This week’s hint and tip is about how to use conditional formatting in Excel. This is on our Basic Excel training course and it covers how to use it in Excel as well as the ‘Stop if True’ option. We are going to go through it now below.

What is it?

Conditional formatting is an option within Excel that can be used to bring some colour to your spreadsheet. It allows you to highlight​ parts of the data in your spreadsheet to make it stand out. It can help you bring your data to life in your spreadsheets. Also it displays a quick overview of your data without having to look at the individual entries of data. It is often used to show any issues or problem areas. A common way is linking the conditional formatting in with the ‘traffic light’ system of Red, Amber, Green. This system is used by businesses to describe if their data (often sales figures) is positive or not.

Where to find it

The conditional formatting button is found on the Home Tab. It has several options that you can use from highlight cell rules to icon sets and data bars. The option you choose will depend on your data and how you want it to be displayed, but the steps in carrying it out follow the same structure. Once you have created your ‘Rules’ you can amend them using the ‘Manage Rules’ option on the drop down menu.

The video below shows you what conditional formatting is and how you can apply it to your data. It demonstrates 3 different ways to apply it as well as the Stop if True option and what that does.

Take a look below at the video to find out more. After this, try it out using the example spreadsheet below!

Click here to download the example spreadsheet shown in the video to try it out yourself!

We hope you have enjoyed this hint and tip on Excel basics conditional formatting, why not take a look at our previous one on creating smart letters and a table of contents?

The post Excel Basics Conditional Formatting – do you use it in Excel? appeared first on JPL IT Training Ltd.

This week’s hint and tip is about looking at the SUBTOTAL function vs. the SUM function. Most of you will have heard of the SUM function and probably use it on a daily basis, but you might not have known that there is another function you can use that does the same thing but there is an extra element to it. The SUM function is on our Basic Excel training course but the SUBTOTAL function isn’t necessarily covered much so we decided to do a hint and tip on them both. We are going to go through it now below.

SUM Function

The SUM function has 1 argument to it and follows this layout =SUM(A1:A6). The ‘A1:A6’ part is the range of cells that you want to add up together.

SUBTOTAL Function

The SUBTOTAL function has 2 arguments to it and follows this layout =SUBTOTAL(9,A1:A6). The ‘9’ part is the function number, telling the subtotal function what it is doing (for example SUM or COUNT etc.). The number tells the SUBTOTAL function which you want it to use and when you type in ‘=SUBTOTAL(’ it comes up with a list of what the numbers stand for. The ‘A1:A6’ part is the same as above, the range of cells that you want to add up together.

When you type in the SUBTOTAL function in Excel it gives you a list of ‘function numbers’ to choose from. This list might seem confusing as it appears to have each function down twice but with two different numbers. The two different numbers are for the function including hidden values (numbers 1-11) and for the function ignoring hidden values (numbers 101-111).

The video below shows you the difference between SUM and SUBTOTAL and then within the SUBTOTAL function, the difference between using it including and ignoring hidden values.

Take a look below at the video to find out more and then try it out using the example spreadsheet below!

Click here to download the example spreadsheet shown in the video to try it out yourself!

We hope you have enjoyed this hint and tip, why not take a look at our previous one on creating a chart from a data subtotals sheet?

The post SUBTOTAL vs SUM function – which is the best to use in Excel? appeared first on JPL IT Training Ltd.

“Didn’t like school”
“They all know more than me!”
“Will I keep up?”
“6 hours – how will I focus for that time?”
“Is it just demo’s?”

Well we’ve heard all these comments BEFORE our Microsoft training classes have started but not AFTER they’ve completed!

With over 25 years of training experiences JPL have developed a formula for training that works in a way that means you can take part in a class room based course and be successful.

In particular we use the following techniques and features to make your Microsoft training day successful:

• Small class sizes
• Equal abilities in class
• Interactive training methods – question and answers, use of white board/flip chart
• Working together in pairs
• Worked example and frequent exercises
• Review each topic before moving on to a new one
• Simple course notes with refresher exercises
• Hints and tips on web site to consolidate learning

Often going on a course can make some feel daunted and nervous as it brings back memories of school days. What can start out as a great idea to help build up their knowledge and skills for work can suddenly change to become a nightmare and something that they are going to dread!

However here at JPL we always strive to make our courses feel as enjoyable as possible! By using all the ways listed above we have found that attendees of our courses leave feeling a lot happier than when they arrived, wondering “why was I worried about that before?”. We have even had people arrive on a course saying that they hate Excel and leave loving it! (well as much as you can love Excel as a Microsoft Office package!)

Want to know more information on our Microsoft Office training classes? Then get in touch! Feel free to contact us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk or by calling us on 07903 840105.

Have you seen our latest hint and tip on Word? Take a look at it here.

The post Microsoft Office training classes – how JPL can help you learn! appeared first on JPL IT Training Ltd.

Many of you have either witnessed a PowerPoint presentation or even had an attempt to create one yourself. Well I’m pleased to say that despite rumours of its demise PowerPoint still lives on and has improved in functionality!

Here at JPL we have created 2 standard courses and also a bespoke PowerPoint 2016 course which covers parts of each standard individual course – the course can also be adapted to other versions of Microsoft Office.

PowerPoint is a very powerful Microsoft Office package but can sometimes be overlooked in its usefulness. It is a very powerful tool for presentations within businesses as there are a number of templates and styles that can be used and personalised to help your presentation stand out and make a statement. As well as this there are always lots of new features being added with updates.

Dictate

In this hint and tip, we are sharing with you a new feature in PowerPoint 365/2016 called ‘Dictate’ which types as you speak!

We’ve created a simple video to show you how it works. To view it click here.

Screen Recording

Another useful feature we use a lot particularly for our Excel self teach training modules is the ‘screen recording’ feature. It’s found within the Insert Tab and allows you to create a media file recording of some activity you perform on another window on your PC – in our case demonstrating Excel features.

For an example of one of our self teach features check out this video on YouTube here.

PowerPoint Course Agendas

Our 2 standard course agendas can be found here:

• Basic PowerPoint
• Intermediate PowerPoint

If you are interested in any of our PowerPoint courses or a bespoke PowerPoint 2016 (or other version) course or if you would like some more general information about courses then please contact us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk or call us on 07903 840105.

Why not take a look at our previous post on creating a pivot table with a table of data?

The post Bespoke PowerPoint 2016 – PowerPoint still lives on and is improving! appeared first on JPL IT Training Ltd.