In a feature in yesterday’s Computerworld (titled “The New Help Desk: Agile, Educational, Efficient”), writer John Brandon highlighted three IT departments and what they are doing to bring the help desk from where it’s stuck – the 1960s – to the present. One of the organizations featured, the University of Georgia, has put an emphasis on using calls to the help desk to educate users. We like that idea.

Click to see a video on creating charts in Excel.

The old way of working is myopic. If you keep fixing an issue that, with a little instruction, can be avoided, where is the long-term value? And, if you cannot – or do not — track where problem spots are, how can you plan for the future?

At PC Helps, we fix stuff too; we’re a help desk, after all. But we also teach customers how to resolve issues on their own, and how to avoid having them crop up again in the future.

In that spirit, today’s post offers tips for creating Excel charts, a topic we receive many calls about. Happy charting.

Creating Charts

By PC Helps Staff

Data (n.) – raw, unorganized facts.
Information (n.) – organized and processed data that can be useful in some way.

When working with a large amount of data, it often can become an overwhelming task to extract information from the data. Excel provides a great tool to facilitate converting data to visual information through the use of charts.

Follow these steps to create a chart:

Excel 2003 and older:

• Select any cell within the data you want to chart.
• Click on the Insert menu, then select Chart to bring up the Chart Wizard.
• Choose the desired chart type, then click Next.
• Excel will show you a preview of the chart using what it has detected as plot data.
• Verify that the data is correctly organized by viewing the Series tab.
• Click Next to further modify your chart options. You can add titles to the chart or axes, move your legend, add data labels, etc.
• Click Next to set the location of your chart.
• Click Finish.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Select any cell within the data you want to chart.
• Click on the Insert Tab, then click on the desired chart type in the Charts group. Excel will generate the chart as soon as you click on the desired chart type, using what it has detected as plot data.

NOTE: Different chart types sometimes need different types of data. For instance, a pie chart is best for displaying a single series of data, but a column chart is capable of plotting several series.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

Reordering Data Series in a Chart

By PC Helps Staff

You may find at times that you need to rearrange the order of your data series in a chart without changing your source data. This can be accomplished easily using the Format Data Series dialog.

Excel 2003 and older: 
Click on a series in the chart to select it. Right-click the series and choose “Format Data Series.” On the Series Order tab, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to re-order the selected series.

Excel 2007 and 2010:
 Click on a series in the chart to select it. Right-click the series and choose Select Data. Use the arrow buttons to re-order the selected series.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

Creating a Dynamic Chart in Excel

By David McQueary

If you regularly update the data ranges for your charts, a dynamic chart will help you because it automatically shows data added to the end of a column.

First thing we need to do is create a dynamic named range.

Excel 2003 or older:

• Click on the Insert menu, select Name, and choose Define.
• Name the range, we will want two named ranges: one for our labels and one for our data. We will define the names as Label and Data, respectively.
• From here we will enter formulas to create the dynamic named range. The formula to do this, if you are starting in cell A1, is: =OFFSET($A$1,0,0,COUNTA($A:$A),1) 
Adjusting the column letter and number in the first part of the formula will allow us to change where the named range starts. For example =OFFSET($B$2,0,0,COUNTA($B:$B),1) would start the range in cell B2.
• Click OK.
• Repeat steps 2 – 4 to create the second range.
• Click Close.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Click on the Formulas tab, click Name Manager, and select New.
• Name the range, we will want two named ranges: one for our labels and one for our data. We will define the names as Label and Data, respectively.
• From here we will enter formulas to create the dynamic named range. The formula to do this, if you are starting in cell A1, is: =OFFSET($A$1,0,0,COUNTA($A:$A),1)
Adjusting the column letter and number in the first part of the formula will allow us to change where the named range starts. For example =OFFSET($B$2,0,0,COUNTA($B:$B),1) would start the range in cell B2.
• Click OK.
• Repeat steps 2 – 4 to create the second range.
• Click Close.

Now we create our chart.

Excel 2003 or older:

• Highlight our data and go to Insert menu and choose to insert a chart. Make all the settings that you want to the chart, and place it on the worksheet.
• Now we apply the dynamic settings to the chart. Click on one of the series in the chart and look at the formula bar.
• In the formula bar there should be something that looks like =SERIES(Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16,Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16,1). In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Label.
• In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Data.
• You now have a dynamic chart. If you add more data to the bottom of the column, it will automatically add that data to the chart.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

• Highlight our data and go to Insert tab and choose a chart. Make all the settings that you want to the chart, and place it on the worksheet.
• Now we apply the dynamic settings to the chart. Click on one of the series in the chart and look at the formula bar.
• In the formula bar there should be something that looks like =SERIES(Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16,Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16,1). In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$A$1:$A$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Label.
• In the spot where it shows Sheet1!$B$1:$B$16 we are going to change that to Sheet1!Data.
• You now have a dynamic chart. If you add more data to the bottom of the column, it will automatically add that data to the chart.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2003.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2010.

How to Make Vertical Selections of Text

Microsoft Word 2003, 2007, 2010

Our consultants’ top keyboard tricks.

This is by far the coolest keyboard trick I’ve ever learned. When selecting data, you may need to select portions of multiple lines of text but not the entire line of text. To do this, use a simple trick: hold down the ALT key.

1. Make sure the text you want to select is on screen.
2. Press and hold the ALT key.
3. Click and drag with the mouse to select the text.
4. Release the ALT key, then release the mouse.

Now you can format, copy, cut, or anything else you need to do with selected text.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Select and Move Text

Microsoft Word 2003, 2007, 2010

When typing in a Word document, it may be inconvenient to switch to the mouse for selecting text. If you are looking for a way to select and move text while keeping your hands on the keyboard, familiarize yourself with the keyboard shortcuts in this tip.

Shortcut keys are keys or key combinations that perform a special function. When using a keyboard combination, you need to hold down all the keys together, and then let them go at the same time to achieve the desired result. For example, when using the CTRL+SHIFT+down arrow combination, you would want to hold down the CTRL key, hold down the SHIFT key, press the down arrow key, then let go of all three keys at the same time.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to select text:

• SHIFT+up/down arrow – Selects the text between the cursor and the character directly above/below it.
• SHIFT+left/right arrow – Selects one character to the left/right of the cursor.
• CTRL+SHIFT+up/down arrow – Selects the text between the cursor and the top/bottom of the paragraph.
• CTRL+SHIFT+left/right arrow – Selects text up to and including the previous/next space character.
• SHIFT+Home/End – Selects text between the cursor and the beginning/end of the current line of text.

There is also a keyboard shortcut that can be used to move an entire paragraph in a document. With the cursor anywhere within a paragraph, use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+ALT+up/down arrow to move the entire paragraph up or down. This trick even works on items in a numbered or bulleted list.

Moving Text with the Mouse

Microsoft Word 2003, 2007, 2010

If you are anything like me when moving sentences around in a document, you delete the sentence and retype it in a new location. This leaves the retyped sentence open to spelling or grammar errors — especially if it already has been checked using Word’s built-in tools. Copy and paste works nicely, but there is an even easier way to move text. By using the mouse to select and drag text to a new location, you minimize both mouse clicks and potential errors.

1. Start by clicking and dragging to select the text you want to move.
2. Click anywhere within the selected text and keep the mouse button held down.
3. With the mouse button held down, move the cursor to the text’s new location.
4. Release the mouse button. The text is in its new position.

NOTE: Be sure to select any spaces or punctuation at the end of the sentence so that they are moved with the text.

Moving Data Around a Spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

A common problem in large spreadsheets (or even small ones just starting to spread their wings) is that they need room to grow. When they grow, things need to be moved, copied, and pushed around. Copy and pasting works, but can quickly become tedious when rearranging large portions of a worksheet. Fortunately, Excel has a “hidden” feature that makes moving and copying cells much easier. Here is how:

To insert a selection:

1. Highlight a range of cells.
2. Hold down the SHIFT key.
3. While holding SHIFT, click on the black selection box around your cells and drag to the new location.
4. This will insert the cells in their new spot in the worksheet.

To replace with a selection:

1. Highlight a range of cells.
2. Click on the black selection box and drag cells to new location where they will replace whatever was previously in those cells.

To copy a selection:

1. Highlight range of cells.
2. Hold down the CTRL key.
3. While holding CTRL, click on the black selection box around your cells and drag to the new location.
4. This will copy the cells to the new spot in the worksheet. Essentially, this is a faster copy and paste.

Moving Text on an iOS Device

iPad iOS 4.x

With enough practice, you can become quite adept at typing on the virtual keyboard of your iOS device. However, there is no obvious way to use the keyboard to rearrange text in an email or other document. This tip will explain how to use the clipboard features of your iOS device to move text.

Selecting Text

There are three ways to enter text selection mode:

1. Double-tap on a single word to select it.

2. Tap the blinking text cursor briefly. Choose the Select button to select the word adjacent to the cursor, or choose Select All to select all the text inside that object of your app (for example, the entire body of an email message, an entire Note, or the entire subject of an email message).

3. Tap text and hold until the magnifier window opens. Let go to move the cursor position to that point and bring up the Select/Select All buttons simultaneously. Choose the Select button to select the word adjacent to the cursor, or choose Select All to select all of the text.

Adjusting Text Selection

Once you have selected a single word or the entire body of text, you can change the selection by using the blue grab points that appear at either end of the currently selected text.

1. Tap and hold one of the grab points and slide your finger to the point to which you want to move your selection. Lift your finger immediately after you are done sliding, and the grab point will move to include the entire word you stopped on. Hold briefly before releasing it and it will stay where you put it, extending or contracting the selection accordingly.

Cutting and Copying Text

Once text has been selected, buttons floating above the text offer Cut and Copy options. A Paste button appears as well if previously copied text is on the clipboard.

1. Choose Cut to delete the currently selected text and place it in the clipboard memory for later pasting.

2. Choose Copy to leave the currently selected text intact and make it available to the clipboard for later pasting.

Pasting Text

Insert text at the current cursor position or select text that will be replaced by the text on the clipboard by choosing Paste.

1. To paste text at the current position of the cursor without removing any other text, tap the cursor once briefly. If you see Select, Select All, and Paste buttons, you can safely tap Paste to insert the text that you cut or copied earlier.

NOTE: If you see Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons, you have selected some text and it will be replaced with the text from the clipboard when you choose Paste.

2. If you would like to remove a section of text and replace it with the text you cut or copied to the clipboard, use the methods outlined in the first two sections above to select it. When it is selected, you will see Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons. Choose Paste to remove the selected text and insert the text from the clipboard.

NOTE: If you choose Cut or Copy after making a new selection, the text you previously placed on the clipboard will be lost and can no longer be pasted. This cannot be undone.

Undo a Removal

If you cut something inadvertently, choose Paste on a selection you did not intend to remove, or accidently type over selected text, you can undo the removal.

1. After making the mistake, but before continuing, shake your device gently.
2. A window will pop up in the center of the screen. Tap the Undo button to reverse the last action.
3. If you want to undo another action, shake the device again and choose Undo in the pop up window.
4. If you do not like the results of the undo, shake the device again and choose Redo in the pop up window.
5. If you inadvertently shook the device and do not want to undo or redo anything, tap the Cancel button in the pop up window.

NOTE: On the iPad only (but not an iPhone or iPod Touch), the virtual keyboard also offers undo and redo buttons that eliminate the need to shake the device.

1. To find the Undo button, tap one of the buttons labeled “.?123″ to display the numbers section of the keyboard. The Undo button is in the third row of the keyboard on the left side.

2. To find the Redo button, first go to the numbers section of the keyboard by tapping one of the “?.123″ buttons. Then tap one of the buttons labeled “#+=”. The Redo button is in the third row of the keyboard on the left side.

3. Tap either ABC button on the bottom row of the keyboard to return to the letters section of the keyboard.

Tips were compiled and written by PC Helps staff.

Long before there were apps, there was Excel.

Counting Days Between Two Dates

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

Do you need to know how many days are between two dates? If you ever have to figure out how long before a payment is due, how long it takes to manufacture a product, how many days shipping took, or how long before a perishable product is out of date, then this tip will help you.

For this example we will create a blank worksheet and enter the following data:

Excel 2003 and older:

1. To determine the difference between two dates simply subtract the earlier date from the later date. Using our example worksheet the formula would be =A2-A1. The result of the formula will display as a date; in order to display the number of days between the dates we need to change the cell format.
2. To view the result as a number, select the cell, then go to the Format menu and click Cells.
3. Click the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
4. Choose Number in the Category list box, change the Decimal places to zero (0), and then click OK.
5. To determine the number of days between the current date and a past date we can use the Today function to return the current date. Using our example data: if cell A2 contains the date our library books were due we would calculate the number of days overdue using the formula =TODAY()-A2.
6. Repeat steps two (2) through four (4) to format the result as a number.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

1. To determine the difference between two dates simply subtract the earlier date from the later date. Using our example worksheet the formula would be =A2-A1. The result of the formula will display as a date; in order to display the number of days between the dates we need to change the cell format.
2. To view the result as a number, select the cell and then go to the Home tab and click the Format drop-down in the Cells group, and choose Format Cells.
3. Click the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
4. Choose Number in the Category list box, change the Decimal places to zero (0), and then click OK.
5. To determine the number of days between the current date and a past date we can use the Today function to return the current date. Using our example data: if cell A2 contains the date our library books were due we would calculate the number of days overdue using the formula =TODAY()-A2.
6. Repeat steps two (2) through four (4) to format the result as a number.

How to Extract the Month from a Date

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

For this tip, enter a date in cell A1, for example 7/4/2010. In cell B1 you would like to return the month of that date, which would be 7. In order to return the correct month we are going to use the MONTH function.

In cell B1, type the formula =MONTH(A1) which would return 7 since that is the month of the date in A1.

The MONTH function takes a date or serial number as its argument:

• In the above example the date entered into a cell was 7/4/2010 which returns a 7.
• A date could also be entered as a formula such as =DATE(2011,1,15). Using MONTH to return the month from this value would result in 1.
• A date could also be entered as a serial number. 39000 formatted as a date would be 10/10/2006, and the formula would return a 10.

NOTE: To see an abbreviated or full name of the month you can make use of a custom format. Say you have the date 7/4/2010 in cell A1. In B1 you can write the formula =A1, which should return the same date. Now you can right-click on B1 and choose Format Cells. Click on the Number tab and choose the Custom category of the left hand side. If you want the see the abbreviated way to spell the month, type in mmm under the Type section. If you would like to see the full name, type mmmm.

How to Calculate the Last Day of the Month

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

From time to time it may be necessary to return the last day of a month in the future when calculating loan maturity dates or other due dates. Of course, knowing that September is two months from July is nice and those of us who paid attention in school know that September has 30 days, but the EOMONTH function in Excel does the work for us and is easily updatable.

To see how this function works, type a date in cell A1. In cell B1, enter the following formula: =EOMONTH(A1,2). The first argument in the formula, the A1 refers to the start date, or our starting point. The second argument indicates how far into the future to look before returning the last day of the month. For example, if the date in A1 is July 2, 2011, then the formula will return September 30, 2011 — the end of the second month from the start date. Replacing the 2 in our formula with a 3 would return October 31, 2011.

The formula will return the date as a serial number, so you may want to change the cell display formatting to either Short or Long Date, depending on preference.

NOTE: In Excel 2003, you may receive a #NAME? error upon entering the formula. If this happens, you need to enable the Analysis Toolpack add-in. To do this, go to Tools, Add-Ins and check the box for Analysis Toolpack and click OK. Once the add-in is enabled, Excel can make sense of the function.

The EOMONTH function can also be used to return the first day in the current month by using this formula: =EOMONTH(TODAY(),-1)+1. This formula will look at the current date (the TODAY function) and return the first of the month. It does this by finding the last day of the preceding month (that is the reason for the -1) and adding one day to it. Another way to return the first day of any month is with this formula: =A1-(DAY(A1)-1). This formula uses the DAY function, which returns the day of the month as an integer between 1 and 31. Subtracting this from the date in A1 gives the date of the last day of the preceding month; adding 1 day to that number gives the first day of the month containing the A1 date

How to Use the DATEDIF Function

Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010

Do you need to determine the number of years between two dates? For instance, it might be important to know how many years an employee has worked for you or to determine what age an employee is for benefits eligibility. The DATEDIF function combined with the TODAY function can provide this information and more for you.

In this tip we will specifically deal with years. The DATEDIF function can also give you results in months, days, and several other variations.

1. Enter the initial date, 1/1/1987 in cell A1.
2. Click in B1 and type the following formula: =DATEDIF(A1,TODAY(),”y”)
3. Press ENTER. You should get the result of 24.

See the extra tip below for a more informative result if you will not be doing any further calculations with the number.

The DATEDIF function has three parts, separated by commas. The first part of the formula contains the initial or start date. In this case, we substituted the cell reference (A1) containing that date instead. The second part of the formula usually contains the ending date. In our case, we substituted the TODAY() function which represents the current date since it is a function that updates as the function is calculated. The third part of the function determines the unit of measure for the result, in our example years (“y”). The function can also report months or days.

Extra Tip

If you would like the see the result as “21 years,” enter the formula with this variation:

=DATEDIF(B4,TODAY(),”y”)&” years”

We used the ampersand (&) symbol to concatenate the result with the text “years” to provide a more informative solution. Make sure you include a space inside the quotes before the word years. Adding text to the number has one side effect; you cannot use that number in further mathematical calculations easily.

To display the result of the DATEDIF function in months or days, simply substitute the appropriate letter “m” or “d” for the letter “y” in the formula.

For more tips on Excel and other applications, visit our eTips Library.

Tech tips: 3 ways to make life easier in Excel.

Here are three tips that will enable you to reset Excel 2010’s default formatting. Set them once, and never again.

1. Setting Formatting Options for Workbooks, Part 1

Excel does not offer many options that allow you to set formatting defaults for your workbooks. However, you can work around this by modifying the formatting in a blank workbook, then saving it as the default template.

Excel 2007:

1. Open Excel to a blank workbook.
2. Format the blank file with all options desired. For example, set margins, cell color formats, or set up a header or footer. Make sure to remove any values you entered in cells to test formatting unless you want them to appear in every blank workbook.
3. Once your changes are made, click the Office button and choose Save As.
4. From the “Files of type” drop-down list, select “Excel Template (*.xltx)” and change the file name to “Book.”
5. Set the “Save in” location to the XLSTART folder. This folder is typically located in a path similar to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\XLSTART.
6. Click Save.
7. Close and re-open Excel. The blank workbook should contain the formatting you previously set.

Excel 2010:

1. Open Excel to a blank workbook.
2. Format the blank file with all options desired. For example, set margins, cell color formats, or set up a header or footer. Make sure to remove any values you entered in cells to test formatting unless you want them to appear in every blank workbook.
3. Once your changes are made, click on the File tab and choose Save As.
4. From the “Files of type” drop-down list, select “Excel Template (*.xltx)” and change the file name to “Book.”
5. Set the “Save in” location to the XLSTART folder. This folder is typically located in a path similar to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\XLSTART.
6. Click Save.
7. Close and re-open Excel. The blank workbook should contain the formatting you previously set.

Watch a video on this tip for Excel 2007.

2. Changing the Default Font for New Workbooks

We all have our quirks; that’s what makes us unique. One of these things can be the font you choose as your default. To change the default font used in new workbooks in Excel, follow these steps:

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office button in the top left corner.
2. Select Excel options in the bottom-right of the menu that appears.
3. In the Excel options dialog box, under Popular options, scroll down to the section called “When creating new workbooks.”
4. Here you have the ability to set the default font and font size.
5. Click OK.

After you restart Excel, any new workbook you create will be set for the new font properties you chose. Note that existing workbooks will not be affected.

Excel 2010:

1. Click on the File tab.
2. Select Options at the bottom left.
3. Under General options there is a section for “When creating new workbooks.”
4. Here you can select the option to change the font and font size for all new workbooks.
5. Click OK.

After you restart Excel, any new workbook you create will be set for the new font properties you chose. Note that existing workbooks will not be affected.

1. Setting Formatting Options for Workbooks, Part 2

Why does Excel always open up with three blank worksheets? If you’ve found yourself continually deleting those extra two, stop already. Excel offers a way for you to specify the defaults for new workbooks, which includes number of worksheets. Follow the steps below:

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office Button and choose Excel Options.
2. In the Popular group, navigate to the section titled “When creating new workbooks.”
3. You can change the number of sheets created in a new workbook by changing the “Include this many sheets” option.
4. Click OK after making your selections.

Excel will use your options from now on when creating a new workbook, saving you time when setting up each new file.

Excel 2010:

1. Click on the File tab and choose Excel Options.
2. In the General group, navigate to the section titled “When creating new workbooks.”
3. You can change the number of sheets created in a new workbook by changing the “Include this many sheets” option.
4. Click OK after making your selections.

Excel will use your options from now on when creating a new workbook, saving you time when setting up each new file.

For more on these and to find other tips, visit our tech tip library. Have any Excel or general Office tips to share? Post them in the comments section.

Tips are compiled and written by PC Helps staff.

There’s no need to wait in line at the local Blockbuster; you can watch Netflix on demand. You can order your groceries online and have them delivered, print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk (no humans necessary!), and have your dry-cleaning delivered with just a click. Even GPS systems, which were once a luxury in cars, are becoming a standard. Have we lost our sense of direction? No, we like having a faster, more convenient way of getting there.

The workplace is no different. Chances are your office cafeteria has swipe cards, self-service, and grab-and-go options. If you’re in sales or marketing, your company may have invested in a pricey CRM solution to boost your productivity. If you’re in accounting, or any department really, it’s the same: get more done in less time.

“Whichever solution he chooses, he’s right where he started – lost in a sea of #REF!s.”

Time is money, indeed. It’s an old saying, but in the current financial climate, stakeholders, company owners and managers really mean it. So, why then, when it comes to delivering convenient, efficient support for desktop and mobile device applications is it not a priority for IT leaders?

Consider the following example: Employee X just switched positions within a company, and he is now responsible for his division’s quarterly sales reports. When he tries to update the existing spreadsheet with current figures, his formulas return errors. He’s stuck, and he has no idea how to begin to troubleshoot.

He can ask a colleague to help, which will waste the time of two employees. He can scan Excel’s often-useless help menu. Or he can call a help desk tech who spends all day resetting passwords and rebooting servers.

Whichever solution he chooses, he’s right where he started – lost in a sea of #REF!s, and far from a solution that is efficient and convenient. And not only is he stymied, his company is losing money on his diminished productivity.

If he had access to on-demand, expert support for his desktop applications, the same applications he and the rest of his colleagues rely on every day to stay productive, this dilemma would be a minor interruption, with minimal impact on his productivity. (Stephanie Maurer)

FIND MORE INFO IN: Small Business | BlackBerry + Mobile Devices | Office 2007 Migration | PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

We don’t have a pat answer to that question, but we do have tips to make charting a little easier – whether you’re a recent hire or a veteran IT manager.

Learn to Love the Secondary Axis
At times, you may find that one of your data series varies greatly from the others, making your chart difficult to interpret. Enter the secondary axis. It’s especially useful of one series’ data far exceeds the others.

There’s nothing more unsightly than an Excel chart with data gaps.

Here’s how you create one:

1. Right-click on your data series and choose Format Data Series.
2. Click on the Axis tab (in Excel 2007: Series Options).
3. Change it to Plot Series on Secondary Axis.
4. Format your axis as desired.

Note: Secondary axes can cause plotting issues in column charts due to the way Excel plots data series in those charts. It centers all series together on each category per axis.

To counter this, shift your data over by adding blanks to the chart.

1. Create a series of 0 values to match the series that lies on the secondary axis. You will need the same number of data points as your original data.
2. Select the series using the mouse.
3. Copy the data using Ctrl+C or by clicking on the Edit menu and selecting Copy (Excel 2007: Ctrl+C or click on the Home tab, then Copy).
4. Click on the chart and paste the data using Ctrl+V or by clicking on the Edit menu and selecting Paste (Excel 2007: Ctrl+V or click on the Home tab and select Paste).
5. Your new series should be added to the secondary axis and your visible series should have shifted over. Repeat as necessary.
6. In the legend, click on the entries for the “dummy” sets of data and press the Delete key to remove them from the box. (Steven Mak)

Mind the Gap
There’s nothing more unsightly than an Excel chart with data gaps (well maybe an annual report in Comic Sans, but that’s another post). There are three ways of dealing with this issue, depending on the chart you are using.

Let us say that you had a set of data for a month, but one of the data points was missing due to an empty cell in the source data. To fix this issue in a two-dimensional line chart, you have the following options: plot the data point as a zero, so that the line dips down to zero but has no gap; continue the line if the gap falls between two data points by connecting points on both sides; or do nothing and leave the gap as is. Here’s how it’s done:

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Select the chart by left-clicking on it.
2. Click on the Tools menu and select Options.
3. Click on the Chart tab.
4. Select one of the “Plot empty cells as” options that are described above. For three-dimensional graphs, the second option will not be available.

Excel 2007:

1. Select the chart by left-clicking on it. Excel will add three Chart Tools tabs to the Ribbon: Design, Layout and Format.
2. Choose the Design tab.
3. Click on the Select Data button on the Design tab in the Data group.
4. Click on the Hidden and Empty Cells button at the bottom left of the dialog box. In this dialog, you can select from the three options described above. For three-dimensional graphs, the second option will not be available.

Then there’s the case of hidden rows, which can be troublesome. If a data series you expect to see is not showing on the graph, the row or column may be hidden, or the data may be filtered. To fix this, go to the Chart tab of the Options menu (Excel 2007: in the Hidden and Empty Cells dialog).

In Excel 2000, 2002, 2003: Check the “Plot visible cells only” checkbox if you do not wish to have hidden rows or columns plotted on the chart.

In Excel 2007: Check the “Show data in hidden rows and columns” checkbox to plot hidden rows and columns on the chart. (Jorg Freiberg)

Go Green: Recycle Your Charts

If you’ve made a standout diagram in the past, one that you lovingly tweaked and polished till you had it just right, your efforts were not for naught. Instead of recreating a stellar chart each time, just reuse it by simply changing the source data.

In Excel 2000, 2002, or 2003:

1. Select your chart.
2. On the Chart menu, select Source Data.
3. In the Data Range dialog box, either manually update your cell references or click the Collapse Dialog Box button on the far right.
4. If you clicked the button, use your mouse to select the cells you want to include in the chart, and then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
5. Click OK.

Your chart should reflect the data you selected.

In Excel 2007:

1. Select your chart.
2. On the Chart Tools contextual tab at the top of Excel, select the Design tab.
3. Click the Select Data button.
4. In the Chart data range dialog box, either manually update your cell references or click the Collapse Dialog Box button on the far right.
5. If you clicked the button, use your mouse to select the cells you want to include in the chart, and then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
6. Click OK.

Your chart should now reflect the data you selected. (Michelle Fiske)

For more software management tips and tricks, sign up for our free e-newsletter.

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | PC Helps eTraining | Contact PC Helps

We have gathered some tips that will help you root out the potential problems in formulas. If you can identify the issue quickly, then we’ve done our job. As for helping you fix it, that’s for another post.

A circular reference sends Excel into an endless loop where it will never stop calculating the cell. Excel goes around and around, never stopping to give us a final number…

1. Formula Evaluation Tool (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

by David McQueary

If you’ve ever created a formula, you no doubt have come across a dreaded #N/A, #DIV/0 or other type of error. This can be frustrating, especially if the formula you entered is long and complex. Sometimes it is not easy to see what is causing the malfunction, and trying to read through the formula to spot the offender is not always a fruitful effort. Excel offers a Formula Evaluation tool, which assesses a formula step by step, showing each calculation and enabling you to view exactly where the error occurs. Here’s how:

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click Tools and move your mouse over Formula Auditing.

2. Select “Evaluate Formula.”

3. Click the Evaluate button in the bottom left corner to evaluate the formula step by step.

Excel 2007:

1. Click Formulas and select “Evaluate Formula” from the “Formula Auditing” group.

2. Click the Evaluate button in the bottom left corner to evaluate the formula step by step.

***

2. The F9 Key (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

By Ronnie Merritt

Do you have a formula that is not working as expected? If you want to see where it is failing, you can use the F9 key to convert any portion of a formula to its actual value.

To demonstrate this, type any numbers into cells A1 and A2 in an Excel worksheet. In cell A3, type the following formula:

=A1*A2

Press Enter to enter the formula. The result should be the product of the values you typed into cells A1 and A2. Now select cell A3 and click into the Formula Bar, which is located above the column letters. This is the area that shows you what a cell actually contains, so it should be displaying the formula. Using your mouse, select A1 in the Formula Bar, then press the F9 key on your keyboard. The Formula Bar will show the value that was entered into cell A1.

This method can be particularly useful for troubleshooting large and complicated formulas, because it simplifies the task of viewing the result of each portion of the formula. Just remember to use the Esc key after using F9 in the Formula Bar. Otherwise, those converted values will be saved.

***

3. Trace Precedents and Dependents (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

by Stephanie Hausman & Jeff Bowman

Formula auditing helps you locate the cells that make up the formula and any other cells that may be affected by the formula. Two useful features in formula auditing are the Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents arrows.

You can use these features by following the steps below for your version of Excel.

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click View and move your mouse over Toolbars.

2. Make sure the Formula Auditing toolbar is enabled.

3. Select the cell you would like to analyze.

4. Select “Trace Precedents” or “Trace Dependents” to to view which cells a formula is based on, or which other cells are based on the selected cell.

5. When finished, select the “Remove Arrows” option to remove all traces.

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Formulas tab of the Ribbon.

2. Select the cell that you would like to analyze.

3. From the “Formula Auditing” group in the Ribbon, select “Trace Precedents” or “Trace Dependents” to view which cells a formula is based on, or which other cells are based on the selected cell.

4. When finished, select the “Remove Arrows” option to remove all traces.

***

4. Circular References (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

by Matt Mahoney

In Excel, if we are not careful, we can cause what is known as a circular reference. This means that Excel is calculating a formula in a cell that refers to itself. For example, say you have the values 1, 2, 3, and 4 in cells A1, A2, A3, and A4. In cell A5, we want to sum those values, and here is the formula we use: =SUM(A1:A5).

The formula includes a reference to the cell that it is in, so when Excel tries to calculate that value, it adds the values in the first four cells, 1+2+3+4, which is 10, and then it tries to add that value to the current value of A5, which it thinks is 10. Here is what Excel is thinking: “OK, my value in A5 is 10, because I am adding up those four numbers, but I also need to add A5 itself. So that means my value in A5 is 20, but I cannot forget to add those four numbers, which makes the value in A5 actually equal to 30…” This can get quite confusing.

A circular reference sends Excel into an endless loop where it will never stop calculating the cell. Excel goes around and around, never stopping to give us a final number, because it is constantly increasing the number (in our example, at least).

But, Excel is smart enough to predict a circular reference, and it gives us a warning on the Status Bar at the bottom of the window. If you ever see the word “Circular” on the Status Bar, Excel is telling you to fix the error.

Here is how to locate and fix any circular references. Follow the instructions for your version of Excel:

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click on View in the menu, and select Toolbars.

2. From the list of Toolbars, select Circular Reference.

3. Using the drop-down menu on the Circular Reference toolbar, you can view and select any cells that have a circular reference. The drop-down list displays the location of the cell, in this case $A$5 to indicate cell A5.

4. View the formula in that cell by examining the Formula Bar.

5. To remove a circular reference, make sure that the formula in that cell does not refer to the cell itself. If we have a formula in cell A5, we cannot have the formula refer to cell A5, or we will still have a circular reference. For our example above, we could change the formula to read: =SUM(A1:A4). If we remove the reference to cell A5 from the formula, the circular reference disappears.

Excel 2007:

1. Click the Formulas tab in the Ribbon, and select “Error Checking” from the Formula Auditing group.

2. Select Circular References, and a list of all the cells in the worksheet with circular references is shown. The drop-down list displays the location of the cell, in this case $A$5 to indicate cell A5.

3. View the formula in that cell by examining the Formula Bar.

4. To remove a circular reference, make sure that the formula in that cell does not refer to the cell itself. If we have a formula in cell A5, we cannot have the formula refer to cell A5, or we will still have a circular reference. For our example above, we could change the formula to read: =SUM(A1:A4). If we remove the reference to cell A5 from the formula, the circular reference disappears. Now that you have removed your circular references, Excel will calculate the formulas in the worksheet normally.

Have a favorite Excel tip or trick you’d like to share? Send it my way or post it in comments.

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | PC Helps eTraining | Contact PC Helps

I understand we’re in a recession, and the pressure for you to prune your budget is great, but how on Earth do you expect to get the same quality IT outsourcing for less money? I didn’t major in business, but I do know that in a capitalist society, nothing is free. Didn’t they teach you that in economics 101?

Here’s the thing: Trying to save a dollar here and a Euro there during a recession is shortsighted, sir. You need to think long-term. To try to envision the copious ROI that will come your way. I think it was my grandma who said “You reap what you sow” – although someone may have said it before her.

If you put on your MBA cap, you will see that skimping on your IT support will cost you in the end.

If you put on your MBA cap, you will see that skimping on your IT support will cost you in the end. Your employees will call for help only when their monitors are on fire, or when they forget their password for the fifth time in a month. That’s hardly big-picture thinking.

They will not call when they need help with an Excel pivot table; maybe they’ll fudge it, and perhaps get a figure incorrect, throwing off the numbers for the project they are working on. That could cost you dearly, Mr. CIO. But I suppose what you don’t know won’t hurt you, or, what you can’t see doesn’t exist. My grandma didn’t tell me that. That may have been Dr. Phil.

So anyway, when it comes time for another whopping project, maybe an Access database to be used by an entire department, the pivot table employee will wing it again, and he might bring in the help of a colleague, who knows a wee bit more about Access. The two of them will tinker around with their pet database, and maybe they will get it 98 percent correct. Close enough, right? No, sir. That 2 percent will come back to haunt you.

If you didn’t skimp on IT services, your employees could have called a database expert for help. Although on the surface it may seem more expensive (if you don’t see the demand, does that mean it’s not there?), it’s actually saving you boatloads of grief, and money, over time.

What’s more, that expert will not only fix a misbehaving database, he will also show your employees how to approach database design the proper way. His company will then furnish you with a report that details call complexity for all employees, which can help you identify future training needs. That’s awful nice of him and his employer.

You have the right to try to squeeze the same services out of a provider for less money. That’s why they made you CIO. But don’t say I didn’t tell you so when you are staring at the numbers, waiting in vain for ROI to show up.

Sincerely,
Jen Darr

MORE INFO IN: PC Helps eTraining |Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

What a frightening, unnecessary drain on productivity.

Below are five more snags that can tie up employees for hours. With a little basic upfront training, plus assistance from a support desk, these issues could be solved in minutes.

1. Outlook – offline: Networks sometimes hiccup and bump users offline. It’s usually so quick that employees do not notice and are reconnected. Still, the reconnection can fail. We’ve seen people go an entire day without being able to figure it out on their own. If it’s a result of an interrupted connection, reconnecting is just a matter of deselecting the “work offline” item in the File menu, or a reboot.

CTRL+S is the most valuable keyboard shortcut anyone can learn. Left pinky and left ring finger. Repeat often.

2. Outlook – mailbox full: When a mailbox reaches its limit, Outlook yanks the ability to send e-mails. The next to go is receiving messages. E-mails are held hostage in the Outbox, and the user is tied to his computer until he frees up enough space. Instead of cleaning up a mailbox message by message (which is a common approach and quite tedious), he can organize his mail by size and move large mail to a Personal Folders File (.pst). Once he’s caught up, he can set up auto-archiving to prevent future mailbox clogs. A few steps compared to a few hundred.

3. Word – document closed without saving: CTRL+S is the most valuable keyboard shortcut anyone can learn. Left pinky and left ring finger (or left pinky and left middle finger, depending on the size of your hands). Repeat often. It will save your employees hours of retyping and begging IT to trashpick temp folders looking for a document that doesn’t exist.

4. Excel – dragging a formula to paste it to thousands of rows: What does an employee do when she has a formula that she needs to copy and paste to 14,000 adjacent rows? If she is like the majority of Excel users, she will grab the bottom right corner of the cell, and drag it down to row 14,000. She’d be better off double-clicking the fill handle (the little black square in the bottom right of the selected cell). When she sees how much time she saves, she’ll be thrilled.

5. Windows – meandering through six levels to reach a folder used every day: Say, for example, an employee’s files are stored on the Z drive. Within that drive is a folder for his department. Within that department folder is a folder for this fiscal year. Within that is a folder for a specific project. And on and on. He takes this scenic route three to five times a day. If he created a shortcut, he could make the trip in one click. (Jen Darr)

FIND MORE INFO IN: “How Not to Sabotage Your Whopping Software Investment” | Desktop Application Support | BlackBerry + Mobile Support | PC Helps eTraining | Contact PC Helps

In a recent post on TechRepublic, Calvin Sun offers 10 tips on the subject. Here are three that warrant elaboration:

Less Imaginary Widgets, More Genuine Examples

If one of your employees is fumbling with the Access sample database “Northwind,” it’s no wonder. How invested is he, really, in Raclette Courdevault and Geitost*? Give him something that is familiar, like an actual database from your company, with products or figures that have relevance.

If you took a three-day course on jet propeller engine repair, would you submit your resume for a job as an American Airlines mechanic?

“If you can relate to the material you’re studying to something in your own life, your retention will be greater,” writes TechRepublic’s Sun.

Long Distance vs. Sprinting

Sun explains how people are more likely to retain information that is learned in small chunks over time than what is studied during marathon cramming sessions. We know this. We’ve been told at least once in our lives not to cram.

Yet, in the case of Office 2007 migrations for example, employees are given mini courses or just PDF cheat sheets to learn a software suite that is radically different from previous versions. Do you think your employees are going to remember that the chart options have changed in Excel 2007 if they learned it upfront but create only one chart a month?

Use It or Lose It

If you took a three-day course on jet propeller engine repair, would you submit your resume for a job as an American Airlines mechanic? Apply that same logic to standard corporate training courses. While you have given your employees initial training on applications, you cannot expect them to walk out of the classroom as experts.

Still, some companies leave employees to fend for themselves after initial training. On a recent call to PC Helps, the customer wanted to know how to search two Excel worksheets for duplicates. Worksheet One contained 30,000 rows of data; Worksheet Two had 16,000. A consultant showed her how to use a nested formula. The employee was elated, and confessed that she was about to manually vet the data – all 45,000 rows. That’s hardly efficient. It’s an avoidable tragedy. (Jen Darr)

How do you promote efficiency in your office? Tell us in comments or send me an e-mail.

*Raclette Courdevault and Geitost are two products sold by the fictitious Northwind company. The former is cheese that is melted and served over boiled potatoes with lots of ground black pepper – big in Switzerland; the latter is Norwegian dessert cheese that must be sliced paper-thin. But I had to look that up.

MORE INFO IN: How Not to Sabotage Your Whopping Software Investment | Desktop Application Support | PC Helps eTraining | Contact PC Helps