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Learning the Basics of Microsoft Excel

Article Description:
====================

If you have never used Microsoft Excel before, it is a computer
application that is part of the Microsoft Office package. Many
people think of MS Excel as simply a spreadsheet application that
is to be used by accountants and other number crunchers, but the
truth is that it is an application that can be so much more than
just a spreadsheet application.


Additional Article Information:
===============================

1006 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2008-09-30 11:12:00

Written By: Joe Cleland
Copyright: 2008
Contact Email: mailto:joe.cleland@...



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Learning the Basics of Microsoft Excel
Copyright (c) 2008 Joe Cleland
K Alliance, LLC
http://www.cbtplanet.com



If you have never used Microsoft Excel before, it is a computer
application that is part of the Microsoft Office package. Many
people think of MS Excel as simply a spreadsheet application that
is to be used by accountants and other number crunchers, but the
truth is that it is an application that can be so much more than
just a spreadsheet application.

Some people use Microsoft Excel to build reports, with beautiful,
well-formatted tables that can easily convey information in an
attractive manner. For this reason, many people in marketing and
sales use MS Excel as a tool in their works as well.

I have even known people to use an Excel spreadsheet to build
work schedules for their employees. Managers with the knowledge
of Microsoft Excel’s advanced features and tools, can utilize the
functionality of MS Excel to process functions to keep track of
the hours assigned to each employee to ensure that people are not
over-scheduled, such as in a restaurant environment where an
employee may a few short shifts in the day, as opposed to a
straight eight-hour day.

Simply put, the range and functionality of Microsoft Excel is so
varied that many people can find new uses for it, once they
understand how to best utilize its built-in advanced tools and
features.

Getting Started

When you first open Microsoft Excel for the first time, it will
seem such a plain and simple computer application, with columns
and rows.

If you plan to use Excel to build reports, you can actually put
your mouse on the black line dividing rows and columns, hold down
your mouse key, and resize the rows and columns to match your
actual display needs.

With the icons on the toolbars, you can set font size, color and
styles in very short order. To apply one of the toolbar features
to a data cell (a single box), just click that cell and then
select the feature you want added to that cell.

You can actually choose to apply settings to rows or columns, as
opposed to just cells. To do so for the row, just click the
number to the left of the form, and it will highlight the entire
row you wish to adjust the settings. To do the same for a column,
simply click the alphabet letter above the form to highlight the
full column, and then apply your choice settings to it.

Editing Information

The hardest thing to get used to when using Microsoft Excel, for
the first few times, is how to edit information easily. When you
add data to a data cell, the brain naturally wants to do all
editing in that little box on the form.

But, every time you click a data cell, the cell will be
highlighted with a dark black line, and the data inside that box
will be shown at the top of the form, in the long text box below
the menu bar.

You only need to teach yourself to click a data cell on the form,
then to click on the text box at the top of the form, so that you
can easily highlight text or edit it as you need to do.

Inserting New Information

If you have set up an entire spreadsheet, only to realize that
you left some information out of your form, you can add rows and
columns to your form on the fly, with only a few clicks. It is so
easy to do. You actually have more than one method available to
you to do most functions, including this one.

For example, if you need to add another column:

* You can select a data cell, right-click your mouse, click
“insert”, then tell it to “shift right” or “shift down” to insert
either a row or a column.

* You can also select the column head (where the alphabet letter
is at the top), then right click, and select “insert”. The
software will automatically insert a new column for you.

* If your right-click is not working on your mouse, you can
either select the data cell or column head as previously
mentioned, then click “insert” on your menu bar at the top of the
application.

The truth is that Microsoft has made Microsoft Office’s Excel so
intuitive that even John McCain, who claims he has never used a
computer, could figure out how to use it well in only a few days.

The same processes used to add information to a spreadsheet can
be used to also delete information (cells, rows, and columns)
from the form.

Introducing Advanced Capabilities

In the example of the restaurant manager, who uses Microsoft
Excel to build a schedule for his or her employees, one advanced
feature really pays for itself in no time at all.

Suppose the manager put the employee name in Column A, and then
sets Columns B to H to represent each of the seven days in a
calendar week.

On the menu bar, under Insert, there is a feature there called
“functions”. One can actually set up their spreadsheet to run
calculations on the data in the form. For the restaurant manager
seeking to use MS Excel as a scheduling tool, he or she can set
up a function to calculate the number of hours worked during the
workweek, by taking advantage of Excel’s internal functions.

Telling you exactly how to do this is a bit beyond the scope of
this article, but with some hands-on Excel Training, it is
something that you can learn to do within a few uses. You might
need to refer back to the training materials for the first couple
weeks, but once you have done it a few times, it will be like
second nature to you.

One thing that many users really appreciate about the Microsoft
Excel package, is that you can actually set up functions on your
spreadsheet and save the basic template to be opened at a later
date, with all of the formatting and functions built right into
your spread sheet.




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My name is Joe Cleland, and I work with K Alliance, LLC. You can
visit our website to learn more about our Excel Training program
program at: http://www.cbtplanet.com/excel.htm
We can also be reached by phone toll-free at: 866-718-7246



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