Open Thread: How are you using Excel?
Submitted by Merlin on August 22, 2006 - 3:10am.
Yesterday, I mentioned I’d been talking with someone who’s looking at interesting things people are doing with Microsoft Excel. I talked to her again yesterday, and with her official okey-dokey, I’ll virtually introduce Tralee Pearce (*waves*), a reporter from Toronto’s Globe & Mail whom you might remember from a very swell article about the Hipster PDA.
So, by request – and to help Tralee with fleshing out her fun-sounding article – I hope you all will jump in here: What kind of cool, novel, and non-obvious stuff are you doing with Excel? What’s the wildest, most obsessive, most nerdy thing you ever saw someone do with our favorite spreadsheet program?
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I forgot I completely planned...
I forgot I completely planned my wedding in Excel! Obviously I used it to keep track of addresses, but then I also tracked RSVPs and set up a spreadsheet to adjust the budget according to the expected guest list.
A friend of mine is a stage manager and uses it to “draw” out blocking patterns.
Another Newbie Tip: Follow the rules of using data tables. That means no blank columns or rows (and background colors don’t make it not blank!), headers at the top, records arranged in rows. Your ability to sort and filter will make it worth it.