What is Excel? And why would I use a spreadsheet?

Most of us understand that word processing software makes it much easier to create documents such as letters, forms, invitations, greeting cards and anything that contains text. Well – Excel does the same thing for us – making it easier to work lists, figures, numbers for list management, budget, statistics, data – anytime any type of calculation needs to be done. Although Excel spreadsheets/worksheets used to be used primarily for accounting and other analytical information where calculations needed to be made easily; but many of us find them a wonderful resource for list and other data management.

Like so many software application programs, Excel opens with a blank document – but in Excel that blank document is a blank worksheet, which is actually a grid of rows and columns.

In Excel, the rows of you spreadsheet/worksheet are serially numbered 1,2,3 .... and the columns are serially lettered A,B,C..... This numbering enables each space or cell to have its unique address; thus D15 represents the cell in the 4th column and the 15th row.

In Excel, using the ‘=’ sign, simple mathematical equations or formula can be used and sums, differences, products etc. calculated. Thus typing say, ‘=23+56’ in any cell will give the result of 79. The same work can be done by typing in the numbers 23 in cell A1, 56 in A2 and ‘=A1+A2’ in cell A3 and in fact what you have done is create a “formula”

Using a formula with cell references allows us to change the value in either cell A1 or A2 to get the revised result. This has significant advantages when using a complex formula or the same formula across multiple cells. The more recent your version of Excel, the easier it is to create and/or use formulas included in the software command list.

So many of the basic commands that we use all the time in Word Processing whether you use Microsoft Word Pad, Word or Word Perfect, such as Open, Save, Copy, Paste, Find, Replace Undo, Redo, Center, Left, Right etc.. are also available and work the same in Excel, Excel also offers a variety of basic commands that are designed to work with spreadsheets – whether you are managing a list of data or one with numbers and some of those are Paste Special, Filter, Sort, Wrap Text, Autofill, and Freeze panes.

And with the newer versions - Excel 2003, 2007 and 2010 - each new version adds more and more "templates" so that we don't have to recreate the wheel - so whether you are creating a budget for the holidays, a special event, your vacation or next years income & expenses - or various lists for managing data - there are hundreds of templates to choose from with the formulas already built in...

So whether you are trying to create a basic budget or want a way to quickly and easily maintain you all of your contact lists in one document – Excel is the answer.. So give it a try... it's easier than you think and can be used for so many things..

Excel – Counting “X’s” in a Column

A question that comes up quite often with respect to Excel spreadsheets – is how to create a formula that will add up/count the number of cells in a column containing "X’s":

If you have a specific column or columns, that you have put an X in and want to count the total # of X’s in a specific column, for example for attendance or other criteria, the formula you would enter in the “total cell” is noted below. Be sure however to enter the correct column & line ID’s…

Example – In your excel spreadsheet – Column C, you have put several X’s in Rows 1 thru 28, and want to now count the # of X’s in Column C, the correct formula that would be noted in the total cell C29 would be:

=COUNTIF(C1:C28,"X")

Sorting Data in Excel

Excel makes it very easy to sort data that is entered in multiple columns, by using the SORT buttons (A-Z or Z-A)… So be sure when you are entering your data, to put information in as many individual columns as possible – In my opinion you can never have too many columns to sort data with..

Make sure before you give the command to SORT that you have highlighted the active sheet, so that all information in the columns and rows will then “move” when the information is sorted…

Excel Sort Data by One Column:

• Select all the cells in the list
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select the column you want to sort. Note: If the dropdown is showing Column letters instead of headings, change the setting for My list has, from No header row to Header row.
• Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order

Excel Sort Data by multiple Columns:

Such as when we are entering data for our contacts to prepare a mailing list – we might want to sort by Last Name, First Name and then Spouses Name which are in 3 three columns. So we will sort it all at once, but giving different levels 1 would be Last Name; 2 would be First Name and then last the Spouses Name…starting with the most important sort.

• Select all the cells in the list.
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select Last Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select First Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select Spouses Name.
• Click OK

Note about Excel 2007 and 2010

• The SORT BUTTON is on the HOME TAB to the far right in the Editing quadron and also in the DATA TAB in the Sort & Filter quadron
• When the Sort Dialog Box Opens you will see one SORT field, but you can add as many levels for sorting as you would like.…

What is a Word Table

A table done in word processing software (Word, Works or Word Perfect) is simply a combination of columns and rows (in excel it is called a spreadsheet) and many times using a table within a word document is the easiest way to align text... My staff has always joked that I am the "table queen" because I use tables for everything - creating questionnaires, newsletters, calendars and whenever I want to keep information aligned within a letter or document such as lists..

Aligning text in a word processing document can be tedious if you try to do it using tabs and spaces. Fortunately, Word allows you to insert tables in your document. A table will help you align columns and rows of text with ease.

If you’ve never used Word’s tables feature before, it can be intimidating knowing where to start. And even if you have used the tables feature, you can find new ways to use it more effectively.

There are many ways to insert tables in your Microsoft Word document:

• In Word 97-2003: To insert a table using this method, simply click the Insert Table toolbar button when your cursor is positioned at the place in your document where you would like the table to begin
• In Word 2007: To insert a table – go to the Insert Tab, then choose the Insert Table Button

With either of these options, a grid will now appear that allows you to select how many rows and columns you would like your table to contain. Simply use your mouse to select the number of rows and columns by highlighting the boxes (text at the bottom of the grid will indicate what your selection is). When you have specified the correct number of rows and columns, simply click once, and your table will be inserted.

While this method will create a table with uniform columns and rows, you can still customize your table after it is inserted by right-clicking on the table handle (the double-headed arrow at the top left corner of the table) and using the options on the shortcut menu to make changes. Hint: if you don’t immediately see what you need on the shortcut menu, select Table Properties for more advanced options.

It's not important to put in all the rows you need, because when you tab in the last column of the last row - you will automatically add a new row to the bottom of your table

If you decide in the future that you want to add many more columns - not a problem - you can copy your entire table to Microsoft Excel - which allows you 256 columns...more than enough to do whatever you need

What is Excel?

EXCEL – is the #1 spreadsheet program used in the world today - typically it is part of the Office Suite with Word, Power Point etc. Fir those of you with WORKS, yours is called spreadsheet and works very much the same way. Many icons and features seem the same as in WORD - they are and work the same. At first excel may seem intimidating, but once you learn the basics you will find countless uses for it. Excel is just a large table – having more columns (256) and rows (16,000). When a column and row meet – that area is called a “cell”

WORKBOOK VS. WORKSHEET - In Excel, a workbook can consist of any number of worksheets (similar to a word document having a number of pages). Each worksheet has a tab that appears at the bottom of the workbook window in the left corner. To activate a different worksheet, just left click on the tab. To rename a worksheet, right click on the tab, choose rename & type the new name – To change the order of the worksheets, just drag the worksheet to the location you want it.

THE MORE COLUMNS THE BETTER – whenever we are working in excel. When you work with lists/texts – such as contact lists, the more information you separate the more flexibility you will have for sorting your information later on.