Contextures News

Quick List of Months in Excel

June 21, 2016

Create a quick list of months or weekdays, and more, in this week's Excel news. If there are topics that you'd like to see covered in future newsletters, please let me know.

 -  Debra -  ddalgleish @ contextures.com
     Visit my Excel website for many more tutorials and videos.

Quick List of Months or Weekdays

This trick is easy, and a real time-saver. If you're setting up a worksheet, you might need a list of months or weekdays, so you can start entering data for those dates. To quickly make a list, type the first date on the worksheet. Then, select that cell, and point to the little black square in its bottom right corner.

Instead of pressing the left mouse button, press the RIGHT mouse button, and drag down, as far as you need to. Let go of the mouse button, then click one of the options in the popup list. For example, click Fill Months, or my favourite, Fill Weekdays.

You can get more quick data entry tips on my website.

Excel VBA Master Course

Do you enjoy using Excel VBA to create macro for yourself or your co-workers or clients? Maybe you're self-taught, learning from a book or two, Google searches, and lots of painful experience (like me!). If you'd like a great opportunity to quickly improve your VBA skills, take a look at the Excel VBA Master Class that will be held in Amsterdam, on October 26-27. This two-day course should quickly pay for itself, in the time that you'll save in writing and troubleshooting your code.

Registration just opened, and the class size is limited. There is an Early Bird discount, if you register before July 31st. (On the "Select Ticket" page, click the button that shows the number remaining, then choose the Early Bird ticket.)

Product Update

There has been a minor update to my Data Validation Multi Select Premium (DVMSP) kit. That kit lets you add a popup list for data entry, so it's easier to select from a long list of items.

In the new version (6.03), the installation macro checks your target sheet, to see if the code has been added previously. Duplicate code can cause an error, so this will help you prevent that problem.

To check your version, look on the Overview sheet in the Setup file. To get the new version, use your original download link, or email me if you can't find your link.

Excel Articles

Here are a couple of Excel articles I read recently, that you might find useful.

Hidden Features -- Charley Kyd shows how to find and use some of Excel's best hidden features. Note: To add the New command, and a few others, just click the arrow at the end of the QAT, then add a check mark to one of the commands in the list. (Level - All)

Bullet Chart -- Jorge Camoes gives step by step instructions on how to build a bullet chart in Excel. These are very compact charts that are great to use on a dashboard. (Level - Intermediate/Advanced)

More Excel Articles -- Visit my Excel website for many more tutorials and videos. And for a bit of fun, read my weekly collection of entertaining Excel tweets.

Smell the Roses

If you saw the science project picture last week, I have good news to report. My grandson called to say that his teacher loved it! Phew! I took it easy this week though, and spent some time relaxing in the garden, enjoying the lovely roses. They come back to brighten the yard year after year, and thrive despite my neglect.

NOTE: If you have any problems with the links in the email, you can see this newsletter on my website -- copy this link and paste it into your browser:

www.contextures.com/newsletter/excelnews2016/20160621ctx.html

Recommended Excel Products

• FastExcel: Watch the short video on my website to see how these tools help you manage your Excel files, identify calculation jams, and remove or reduce the problems. If you work with large, calculation-heavy Excel files, FastExcel is a great investment.

• Excel Chart Tools: If you build complex charts, save time with Jon Peltier's Excel Charting add-in. Don't waste hours trying to format the chart yourself!

• See more recommended Excel products

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