Book Details

Microsoft Excel Book Details

Book Objectives
  • To take students who are new to spreadsheets (and Microsoft Excel) from a beginner to an advanced stage

Book Requirements:
  • A PC, with either Windows 95, 98, ME or XP
  • A Copy of Microsoft Excel


Book Description:

This course has been designed especially for those new to the world of Excel spreadsheets. You start off fairly slowly, and follow along with your book as you design your first spreadsheet. Gradually, you acquire more and more skills and expertise. By the end of this book, you'll be at quite an advanced stage, designing things like Pivot Tables and constructing complex IF Statements.

The Excel book will cover a heck of lot of ground. And so will you. Believe in yourself and you can become a very competent Excel user in no time.

Students need not have any Spreadsheet experience at all before buying this book. The only thing needed for this course is a copy of Microsoft Excel.

Getting Started - Section One

Spreadsheets can be very daunting when you first tackle them. Many people are wary of numbers to begin with. Add to that a complex piece of software and you can see why they are put off spreadsheets for life! We here at Home and Learn fully understand that. And it's why we offer you a gentle introduction to the subject. All the lessons are in an easy-to-follow style, designed to teach you the basics of Excel spreadsheets as quickly as possible. Topics covered in the first section are:

  • What is a Spreadsheet?
  • Why do I need a Spreadsheet?
  • Launching Excel
  • Grid Coordinates
  • Entering data into a cell
  • Editing data in a cell
  • Widening Rows and Columns
  • Formatting cells
  • Saving your work
A Spreadsheet - Section Two
In this section, students will start entering data into cells, including text and numbers. An introduction to AutoFill, and how Excel adds up numbers is in this section. Follow along with the lessons in your course book, and you'll have no trouble at all keeping up. Topics are:

  • Merging cells
  • Using AutoFill
  • Entering formulas
  • Adding up with SUM
The addiction continues - Section Three
The spreadsheet you were working on in the last section is extended to introduce more complex ideas. The topics for this section are:

  • Adding up figures in Rows
  • Extending the spreadsheet
  • Copy and Paste
  • Paste Special
  • Multiplying
  • Adding Comments to cells
Excel Charts - Section Four
In this section, you learn how to create an Excel chart. In fact, you learn how to create three different charts, and how to format them. The lessons are quite easy to follow, and you'll soon know how charts work in Excel. The topics are:

  • Sorting Data
  • The Chart Wizard
  • Inserting a Bar chart
  • Formatting the Chart
  • Resizing the chart
  • Inserting a Pie Chart
Formulas - Section Five
The first four sections were really the beginner's section. In section 5, Students start creating spreadsheets that are slightly more complicated. You follow along as a Budget spreadsheet is created. The topics in this section are:

  • More about SUM
  • Using PRODUCT to Multiplying
  • Subtraction
  • Division
  • Combining Arithmetic Operators
  • Using Parentheses in formulas
  • A Budget spreadsheet
Functions - Section Six
Spreadsheet Functions are covered in this section of the course - what functions are, how to use them in Excel, and how to use more complex functions. You're becoming quite an expert at this stage!

  • Averages
  • The formula palette
  • Insert a Function
  • Date Functions
  • Time Functions
  • The PMT Function
Conditional Logic - Section Seven
Students are introduced to Conditional Logic in this section - what it is, and to how to use it in Excel. This is quite a challenging section - but you can do it! The topics are:

  • The IF functions
  • Greater Than
  • Less Than
  • Not equal to
  • Conditional Formatting
  • CountIf
  • Using AND
  • SumIf
Tables, Scenarios, Goal Seek - Section Eight
In this section, Students are introduced to the subjects of Tables, Scenarios, and Goal Seek. Quite a lot of ground is covered in this section. But the lessons in your book are easy to follow, and we're confident you'll get through it.
  • What is a Table
  • Insert a Table
  • Tables in Columns
  • Tables in Rows
  • Scenarios
  • The Scenario manager
  • Adding another Scenario
  • Scenario Summary
  • Goal Seek
  • What is goal seek
  • The Goal seek dialogue box
Absolutes Cell Referencing, Named Ranges, Pivot Tables - Section Nine
The importance of Absolute cell references is covered in this lengthy section, along with Named Ranges and Pivot Tables. If you want to impress employers with your IT skills, just show them your Pivot Table!
  • Absolute cell references
  • Named Ranges
  • Creating a Named Range
  • Defining the Name
  • Applying the Name
  • Pivot Tables
  • What is a Pivot Table
  • The Pivot Table wizard
  • The Pivot Table toolbar
  • Dragging buttons onto the Pivot Table
  • Field settings
  • How to Create a Pivot Table Report
Forms, Web integration - Section Ten
In the final section, two subjects are covered: Forms and Web integration. Students learn how to make life easier for data entry in a spreadsheet by constructing a form. The students will also learn about Web integration, and how to download data from a web site straight into Excel. The topics covered are:

  • Excel Forms
  • Data Input Forms
  • Using the Data Input Form
  • Data Validation Forms
  • Adding a list box to cells
  • Restricting data in a cell
  • Add an error message to your Spreadsheet
  • Hiding spreadsheet data
  • Web Integration
  • Web Query
  • Importing data from a web site
  • Hyperlinks in Worksheets
  • Extras
  • OLE
  • Embed a spreadsheet into a Word document
  • Referencing formulas on other worksheets
  • Insert Drawing objects into Spreadsheets
  • Inserting Pictures into Spreadsheets