Posted by: Mannie on: December 3 2009 • Categorized in: Excel
On some charts, you may want to plot a data series that contains different numbers on a different scale. For example, you may want to show monthly sales figures and percentages on the same chart. If you use the same scale for both data series, the percentages will be too small to show up on the chart.
To plot a data series on a secondary axis:
- Create your chart.
- Select the smaller data series by clicking the drop-down list on the Layout tab of the Chart Tools ribbon.
- Click the Format Selection button.
- Excel will display the Format Data Series dialog box
- In the Series Options category, select Secondary Axis.
- Click the Close button.
- Excel will plot the data series on a secondary axis.
If you are a full-time web developer, you probably already use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to format and layout web pages. However, if your only design experience is creating and maintaining your company’s web site, you are probably still working with HTML. It’s time to think about changing.
CSS works with HTML to improve the appearance of your web pages. Styles can be applied to headings, images, tables, text, or any other object on a web page. If you work with styles in Microsoft Word, the concept is basically the same.
Do you remember what the Web was like back in 1994 when we were all amazed by the Louvre web site? (Remember the Mosaic browser?) Wow, we could actually see pictures on our computer that were in France! This was HTML 1.0 with no support for tables, so all Web pages were one column. Boring! Then tables came along, and all of a sudden, web pages could have more than one column, paving the way for more complicated layouts. A revolution! CSS represents another sea change in web design.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to train users on software (and who isn’t these days?), consider Camtasia Studio, screen recording software from TechSmith. (Price: $299)
Camtasia is easy to learn and fun to use. You simply record what’s happening on the screen as you speak the narration into a microphone. Depending on the length of the video, it’s often easier to record small chunks of your video at a time and then stitch them together during editing. When you edit the video, it’s easy to pan and zoom smoothly, so you can focus on the parts of the screen that are important. During editing, you can also add titles and transitions, edit the audio track, etc.
After 27 years in the business, you end up with a few observations. Ron Miller, an old friend of mine, interviewed me about Vista, Office 2007, and my observations on technical writing. All opinions expressed are my own, but I did get a chance to say some things. Take a look at the interview: http://www.daniweb.com
In earlier versions of Word, you were easily able to suppress the blank lines in a mail merge. In Word 2007, it does not seem to automatically do this.Say for example, you have a data file with Address 1, Address 2, and Address 3. When you add the fields to your merge document, they look something like this:
«Address 1»
«Address 2»
«Address 3»
«City», «State» «Zip»
Microsoft Word 2007 lets you create blog postings and publish them directly from Word. (Actually, I’m doing it right now!) Using Word is generally easier than most blogging software, which requires users to edit HTML code.
To create a blog posting from Word:
- Click the Office button.
- Select New, select New blog post, and then click the Create button (lower right corner).
- Click the Register Now button in the dialog, and then select your Blog provider from the drop-down list.
- Enter the appropriate information into the New Blogger Account dialog box.
- Click the Picture Options button if you want to select a picture provider from the drop-down list.
(If you don’t use a picture provider, select None-Don’t Upload Pictures.)
- Type your blog posting, and click the Publish button on the Ribbon to publish it to the blog. (When you publish, Word will prompt you for your Username and Password.)
By default, Office 2007 saves files in new XML-based formats. Word uses the .docx and .docm extensions. Docx files do not support macros, while docm files are macro-enabled. Presumably, this is to cut down on the number of viruses aimed at Word documents.
Similarly, Excel uses the .xlsx and .xlsm extensions, and PowerPoint uses the .pptx and .pptm extensions. Access has also changed its file format to an XML-based format, using the .accdb extension.
However, the new formats are not backward-compatible. Therefore, people using any older versions of Office will not be able to open files saved in the new formats. Since it will be some time before a majority of users have Office 2007, we recommend saving files in the old formats if you intend to distribute them to other users.
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To save an Office 2007 file in an older format:
- Click the Office button.
- Select Save As.
- At the bottom of the dialog box, under Save as type:, select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc).
Office 2007 now lets you save any document, presentation or spreadsheet as a PDF (without having to purchase Adobe Acrobat). However, you have to download a plug-in to add this functionality.
You can download the free plugin from Microsoft at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4D951911-3E7E-4AE6-B059-A2E79ED87041&displaylang=en
After you have downloaded the plug-in, to save a file as a PDF, click the Office button and select Save As | PDF or XPS.
If you are working with a formula that may refer to a blank cell or otherwise generate an error message, you can use a combination of the IF-THEN-ELSE and the ISERROR function to handle the #DIV/0! or other error messages that may appear.
The IF-THEN-ELSE has 3 parts: the condition, the TRUE condition, the FALSE condition. The following formula tests A1 for the number 100. If it is found, the cell displays the contents of A1. If it is not found, it multiplies another cell (B1) by 2:
=IF(A1=100,A1,B1*2)
By using one of the ISERROR functions, you can test for an error condition and use the IF statement to display a message or nothing at all. The common IS functions are ISERR, which returns TRUE for any error value except #N/A and ISERROR, which returns TRUE for any error value (#N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, or #NULL!).
Suppose a cell is going to contain the average of several cells. If the cells are empty, the result will be division by zero and the #DIV/0! error will appear. The following formula will take care of this condition:
=IF(ISERR(AVERAGE(A1:A10)),”No Data”,AVERAGE(A1:A10))
If the formula AVERAGE(A1:A10) returns an error (most likely because there are no numbers in the range), the cell will display the words “No Data”. If there is no error, the cell will display the results of AVERAGE(A1:A10).
A snippet is a chunk of code that you can store in Dreamweaver to reuse later. Snippets can include HTML, JavaScript, ASP, JSP, etc. For example, let’s say you need to add several graphics to your Web site, and each graphic is in a two-cell table with the graphic in the upper cell and the caption in the lower cell. Since you will use the same table (with different content) several places on the site, there is no need to create the table each time. Simply create it once, save it as a snippet, and reuse it whenever you need to.
Dreamweaver also contains some predefined snippets that you can use as a starting point. For example, one snippet of JavaScript lets you add a Close button to any Pop-up windows you include on your Web site. This snippet obviates the need to create the code for each window.
Dreamweaver also includes snippets of code that lets you add a Browse for File… button, a variety of formatted tables, drop-down menus, a Print button, navigation aids such as breadcrumb links, and many more options.
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