Tips, Trips & Traps

Excel 2003 Tip: Acronyms Are OK

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:51:00 GMT

They are not words, but when spellchecking a document in Excel, uppercase acronyms often appear to be misspellings. To fix this minor problem without adding numerous words to your dictionary, you can simply click Tools, and select Options. When the menu appears, hit the tab marked "Spelling". Check the box next to "Ignore words in UPPERCASE", and hit OK.

Excel 2003 Tip: Transposing

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:46:00 GMT

Have you started a spreadsheet and then decided you wished your columns were where your rows were, and your rows were where your columns were? There is a much easier way to do just that, and WITHOUT retyping all the data you spent time recording. Simply select all of the cells you'd like to change (click on the upper left-most corner, then hold shift and click the lower right-most cell), and copy them (either through the edit menu, or by holding Ctrl+C). Click a new place on your spreadsheet and right click. Select Paste Special. A menu will come up, and by checking the box next to "Transpose" in that menu, Excel will paste in a rearranged chart for you!

Excel 2003 Tip: Freeze!

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:18:00 GMT

When working with a large worksheet, losing sight of your headings can make it difficult to navigate your document. Luckily, Excel 2003 provides a helpful tool to solve this problem. To freeze your headings so they can be seen while you work on any other row in your worksheet, simply click on the row that is below your headings and select Window at the top menu, then Freeze Panes. You can also click the rows after the second one instead to freeze several of the first rows at once!

Excel 2003 Tip: Make A Cell Bigger

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:15:00 GMT

Sometimes the amount of data that needs to fit in a cell seems to be just too much. If you need more space, try this tip! Type up all the data you want to be in that cell, hit Enter, and click that cell once more. Select Format, then Cells, then Alignment. Select Wrap Text. Hit OK. Everything fits!

PowerPoint 2003 Tip: Practice Makes Perfect

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:13:00 GMT

Getting your timing down in an important presentation can be difficult, but PowerPoint can help make it easier! To set new timings in the show mode, press "T". To revert back to original timing ideas, press "O".

Word 2003 Tip: Remove Hyperlinks

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:10:00 GMT

When printing some documents, a bright blue underlined hyperlink can look unprofessional and out of place. In order to remove hyperlinks, go to Tools, then AutoCorrect Options. In the tabs marked "AutoFormat" and "AutoFormat As You Type", remove the check from the box next to "Internet and Network Paths with Hyperlinks".

Excel 2003 Tip: Changing Tab Colors

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:44:00 GMT

To spice up a spreadsheet, or simply to organize one better visually, you can change the color of the sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen. Right click on the tab you'd like to change, and select "Tab Color". There is a fairly large selection of colors to choose from. To change the color of many tabs at once, hold the control key while left-clicking each tab. Select Format, then Sheet, then Tab Color to display the color palette and pick your color.

Excel 2003 Tip: Handy Shortcuts

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:40:00 GMT

Ctrl + : Enters the current time

Ctrl + ; Enters the current date

Ctrl + 9 Hides rows selected

Ctrl + ( Displays hidden rows

Ctrl + Page Up Moves to the previously opened worksheet

Ctrl + Page Down Moves to the next worksheet

Excel 2003 Tip: How Many Days?

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:39:00 GMT

To calculate the number of years, months and days between dates in your spreadsheet, there is an Excel function available. It is called DATEDIF that doesn't appear in the inset Function box. Type DATEDIF (cell with first date, cell with second date, "y") to calculate the number of years between. You can also insert "ym" instead of "y" to calculate months, or "md" to calculate days. If you would like to calculate all three, type DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "y")&"Years,"&DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "ym")&"Months,"&DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "md")&"Days".

PowerPoint 2003 Tip: No Interruptions!

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:06:00 GMT

Here are some helpful tips to keep your presentation from getting disrupted:

Disable power saving features if you are working on a laptop,
Hide your cursor by right clicking, choosing Pointer Options, then clicking "Hide Now", which keeps your pointer hidden until the mouse is moved, or "Hide Always", which turns if off for the rest of the show,
Always disable screensavers!