Baby Steps in Microsoft Office Excel 2007

First Baby Step

Taking that first baby step in learning Microsoft Office Excel is tricky and you would have to have a good understanding of what a spreadsheet application does, and if you are still in that learning curve then this might not be the information you need at the moment.

In my previous post, I discussed 7 principles if you are new to Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet application. Now I begin this series as a request from my friend working in South Africa.

He says he's new to Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and feels like he needs to unlearn his knowledge in Microsoft Excel 2003. It came as a shock to him when he first saw that his office in South Africa uses Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Though he can already use the program, he's looking for the toolbars and navigation experience he had in using Excel 2003. This is how the new Microsoft Office Excel 2007 looks like.

The main difference between the 2003 and the 2007 version is the way the menu and toolbar is presented. In 2007 the menu is integrated with Ribbons which replaces the toolbars in 2003.

The menu is also presented differently, in the 2007 version, the menu is now in tab form as compared to the static menu bar with drop down lists in 2003.

To familiarize yourself with 2007, play around with the menus and constantly use your help menu (as I mentioned in my first post) which is more interactive.

After you get used to the navigation and the whole interface itself. It's time to take your second step.


Second Baby Step


Learn to enter data. Find that first row (Row 1) and column (Column A) and enter anything. There you go. You've entered your first data. Nothing to it right? Yeah, maybe it's too simple for you so let's work this baby up. Using the help feature (F1 remember?) find your way to creating your first column of figures and try to add them all up. From the help menu, search for the function SUM( ) and follow the guidelines there. When you're done congratulate yourself as you have completed your second baby step!

More on this topic next post..