Is there a way to require a cell to be entered or changed?

[Danielle G.]

We have created a spreadsheet for a group of sales people. We have already
established the drop down boxes in numerous cells. What we want to have
happen is to make each drop down cell a "required cell" so that our
salespeople must choose an option in the cell each and every time they enter
the spreadsheet. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thank you,

 

[Earl Kiosterud]

Danielle,

This is tricky. Formulas can pop up warning messages, but tend to do so before all the data
has been entered, which can be confusing for users. You have to decide at what point a
warning should be issued. Hard to say more without making a lot of assumptions about your
situation.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I like to use an adjacent cell--formatted in big, bold red letters.

=if(a1<>"","","<-- Please enter your name")

In one workbook, we had an extra worksheet that would check for as many errors
as we could.

=if(Sheet1!a1="","Error","")
=if(and(sheet1!x1="y",sheet1!y1=0),"Error","")
....

Then in the adjacent column, we had a larger description that explained why
something was an error or a warning.

And then use data|filter|autofilter to show the non-blanks.