This week’s hint and tip is about how you can ‘create’ a between symbol in Excel. There are a number of symbols in Excel and when comparing cells the greater than and less than ones are used a lot. We often get asked if there is a between symbol similar to these two and unfortunately no, but you are able to ‘create’ one using a formula. This formula is covered on our Advanced Excel training course but we decided to do a hint and tip on it with its use in this example too. We are going to go through it now below.

The AND function

The AND function in Excel is a logical function that returns an outcome of TRUE if all the arguments are true and FALSE if at least one argument is false. We can use this AND function to test if something is greater than or equal to and less than or equal to something. This essentially is a way of testing for ‘between’ in Excel.

Using a ‘between’ symbol in an IF function

A reminder of the layout of the IF function can be seen below with explanation of its parts:

=IF(logical test,Value_if_true,Value_if_false)

The logical test is what you are looking for or your ‘question’. Then the ‘Value_if_true’ part is the outcome of the test is true. Finally the ‘Value_if_false’ part is if the outcome of the test is false.

Often the logical test is looking to test if something is greater than or less than something, but you can also test for if something is between something. There isn’t a symbol for this, you have to use the AND function and nest it within the IF function. We’re going to show this below.

Worked example

We are now going to create a formula that allows us to test for ‘between’. As there is no actual symbol on your keyboard for this, we are using the AND function to ‘create’ this symbol. This is then being nested into the logical part of the IF function.

The formula we are going to use is shown below:

=IF(AND(B1>=E1,B1<=E2),B1*E3,E4)

The parts of the formula are explained below:

• Logical test: AND(B1>=E1,B1<=E2). This function is testing if B1 is greater than or equal to E1 and also if B1 is less than or equal to E2
• Value if true: B1*E3. The outcome if it is true, a percentage calculation to work out the discount
• value if false: E4. The outcome if it is false, nothing/zero

As the AND function will only return a TRUE if all the arguments in it are true, this formula will only return TRUE if the cell B1 is ‘between’ the two cells E1 and E2.

The video below explains how you can create this ‘between’ symbol and then use it within your formulas in Excel.

Watch the video below to find out more and then try it out on your computer!

We hope you have enjoyed this hint and tip. Why not take a look at our previous one on using the Evaluate Formula option in Excel?

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This week’s hint and tip is about looking at the IF Statement. Some of you might have heard of the it before, but for some​ of you this might be a new territory in Excel. The IF Statement can be a very useful function in Excel. Due to this it is a good one to learn to then insert it within your Excel spreadsheets. This is on our Intermediate Excel training course but as they are popular we decided to do a hint and tip on it too. We are going to go through it now below.

What are they?

The IF Statement is a more complex formula in Excel that can be used in multiple types of spreadsheets. It allows you to test for something (or ‘ask a question’, e.g. is this cell larger than that cell) and then will give two outcomes, if it is true or if it is false.

The ‘layout’

The two outcomes can either bring up a text-based answer/outcome or they can carry out a calculation. The IF statement ‘layout’ follows that of below:

=IF(logical test,Value_if_true,Value_if_false)

The logical test is what you are looking for or your ‘question’. Then the ‘Value_if_true’ part is the outcome of the test is true and then the ‘Value_if_false’ part is if the outcome of the test is false.

Outcomes you can have

Now technically you can only have 2 outcomes with an IF Statement, a TRUE outcome or a FALSE outcome. However sometimes there might be an example where you would want 3 outcomes. This is possible by using nested statements, so you can nest an IF Statement inside another – but that is a topic for a hint and tip another time!

The video below explains what an IF Statement is and how you can create one in Excel.

Watch the video below to find out more and then try it out using the example spreadsheet below in the button!

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 using the SUM function within Excel?

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Comments from the IT Training classroom floor which made me think…

Having had the privilege of training thousands of staff of all ages and backgrounds in Excel and other Microsoft Office modules I’ve heard loads of comments during the class. Most are naturally to do with the topic being explained but some are more general which made me stop and think….

I think I’m on the wrong course

Two people have said this. One was completely on the wrong course. Instead of being of a health and safety course they came on our Basic Excel course! Another however had booked themselves onto our Intermediate Excel course and realised early on they should have been on our Basic Excel course first.

It made me think… how important it is to evaluate both from the trainer’s standpoint and trainee’s standpoint the content of the course and any pre-requisites. We always publish and send agendas in advance through to the organiser of the course and ask them a good training needs analysis be conducted to make sure that the person is on the right level of training. It’s not unknown for some to go back and do Basic Excel after say Intermediate Excel but it’s best to do the training in the right order

I will never remember all this

This is a very popular comment often made towards the end of each course. We may have taught a trainee a hundred features and they will have successfully completed those hundred tasks during the day. The key however is to put into practise quickly those new skills after training has finished.

We offer a variety of ways of doing this from ‘reminder exercises and videos’ to encouraging employers to allow a few minutes each day for their staff to look at their own spreadsheets and to improve on them. Practice may not make perfect, but it sure helps!

Have you ever been on stage!?

I do tend to have a very informal but animated style whilst training often trying to add humour into my courses to make the rather drier topics at least more palatable. We believe that if you enjoy a course you are far more likely to want to learn more

I hate Excel and you won’t teach me anything today!

Although this was an exceptional comment made by one lady at the outset of the course it made me think. Here was a person who came into the course with a prejudice against the topic, a closed mind and an attitude which meant she was not prepared to give it a go!

Despite all kinds of encouraging questions and assistance she stubbornly refused to engage and learn. Sadly, at the close of play she still hated Excel and had not learned anything. Her employer had wasted their money. It made me think how important it is when it comes to learning a new subject to come with an open and eager mind and engage, ask for help and be prepared to at least give it a go. In my classes all are unsuccessful (apart maybe from that 1!)

I can work part time now

At a recent course one lady said that the time she could save implementing those shortcuts in Excel she had learned could save her hours and she could now work part time! It made me think that here was a payback and justification for the IT training. Not that all staff can go part time but that their efficiency will improve and in their roles, they can become more productive. I’m always seeking to see how they can put into practice their skills to save time and make life easier for all.

If you would like to hear more stories or simply just information on our courses please email us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk

Or click on the link here to learn more about our courses.

You might also like to read our previous post Excel training in Gloucestershire.

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Comments from attendees on a Bespoke Word 2016 course run on their premises:

“Best part of the course: training laptop, activity”.

“Best part of the course: learning the use of the ruler – this will be very useful”.

“Best part of the course: final exercise”.

– Vikki, Beth and Geoff

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On every Excel training course we run there is some kind of work we do on Excel lists of data. It may be:

• Sorting
• Conditional formatting using formulas or criteria
• Filtering
• Sub Totalling
• Pivot Tabling
• Removing duplicate errors

Data can be easily stored and manipulated in Excel but there are key setup features you ought to be aware of:

• Keep your heading on row 1 and all the details on consecutive rows thereafter
• No blank rows or columns
• No merged cells

Using these key setup features can make things a lot easier for you within Excel on general day to day use as well as making it easier for you in the future if you need to carry out more advanced analysis on the data. With the data displayed in this certain way, it gives you a good starting point for the more advanced types of data analysis that are available for you to use within Excel.

Hints and Tips

On average we produce 1-2 hints and tips posts a month. These cover a variety of the Microsoft Office packages and level of difficulty in each of the individual packages. These are produced to cover one, two or more features that are available for use in the packages with some of them being more obvious and used on a regular basis but some are more obscure and are less known! So even though this hint and tip might just cover Excel analysis, there are lots of other hints and tips on Excel and other modules which can be found here.

If you liked this hint and tip and want to know more, have you thought about one of our courses? If you would like more information on any of our courses, please email us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk

Why not take a look at our previous one on some helpful Excel shortcuts?

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Comments from attendees on an Master Class Training 2013 course run on their premises:

“Good presentation and pace throughout. Best part of the course: Pivot Tables and Conditional Formatting”.

“Course notes excellent, really useful. Best part of the course: John! Great teacher and very knowledgeable, very patient, nothing is a silly question!”

“Great step by step help along the way if you get stuck. Best part of the course: learning about new functions within Excel”.

“Best part of the course: visual basic work and macros”.

– Abigail, Charlotte, Matthew and Jo

If you would like more information regarding any of the Microsoft courses that we run, please check out our website.

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Here at JPL IT Training Limited we specialise in Microsoft Office courses Worcestershire amongst other counties.

So, if you’re not sure why F11 in Excel, F9 in Word or F5 in PowerPoint are great time savers why not consider coming on a course with us?

Do you fit into one of these categories?

• Self-taught in Excel, Word, PowerPoint etc.?
• Go the long way round doing a task and would like to know some simple shortcuts?
• Feel like you’re not working as efficiently as you could in the office?

If so a JPL course could be right for you!

We offer standard courses and bespoke ones tailored to your own content to make the training most beneficial for your needs.

We offer training in a whole range of Microsoft Office packages: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, Project, Publisher and Outlook. To take a look at some sample content of our courses, click here.

We even offer individual training delivered by one of our trainers on your site or off site.

In Worcestershire, we’ve trained a variety of clients. Some of these including:

• Severn Waste Services
• Monosol
• Beko
• Chamber of Commerce
• Rockline Industries
• Magna

Class sizes can vary in numbers from 1 to 10 and we like to think of ourselves as providing informal yet professional training across all levels.

Want to know more about Microsoft training classes? Contact us via our contact page here or by phone on 07903 840105 to find out more or to enquire into booking onto a training course with us.

Did you know we have a hints and tips page on our website?

If so, take a look at our recent hint and tip on the Insert Tab here!

If not, just take a look at all our hints and tips page here!

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Comments from attendees on a Bespoke Excel 2010 Training course run on their premises:

“Good quality exercises and detailed notes. Best part of the course: activities – chances for interaction”.

“Clearly explained, patient! Best part of the course: overview of many parts”.

“Very clear and easy to follow. Best part of the course: going through the exercises”.

“Everything was very clear and well structured. Best part of the course: brief introduction of lots of different excel uses I can experiment with”.

“Very comprehensive and easy to follow. Best part of the course: examples were easy to follow”.

– Luke, Jenny, Louise, Philip and Beckie

If you would like to know more about our Microsoft Excel Training Courses, please see here for more information.

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Comments from attendees on an Basic Excel Training 2010 course run on their premises:

“John explained the course in a very clear way. Best part of the course: learning about symbols and formulas”.

“Wished this was done long ago! Best part of the course: learning various symbols”.

“Very pleased with the training I have received. Best part of the course: learning new things and being reminded of the things I had forgotten”.

– Mark, Anup and Beki

If you would like to know more about our Excel Training, please see here for more information.

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MS Project is not part of the standard Microsoft Office packages that most people buy but it is part of the whole Microsoft suite of main line business applications. It is very useful for project planning and scheduling and “runs rings” around Excel in this area. It is not particularly easy to train yourself in from scratch as there are various key initial steps to develop before a plan (called a Gantt chart) can be built.

If you are ever involved with any of the following areas it could be for you:

• Managing people and projects (big or small)
• Managing a set of tasks which are time or cost or resource dependent
• Involved with scheduling of tasks of any kind
• Responsible for the success of projects going in on time
• Want to be work smarter and neater for control of your work tasks

Would Outlook Tasks or Excel work instead?

Outlook Tasks are very basic and do not offer the same kind of analyses. Excel has no scheduling capabilities for tasks, resources or costs. So even though you could use either of these packages, the features they have on offer are not as flexible and would not necessarily automatically adjust. Whereas a lot of the features in Project, as long as the initial steps are done, will automatically adjust if details are changed, for example dates or the length of time a task would take.

To find out more on this package and about the 2 day MS Project course we offer please contact us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk or browse our website for course content.

We have also written a number of hints and tips on all of the Microsoft Office packages including Project, looking at the interesting features that they all contain and how you can use them in your work. You can browse through any of these posts by looking on the hints and tips page or the news page on our website.

We hope you liked this post, why not take a look at our previous one on some lesser known features in Word?

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