E-Mail From Janet
I got a nice email from Janet, who works in the utility industry:
My life's motto is that I can take a pile of um....er.....dung and make something out of it.
Apparently, my employer is aware of this because they threw me into a job of compiling data from various spreadsheets. I need to format this conglomeration into a nice looking and accurate report.
The only experience I had with formulas was the SUM and COUNTA functions. Pitiful!
I put on my job performance review that using formulas and macros was something I would like to learn in the future. They took me at my word and threw me in the pool before I learned how to swim! I am surrounded by books and print outs from MS Help. However, I find that I can find answers to most of my problems from your Excel 2003 Formulas book.
The Index is easy to use and it is written in a clear, concise manner, without using words that try to dazzle and impress me. I don't want to be impressed, I just want to get my spreadsheets to work.
You have helped this old dinosaur keep myself current in my workplace. I have been working here since 1982 and want to get 30 years in.
Thanks for all your help, Mr. Walkenbach!!
I'm glad you found my book helpful, Janet.
PUP Sale Was Successful
The 2-hour PUP sale is finished. Orders were coming in at the rate of 2.3 per minute, and much higher than that during the first 30 minutes.
The world now has 303 additional licensed users of PUP. And 38% of them will be pouring through the VBA source code to see how it works. Orders came from 26 countries:
Of the licenses purchased, 87% were for PUP v7 -- which means that those users are using Excel 2007 or Excel 2010.
Should I schedule another 2-hour sale that occurs 12 hours later in the day than this one? That would accommodate people who were sound asleep during this sale.
PUP Sale Coming Up - Two Hours Only
I held a 2-hour sale for Power Utility Pack back in 2009, and it was a big success. Yesterday, somebody asked me if I would ever do it again. The answer is yes!
Check out these prices:
- PUP v7: $7.77 (normally $40.00)
- PUP v6: $6.66 (normally $39.95)
- The complete VBA source code is available for an additional $20.00
The sale will be on Tuesday, May 3 between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time (that's 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm GMT).
Plus, you might win a free book. Three books will be given away. Everyone who orders PUP during this 2-hour period will be entered in a drawing to win a free Excel book. Winners choose their book (subject to availability). Each license ordered = one chance to win. Order 100 licenses, and you're practically guaranteed to win at least one book -- maybe all three.
On Tuesday, here's where you go to order: Special 2-Hour Sale Order Form.
Spread the word.
Public Data Explorer
Spreadsheet users might find this interesting. It's from Google Labs: Public Data Explorer.
The Google Public Data Explorer makes large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate. As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand. You don't have to be a data expert to navigate between different views, make your own comparisons, and share your findings.
Students, journalists, policy makers and everyone else can play with the tool to create visualizations of public data, link to them, or embed them in their own webpages. Embedded charts and links can update automatically so you’re always sharing the latest available data.
You can also upload your own data, and use the tools to visualize it. It must be in DSPL (Dataset Publishing Language) format.
PUP v7.1 Is Available
I finally got around to posting the PUP v7.1 upgrade. However, most PUP v7 users will not need to upgrade.
The PUP v7.1 version:
- Adds support for 64-bit Excel 2010. Note that this has nothing to do with 64-bit Windows. Most people who use Excel 2010 on 64-bit Windows 7 use the 32-bit version of Excel 2010. The upgrade is necessary only for those who use the 64-bit version of Excel 2010. In Excel 2010, choose File - Help to determine if you're running the 64-bit version of Excel.
- Displays the PUP dialog box in the center of Excel's window. This is relevant for those who use a dual monitor system.
If you're a registered user of any version of PUP, you can upgrade to PUP 7.1 by submitting the Upgrade Form.
If you've purchased the VBA password for PUP v7, be aware that PUP v7.1 uses the same password. Therefore, you won't need to purchase it again if you upgrade.
Excel 25th Anniversary Article
Thomas E. Weber writes: Microsoft Excel- The Program's Designer Reveals The Secrets Behind The Software That Changed the World.
Without fanfare, 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Excel. Thomas E. Weber tracks down the program's developer and discovers how it almost didn't make it into stores—and the big idea Bill Gates lost forever.
Show Us Your Spreadsheets Contest Results
Congrats to the winners in the big Show Us Your Spreadsheets contest.
First prize went to Peter in Windsor, Ontario. He gets a $250 VISA gift card and a collection of Mr. Spreadsheet's Bookshelf guides:
Second prize: Jared in Northbrook, Illinois
Runners up: Scott & Joe in Maplewood, Minnesota, Gregory in Marysville, Washington, and Alec and the Greenpeace Data Team in Washington DC.
Thanks to everyone who participated, and thanks to the thousands of people who were motivated to buy a book.
Contest: Show Us Your Spreadsheets Challenge
Wiley is having a contest, and you could be a winner. For complete details, read the official contest announcement.
Submit a photo of yourself with your favorite John Walkenbach (Mr. Spreadsheet) or Michael Alexander (DataPig) book OR a photo of you creating stellar spreadsheets, dynamic dashboards, or something equally excellent in Excel to enter to win cash and other cool prizes.
Entries will be posted to Wiley's "Show Us Your Spreadsheets" photo page, and authors John Walkenbach and Michael Alexander will select winners at the conclusion of the challenge.
Notice that you don't have to actually create a spreadsheet. All that's required is a photo.
The contest has real prizes:
- FIRST PRIZE: $250 VISA gift card, plus a collection of Mr. Spreadsheet's Bookshelf guides
- SECOND PRIZE: $100 VISA gift card, plus a collection of Mr. Spreadsheet's Bookshelf guides
- Three RUNNERS-UP: $50 VISA gift card, plus a collection of Mr. Spreadsheet's Bookshelf guides
Photos must be submitted by December 3. And, don't post the photos here. The official rules explain how to do it.
Happy Spreadsheet Day
Today is the first annual Spreadsheet Day. It might even be International Spreadsheet Day.
Debra Dalgleish has the details, including lots of ideas to enhance your celebrations.
Climber Brings Excel Sign
At the Microsoft Excel 2010 Blog: Excel reaches the top of the World.
We just wanted to take this short post to congratulate one of our own on achieving a monumental task. Gabhan Berry a Lead Program Manager on the Excel team summited Mount Rainier on September 11th at 7:31 am and brought a little piece of Excel with him.
At first, I thought it was an ad for a pirated copy of Excel.
Follow On Twitter
I really have no idea how Twitter works (or even why people use it), but I found some software that will tweet whenever I make a post to this blog. I guess it's for people who don't understand how RSS works.
In any case, my Twitter name is jwalkblog. There's probably a better way to tell you about it but, as I mentioned, I have no idea how Twitter works.
DataPig’s Book Is #1 At Amazon
At Amazon, I searched the book category for Excel 2010, and sorted the results by Bestselling. The first one listed is an Office 2010 book, so that doesn't count. Next on the list is Excel Dashboards and Reports, by Mike Alexander and some other guy.
I'm looking forward to getting a copy of that. Maybe someone at DataPig Technologies will send me one.
More Ribbon-Based Apps
Today I installed two apps from Windows Live Essentials (beta): Mail (an email client) and Writer (a blog posting app). The apps in this product all sport a new Ribbon interface. I was familiar with both of these apps, so I was curious to see how the Ribbon improves them.
In my opinion, neither of these products was really in need of a new interface. They worked fine, and there was no hint of the menu/toolbar overload problem that plagued the pre-2007 Office apps. So, this seems to be a case of adding a Ribbon for the sake of adding a Ribbon.
Overall, I'd say that usability was not improved at all. In fact, both of these apps now seem more cluttered, and I'm forced to look at icons that I didn't have to look at before. And, apart from the Quick Access Toolbar, no customization is allowed. I also found that some of my old keyboard shortcuts no longer work -- but maybe that will be fixed in the final version.
As much as I like the Ribbon UI in Office, the changes I see in these two apps add nothing at all.
Windows Live Essentials is free, so there's no basis for complaining to Microsoft.
Update: It's even worse. The main reason I've been using Windows Live Mail (and previously Outlook Express) is that it's very easy to insert boilerplate text into an email message. But guess what? That feature has been removed from the Mail app in Windows Live Essentials. I can understand why Microsoft would do update with no new features so they can implement the Ribbon UI. But why would they remove features? Fortunately, Windows Restore got rid of this mess, and I'm back to a version that's usable and not so ugly.
A Break From Excel
After finishing up the last round of Excel 2010 books, I took a much-needed break from Excel. That explains the lack of recent blog posts.
For some reason, I got all excited about Windows desktop gadgets. That's kept me out of trouble for the past few weeks. I made two gadgets:
Office Recent Files - This gadget isplays a handy list of recent files for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Requires Office 2007 or Office 2010. I couldn't figure out how to read the Windows registry using Javascript, so I ended up using VBScript almost exclusively. I was surprised to see how nicely these two scripting languages work together.
SLAG - Simple Little Audio Gadget - I found a few music-playing gadgets, but I don't like any of them. So I made my own. It uses the Windows Media Player database, and the code is written in Javascript.
If you're running Vista or Windows 7, give them a try and let me know how they work. Gadgets aren't compiled, so you can see exactly how they are written.
Excel 2010 Book List Updated
The list of my Excel 2010 books is now up-to-date, with cover images and links to Amazon.
You'll notice a new one: Excel Dashboards and Reports. It's really Mike Alexander's book but I contributed a few chapters and got listed as a co-author with the Data Pig.
The publisher and I still haven't decided if a new edition of Excel Charts will be added to the list.
Spreadsheet Page Blog
Welcome to the Spreadsheet Page Blog. This is where you find the latest news on my books, add-ins, and other Excel-related topics. Comments are welcome.