Archives for the Microsoft Office category

When people think of Microsoft Excel, they often picture dull figures and charts and just generally lots and lots of data. All very useful stuff but not the most enthralling outside of a work environment.

Some people however, take a different approach. To them Excel can be anything and everything. It’s not just for business and numbers. It can be used to create innovative and original concepts, in all sorts of different ways.

Whatever you want to use Excel for, our Excel Training will give you all the knowledge you need to make the most of this powerful tool and it’s also worth reading this blog post on some hidden Excel tips and tricks.

So let’s take a look at some of the less traditional uses of Excel to give you an idea of what this software can really do.

Art in Excel

Excel can and has been used by artists as a platform to express their ideas and creativity. It may sound like an odd choice of medium but the flexibility and functionality Excel provides is surprisingly suited to artistic endeavour.

Take a look at these magnificent pieces by Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi:

And these Star Wars-themed works by Shukei are out of this world (excuse the pun):

Read the rest of "Creative Uses of Excel: From Nyan Cat to Pac-Man"

Posted by Aaron Charlie in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, News on May 20th, 2013| No Comments »

With Microsoft Office 2013 set for release very soon (and after our look at the new mobile excel apps), we thought we’d take a look at some of the new features to be added to its Access software.

The database powerhouse has undergone an overhaul and not just aesthetically. More app-focused, easily shareable and with a revised back-end, Access 2013 is set to build and develop upon the now three year old incumbent, Access 2010.

If you’d like to learn how to use Access from scratch, come on our Beginner’s Access Training Course or if you have some experience but would like to brush up on your skills, try our 1 day Advanced Access Workshop.

So what exactly is different about Access 2013 compared to previous versions? And will these differences make the user experience better or worse?

App-Based

The biggest new feature to be brought in with Access 2013 is the focus on a more app-based system.

What with the introduction of  Windows 8 and Sharepoint’s development into a realistic competitor to Google Drive and Dropbox, it’s unsurprising that Access 2013 has such a focus.

In Access 2013 you’ll be able to create an app (which can effectively be anything, but we’ll assume an Access file!), upload it to Sharepoint and then allow access to anyone you like.

No extra login details are required; just those of  the business’/users’ Sharepoint account.

Read the rest of "What’s New in Access 2013?"

Posted by Andy Trainer in Microsoft Office, News on January 29th, 2013| No Comments »

In this post, our Excel trainer Maggie runs through using large files in Excel.

Split Screen and Freezing Panes

In many cases, you might find it helpful to work with different sections of your worksheet at the same time.

For example, you might want to keep the data in row 4 visible while you scroll down to look at information located in row 35. You do this by applying split bars.

If you already know how to use split bars but are struggling with other aspects of Excel, why not try our Advanced Excel Training.

Applying Split Bars

When you apply split bars to a worksheet, Excel creates identical copies of the worksheet side by side.  If you apply either a horizontal or vertical split bar, you can scroll within one pane while the other pane remains stationary.

Although the Split command can be accessed from the View Menu, you can also manipulate split bars with the mouse using the split boxes.  You can move between the different panes by simply clicking the pane in which you want to work. Because each pane is a view of the same worksheet, a change in one pane means a change to the worksheet.

The VIEW tab contains the option to SPLIT.   However, if you do choose to split using this option, Excel will split the Window at the current location, i.e. the cell you are currently in.    You will probably end up with a horizontal and vertical split.

To Split a Window horizontally, place the mouse over the Split Symbol and drag it half way down the vertical scroll bar. To Split a Window vertically, place the mouse over the Split Symbol and drag half way across the horizontal scroll bar. Read the rest of "Working with Large Files in Excel"

Posted by Maggie in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, News on December 19th, 2012| No Comments »

Rumour has it Microsoft looks set to release a version of Office for iOS and Android devices early next year, and it’s safe to say the preemptive reception is mixed. Whilst there has been no official announcement from Microsoft, The Verge broke the news after receiving various leaks from high-profile sources as well as posting an apparent screenshot of the app in use on an iPad (see pic below).

With the recent release of the Surface Tablet and Windows 8 as a multi-platform operating system, many are questioning the decision to release a flagship product on competitor devices. However, it would appear that the basic free version of Office set to be available on mobile devices will be nothing more than a document reader – editing functions will only come with an Office 365 subscription.

As no official details have been released as yet we can’t go into depth on the functionality of the app, so instead in this article we’ll be taking a general look at the potential impacts and usefulness of Office on iOS and Android.

Microsoft Office 2013 has already been released to coincide with Windows 8. We will be updating our Microsoft Office courses,  which includes our Excel Training and our Advanced Excel Training, to use the latest software.

The question is: would you use Excel and other Office programs on your current mobile device? And if so, how much would you pay to use them? Read the rest of "Would You Use Microsoft Excel on Your Mobile?"

Posted by Andy Trainer in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, News on November 15th, 2012| No Comments »

Many are wondering whether the recent advent of Windows 8, with its apparent targeting of multi-platform synchronicity, will bring an end to the semi-chaos that Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) can inflict upon a company system.

In recent years the explosion in popularity of mobile and tablet devices has brought with it some big problems for IT departments to handle. Gone are the days when a company could issue its employees with a generic Blackberry and ‘work’ laptop.

These days, people want to use their iPhones, iPads and any number of different Androids and other devices to access work material, but securing and aligning these personal devices with the company network can be a nightmare.

Various features of Windows 8 seem to be directly intended to make it easier for workers to have their work and personal devices converge. However it isn’t just a question of what Windows 8 does to address BYOD issues but whether or not the uptake will be sufficient enough to bring about significant changes for IT in business.

Being able to effectively manage the processes and systems of a company’s network is integral to the running of a business which is why it is so important to adopt a service management system like ITIL. We offer ITIL training that will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which IT can work for the business and not just for itself. Read the rest of "Will Windows 8 Solve the Issues With BYOD?"

Posted by Andy Trainer in ITIL, Microsoft Office, Mobile, News on November 12th, 2012| No Comments »

There is more to Excel than you realise

In this post I share three of my favourite Excel tips that – once you know how – become very useful. Most people who use Excel have only just scratched the surface, if you take the time to learn more about Excel, you could really achieve a lot more at work and at home. Learning Excel is time consuming, and a near impossible task to do on your own. We provide regular Excel resources and tips on the blog, but nothing beats hands-on, classroom based Excel training.

Here are three Excel tips that come in handy once you know what you’re doing:

How to Shade Every Other Row

When you have a long list of data that stretches across the page it can sometime be difficult to read each line precisely across. One way to help you, and your eyes, is to make every other row a different colour.

• Highlight all the rows you want to make easier to read
• Click Conditional Formatting in the ‘Styles’ section of the ribbon
• Select New Rule > Use a formula to determine which cells to format
• In the box marked ‘Format values where this formula is true enter the formula =MOD(ROW(),2)=0
• Click on the ‘Format’ box to apply your desired styling to every other line.
• For simple shading, click on the ‘Fill’ tab and click on the lightest grey.
• Apply the conditional formatting and your spreadsheet should now be nice and stripy, and more importantly – easy to read:

Read the rest of "Excel Tips & Tricks – 3 Hidden Gems You May Have Missed"

Posted by Andy Trainer in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, News on October 19th, 2012| No Comments »

Want to know how to change the default calendar in Microsoft Project to reflect your actual working project hours? This tutorial from our MS Project trainer Maggie will give you a glimpse of the sort of content you’ll learn on our beginners Microsoft Project courses. We also run PRINCE2 courses and an Introduction to Project Management workshop so you can gain the skills to stop your projects from running overtime.

The Default Calendar in Microsoft Project is set to an 8 hour day, the Start time being 8:00 am and the finish 5:00 pm, with an hour for lunch. This calendar is called the Standard Calendar and is the calendar initially used for all Projects. This calendar can be found from the Project Menu, Change Working Time.

This calendar can be modified to reflect the working hours for an entire project. You can modify the working hours to the actual working hours for your Company, so if your standard Company hours are 9:00 am to 17:30 pm with an hour for lunch you can change the calendar to these times. With this calendar you are setting the Work Hours for your people

However, there is also a calendar that is used when you enter your tasks, this can be found in the File Menu, Tools and Schedule tab. You can set in here the start and finish times for the tasks, hours per day and hours per week. It is important that you change the calendar before entering any tasks. If the calendar is changed afterwards, the duration of the tasks will change to reflect the new hours, thus changing what you have already set.

If you are changing times for the tasks, it is important to change the resource calendar to the same time, otherwise when you assign your resources the durations of your tasks will change. Follow the instructions below to see how to do this. Read the rest of "How to Change the Calendar in Microsoft Project 2010"

Posted by Maggie in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, News on August 31st, 2012| No Comments »

When you come to us for training in PRINCE2, or to learn how to use Microsoft Project, we’ll teach you about using Gantt charts to plan and track the progress of your project.

But what do we know about where they came from? Here’s a little bit about Henry Gantt, the brains behind the Gantt Chart.

Henry Laurence Gantt

Henry Gantt was born in 1861 in Maryland, USA. He died in 1919 and developed the management tool that is the Gantt chart just after the turn of the century. He was educated at the Stevens Institute of Technology and became a mechanical engineer.

Gantt soon became known for his passion for economy/efficiency and for his sense of social responsibility. He was an advocate for the social responsibility of businesses and of applying scientific analysis to improve efficiency in industry. While he was a technician, he always strove to develop the most economical methods of production, and achieved a job role of “efficiency expert” at a textile plant in 1904. Read the rest of "Profile of Henry Gantt & the History of the Gantt Chart"

Posted by Andy Trainer in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, News, Project Management on August 16th, 2012| 1 Comment »