Tip #66 - Browser Page Navigation

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #66 - Browser Page Navigation

Most people are aware that the Back button on the browser will get you to a previous page. This is a helpful feature of the browser allowing you to investigate pages knowing that you can always get back to a recent page by clicking the back button.

If you have strayed far away from your initial page you can get back there more effectively by positioning your mouse on the back button and holding down the mouse button rather than clicking. This will display a menu showing you a list of your recent pages. Move your mouse down to the desired page and click on the one you want. This can save a lot of time if the pages between the one you’re looking at the and the one you want to go back to had a lot of graphics that need to be redrawn. 

Here’s an extra tip: if you’re into keyboard shortcuts you can use Ctrl (Command) plus the left arrow key to move back to a previous page.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

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Tip #65 - Excel Formula Auditing

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #65 - Excel Formula Auditing
Tracing Dependents and Precedents

There are a couple of auditing tools available in Excel that are of great help when you are troubleshooting excel formulas, when you need to explain a spreadsheet to a co-worker or when you need to audit a spreadsheet for errors.

The two primary tools are tracing dependents and tracing precedents. Both of these tools are designed to identify graphically, using a series of arrows, the relationship of the active cell with other cells in your workbook. When you trace dependents, all of the cells that are dependent on (will affect the results) the contents of the active cell are identified. Conversely, when you trace precedents, all of the cells that feed into or precede the active cell are identified with arrows. When you trace precedents the active cell must contain a formula.

Formula Auditing from the active cell in D column.

To try this out, open one of your worksheets that has formulas. Click on a cell that is used in a formula. Click the Formula tab, Formula Auditing group, Trace Dependents (View menu, toolbars, Formula Auditing in the Apple version). You should see arrows pointing to the first level of dependency. Clicking on the Trace Dependents option again will show the second level of dependency. Continue clicking to show additional dependent cells. If you were to print your worksheet with the dependency arrows showing, they will be visible. If you wanted to print your worksheet at this point it would be helpful to print the row/column headings (the row numbers and the column letters) to help you identify the location of the cells. To do this click on the Page Layout tab, Sheet Options group, Print Headings (File menu, Page Setup, Sheet tab).

Use the Remove Arrows option to turn off the display of the relationship arrows. If you are a veteran Excel user I guarantee you’ll use this tip a lot. The Trace Precedents works the same way, click in a cell with a formula and the cells that are used in that formula will be identified. Continue clicking to see other cells that also feed into that result.

I've included a picture of some Formula Auditing Art! Yes, this is done by people who have a little too much time on their hands but it's kind of cool!

Formula Auditing Art

Have you bought my book yet? If not, why not??  100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print ($14.99) and ebook ($7.99) formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window for your shopping convenience. If you've bought my book, THANK YOU! Please consider writing a review on Amazon.com.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when I add a new post.

Tip #64 - Dropbox For Document Sharing or Backup

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #64 - Dropbox For Document Sharing or Backup

One of my favorite free programs to store and share documents is Dropbox. It uses cloud technology which allows me to access my files from any computer. This is helpful if you travel without your computer but need to work on files. Simply log on to any computer, bring up a browser and sign into your Dropbox account. Instantly you will see all of the folders and files you have saved in your local Dropbox. You can also share specific folders in your Dropbox, which is an important feature if you need to share documents with someone.

 

Dropbox Logo

Who might benefit from using this service? I think almost everyone could. You can use it as an extra storage area for files you don’t want to lose. If something happens to your computer and all of the files stored in the Dropbox will be safe and available. If you’re a teacher or a member of a committee and need students or co-workers to send you files, create a shared folder and the students can drop their submissions into the special folder.

Get creative and let me know how you’re using your Dropbox program.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #63 - Excel - Showing Formulas

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #63 - Excel - Showing Formulas

When you are viewing an Excel worksheet, you are seeing the result of formulas in the cells, not the formulas themselves. To view a formula you need to click on a cell and look on the formula bar above the worksheet where the formula is displayed. But what if you need to look at a lot of formulas or you don’t know what cells the formulas are in, what’s your option? The answer’s simple. You can show all of the formulas with a simple keystroke.

Excel worksheet with formulas hidden

The same worksheet with the formulas showing

To view your formulas on your active worksheet, hold down the Ctrl/Command key and strike the tilde key (~) on your keyboard. The tilde key is below the esc key, to the left of the 1 key and above the Tab key.  Doing the same keyboard shortcut will display the formula results again, rather than the formulas.

The worksheet can be printed with the formulas showing, be aware that often you need to reset the column widths before printing

Now that you can see your formulas, you should use the formula auditing tools, described in this tip.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #62 - Compressing Photos for Emailing

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #62 - Compressing Photos for Emailing

It is not generally recommended that you attach more than two or three pictures to an email because of the limits on the size of attachments. Of course, you can resize the pictures in programs such as iPhoto or Picasa. Another way is to use the “send to” feature of your operating system, both PC and Apple.

To use the “Send to” feature, find a picture or pictures that you would like to attach to an email and click on it. Remember you can use the Ctrl (Command) key to select more than one picture. Now leave your mouse on one of the selected pictures and click the right mouse button (Ctrl click for Apple). From the pop out menu that appears, select Send to, and click on Mail Recipient. A further dialog box will appear from which you can choose the picture size. See the table below from Kodak to determine the appropriate file size.

Kodak suggests these resolution/file sizes:
For a 4" x 6" print, the image resolution should be 640 x 480 pixels minimum.
For a 5" x 7" print, the image resolution should be 1024 x 768 pixels minimum.
For an 8" x 10" print, the image resolution should be 1536 x 1024 pixels minimum.
For a 16" x 20" print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.
For a 20" x 30" print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.

Of course, the larger the file size, the fewer files you should attach to the email.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #61 - Excel Data Validation

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #61 - Excel Data Validation

In Excel, Data Validation refers to a feature of the program that allows you to limit the type of information that can be entered in a cell. You can limit it to a specific list of words, a range of numbers, only whole or decimal numbers, dates, time, etc. You even get to define the input message that appears when a mouse hovers over the cell as well as the error alert message that would appear if someone enters incorrect information.

This Excel feature is particularly important when you have multiple people entering data and you want to make sure the data is consistent and accurate. If someone has to order a minimum of 10 products and the data entry person enters an 8 in the cell, a warning dialog box appears. As part of the data validation you can customize the warning dialog box to clarify what the mistake is. In this case the dialog box might say “There is a minimum of 10 products. Please reenter the quantity.”

If you want to limit the entries based on a list, you first type the list entries on a worksheet in the workbook, it doesn't have to be the same worksheet. Click on the Data tab and choose Data Validation (Data menu for Apple) and from the Allow list choose List. You will need to identify the sheet and cells that the entries are coming from. You can do this by clicking in the source box, clicking on the appropriate sheet and dragging to select the cells that have the data. You might want to edit the Input Message that the data entry person sees. When finished click OK.  Now when you move your mouse to any cell in the range the Input Message will pop up and the pull down arrow from which you are to choose will appear.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #60 - A Lighthearted Look at Computers and Technology

In honor of April Fool's Day I'm offering you a lighthearted look at computers and technical support. Come back tomorrow to see a new computer tip.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.