Hi 1fishy!
Here's a bit of a summary collation of Excel resources posted originally in
response to a question on how to become an Excel Expert.
Perhaps the very best resource is yourself! Few experts have gained their
in-depth knowledge other than by banging their heads on the keyboard trying
to work out solutions to problems. It's sometimes frustrating but even blind
alleys teach you things and successes are very rewarding. Don’t get too
concerned though. The current hard stuff becomes easier as you progress.
I use a program called NetCaptor that allows multi-tabbed copies of Explorer
and I have "Captor groups" set up in three blocks as follows:
Prime Sites
Secondary Sites
Microsoft Sites
PRIME
Chip Pearson:
http://www.cpearson.com/excel/topic.htm
Ranked number one equal because his index is so crystal clear and content so
broad
Dave McRitchie
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/xlindex.htm
Ranked number one for breadth of content but the index is necessarily more
difficult.
John Walkenbach
http://j-walk.com/ss/excel/index.htm
Lots of useful Add-ins and downloadable examples from one of the most
popular writers of Excel texts.
Then there's a special link that is worth going to immediately:
SPECIAL
Ron de Bruin
www.rondebruin.nl/Google.htm
Ron has an Add-In that you can download free of charge. It installs a Google
search tool under your Help menu in Excel. If you don't Google search Excel
problems now, you will soon do so when you get the hang of it.
SECONDARY
I've left out many real gems on the web. I plead guilty and ask for the need
for selectivity to be taken into account. Plus, even with NetCaptor it does
take time to download all the front pages. But just briefly and all with
different strengths in different areas:
http://www.bmsltd.co.uk/Excel/Default.htm
http://contextures.com/tiptech.html
http://www.erlandsendata.no/english/index.htm
http://www.mvps.org/vb/
http://www.decisionmodels.com/calcsecretsj.htm
http://www.vbapro.com/
http://www.rb-ad.dircon.co.uk/rob/excelvba/tips/index.htm
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,4148,29,00.asp
http://www.tushar-mehta.com/
http://www.geocities.com/jonpeltier/Excel/Charts/index.html
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/index
MICROSOFT
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;kbinfo
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?
http://www.microsoft.com/
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=/support/Excel/Content/CoolTips/cool.asp#E10E28
NEWSGROUPS
But don't forget the newsgroups. It's the number one learning tool on the
internet. Post a question and it usually doesn't take more than an hour to
get a reply or three. Posters are all volunteers who give their expertise
freely and cheerfully. It's not total altruism at work because they know
that it is also by far the best way to extend their skills, keep them at
their finger-tips and solve the particular problems they have (or might not
realize they have!) Most often you'll get a solution and / or a reference to
the place to go that covers the problem definitely (well.....) or in depth.
You can also gain very valuable expertise by "lurking" and seeing what
replies are to various questions that interest you and even more so by
attempting answers yourself even if at first you don't send but see if you
are right. But don't worry about making bloopers as we all do that and I've
not yet known anyone treated other than with respect when they are trying to
help or are being helped.
The top three newsgroups in terms of usage are:
microsoft.public.excel.misc
microsoft.public.excel.programming
microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions
Post only to one group and select the one you think most likely to be the
right one for your query. If in doubt use misc but not to worry because
you'll probably get an answer on whatever group you go for. But don't attach
files as this is very much frowned on because of download times and costs if
it became too prevalent and because of fear of viruses etc. Generally the
very act of describing your problem triggers the solution before you finish
asking the questions (and sometimes triggers it just as you click "send"
<vbg>)
Make sure that you connect through:
msnews.microsoft.com
It's faster and quicker to update. Also make sure you read Chip Pearson's
and Dave McRitchie's Hints for new posters. They provide a wealth of useful
information on getting the most out of newsgroups.
BOOKS
But there's still no substitute for some good hard copy text for structured
and comprehensive coverage of the area. Here, you might do some preliminary
research on what's available at:
http://www.amazon.com
Don't forget to use their search tool. Most texts are available through them
at a discount and it's well worth reading the Author reviews and the reviews
posted by readers. Don't just go for star rating or even Amazon sales
ranking but if it sounds good, rates good and ranks good (established texts
only) it's probably worth having a good look at it. Amazon are quite cheap
and pretty fast; that can be quite important when the good bookshops are
hard to find and / or carry limited stock and / or (like Australia) if it
takes at least 6 months before the new title is floated across the ocean on
a raft.
John Walkenbach is regarded as one of the leading writers on Excel and many
swear by (and occasionally at) his "trilogy" Excel 2002 Bible, Excel 2002
Power Programming with VBA and Excel 2002 Formulas. Don't worry about your
Excel Version number as the earlier Version differences are clearly
signposted. But there are other extremely good texts that are worth browsing
before buying as it is a matter of taste. For a downloadable recent list of
the range of current material available go to:
Debra Dalgleish
http://contextures.com/tiptech.html
Debra maintains the current list of published texts with classification,
titles, prices and ISBNs.
FINALLY
Don't forget the online Help that comes with Excel. Too many people deride
it as being written for geeks by geeks. It does have it's moments but
generally it is getting better and better with each succeeding version.
That should keep you busy for a while. But remember that one of the main
joys of Excel is that it is so broad and so deep that you will never know it
all. Also it has so many applications to different disciplines and
sub-disciplines that you will never stop finding hidden depths and
applications.
--
--
Regards
Norman Harker MVP (Excel)
Sydney, Australia
(e-mail address removed)
Excel and Word Function Lists (Classifications, Syntax and Arguments)
available free to good homes.
