lent…
It’s Black Friday in the USA. In Canada, our closest equivalent shopping experience is Boxing Day, on December 26th. We buy piles of half-priced Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and ornaments, then store them away. By next Christmas, we can’t remember where they are, so we go out and buy new stuff. Very economical. Anyway, here…
Excel helps you prepare for the holidays, and it gives you plenty to be thankful for. Well, most of the time. Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re celebrating today, and welcome to the Thanksgiving 2009 edition of Excel Twitters. Thanksgiving Break My wife has created an excel spreadsheet for her thanksgiving meal preparation. This feast is going…
Let’s not save all the Excel Twitter posts for one day a week. I think we need them more often, in smaller batches. So, here’s an interesting collection for today. You read these, while I try to remember where everything is in the library. Or maybe I’ll just cry in the bathroom. Frustrating! Anyway, I…
Do your Excel files use all 1 million rows? Do any of your calculations take 46 hours? Some people are really pushing Excel to the limits in Twitter this week. Others, perhaps the smart ones, are just dancing and drinking champagne. And now that I think about it, I’d like to know why the vertical…
Flight of the Bumblebee, Excel haiku, quadratic calculators – there were some high class Excel tweets this week. Of course, there were some not-so-high class tweets too – wiggly lines, insanity by excel and yelling at homework. But don’t worry if your balances are off by $100 or so, you probably have different versions of…
Hmmm. “Boaring but neccisary.” Perhaps that tweeter should be doing spelling tutorials, instead of Excel. Or maybe they could create an Excel file of swear words, where spelling isn’t so important. And if anyone asks you how to insert an Excel sheet into Word, you can refer them to Shauna Kelly’s Word tips website, for…
Highlight all the cells in a row, if one cell is above or below a specific value. To do this, use Excel conditional formatting, as described in this short Excel video tutorial. For detailed instructions, please visit the page Excel Conditional Formatting Based on another cell ____________________
To highlight cells with a value that is too high or too low, you can use Excel Conditional Formatting. This short video shows you the steps. For detailed instructions see Excel Conditional Formatting Basics. ________________
You can create a user form in Excel, to control how users are able to enter data. These 3 short Excel video tutorials show you the steps. For detailed instructions please visit the web page Create an Excel UserForm. _________________
When you link to data in a pivot table, you may see a GETPIVOTDATA formula, instead of a simple cell reference. To turn this feature off, follow the instructions in this short video. For written instructions, please see Turn Off GetPivotData Formulas for Excel Pivot Tables. ________________
If you find Excel VBA code on a website or a sample file, you can copy it to your own Excel file. Follow the steps in this short Excel video tutorial to copy the code. For detailed instructions please read the article Excel VBA – Adding Code to a Workbook ______________
If I need a list of unique items from a long list, I usually use an Advanced Filter, because it leaves the original list alone, and extracts a list of unique records. But, if you want to remove duplicate items quickly and easily, there’s a new tool in Excel 2007. Excel 2007 In Excel 2007,…
You can quickly change values in Excel, without using formulas. Follow the steps in this short video to add, subtract, multiply or divide, by a specific amount or percentage. For detailed instructions, please visit Excel data entry tips. ______________
I’m not doing weekly Twitter posts any longer, because of all the spam in Twitter. However, here are a couple of recent Excel related tweets with interesting links. Who knew that you could do knitting with Excel? Create your own lace knitting chart with Excel. http://bit.ly/aKCqU Forget Excel: 14 Online Spreadsheet Applications http://bit.ly/cIpMO#mb _________________
If you copy data from another program to Excel, Excel might treat the numbers as text, and totals that use these numbers will be incorrect. This video shows the simple steps to change the text "numbers" to real numbers. For written instructions, visit Convert Text to Numbers ______________________
An Excel worksheet might have headings in column A, and subheadings in column B, with blank cells under each heading. If you want to sort or filter that data, you’ll need to fill in the blank cells. This short video shows you a quick way to clean up the data. For written instructions please read…
When you open a file in Excel, you might see an "Enable or Disable a Macro” message, but you know that there are no macros in the file. Follow the steps in this video, to prevent this message from appearing. For written instructions see: Remove Excel macro warning ______________
It’s easy to name a group of cells in Excel, then use that name for navigation. This Excel video tutorial shows you the steps. For a written Excel tutorial on naming ranges, see naming ranges in Excel. ______________
In Excel 2003, or earlier versions, you can move the color and border palettes close to the cells you’re formatting. To see the steps, watch this short Excel video tutorial. For written instructions, see the move the color and border palettes in Excel notes on the Contextures website. ______
Excel’s popup cell comments aren’t just for text. You can also display pictures in an Excel comment. This short Excel video tutorial explains the simple steps. For detailed written instructions see: Add a picture to a comment ______
Are Excel nerds Rock Stars? Should we hear applause after each brilliant performance? People were celebrating the small Excel victories in Twitterville this week. Speaking of celebrations, it’s Ken Puls’ birthday today, and Nick Hodge is getting married this weekend, so best wishes to them. I’m not a historian, so can’t vouch for the accuracy…
What did we learn in Twitter this week? Excel can improve your health, or make you feel like a time-poor hack. Good thing a sense of humour will help you get through the week, even if your 17-year-old self wouldn’t recognize you. And no, that tired and cranky tweeter wasn’t me! Now remember, don’t let…
For your amusement, here’s a word search puzzle that’s filled with the names of Excel worksheet functions. You can work on it at the office, and if anyone asks, just tell them you’re working on some complex Excel functions. Or, print out copies for all of your co-workers, and use it as an ice breaker…
Excel will soon be in the clouds, where we’ll spend our days, floating and calculating. Well, that’s the way I picture it. Meanwhile, back on earth, Nascar, webmaster interns and the IMF are struggling along with older versions of Excel. And now, faster than you can spell Concatenate or hide a worksheet, here’s this week’s…
Oh, those Excel chart people, always complaining about something. Maybe it’s the heat that’s making them cranky. Good thing the rest of us are happy! Well, most of the rest of us – there were a few other complaints along the way. 82d3i9phx4 As usual, you can learn a few interesting things, such as how…