# Just a little info about the members of this forum



## viggen66 (Feb 7, 2013)

Dear all, 

This is just a quick question regarding the members of this forum, as I have skimmed over the various threats over this forum, I have noticed that most of the power users of excel on this planet have made his or her contribution to make this forum one of the best, but my question remains, how did you gather so much info and expertise from Excel.

Also, some members are MVP, which is the top notch recognition of expertise 

By my case, I have read almost all books from John Walkenbach, (BTW I don't know if he is also a member of this forum) also from my professional career as an accountant, I have build several projects for the places I have been, of course the best way to learn is from trial and error, but do you have a career on IT or you are just like me, a curious person that wants to know almost everything that Excel can do, and how it can ease our life, if you think about it, it must be the most used IT tool in the world, and from my personal case, it's my Swiss knife for my job.


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## hiker95 (Feb 7, 2013)

viggen66,

Thanks for the kind words about MrExcel users.

I have worked for 20.5 years in IT.  It was my experience to start with Supercalc, then Lotus 123, and finally Excel up to version 2007.



> how did you gather so much info and expertise from Excel



Having the need to manipulate raw data, in a fast and accurate way, for personal projects, and projects at work.

Practice, practice, and more of the same.


See if something below will assist you in learning how to use Excel VBA, and, as your skills increase, try answering posts:


*Training / Books / Sites* as of 2/02/2013

MrExcel's Products: Books, CDs, Podcasts Discuss topics related to Holy Macro! Products: Learn Excel from MrExcel, VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel,Holy Macro! It's 2500 VBA Examples CD, Guerilla Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel and Excel Knowledge Base CD and the MrExcel Podcasts.
MrExcel's Products: Books, CDs, Podcasts

There are over 1800 Excel videos/tutorials here:
excelisfun -- 1900 Excel How To Videos - YouTube

Getting Started with VBA. 
DataPig Technologies

If you are serious about learning VBA try 
Macros Made Easy for Microsoft Excel

Excel Tutorials and Tips - VBA - macros - training
Excel Tutorial | Excel Tips | Excel Articles

Excel 2007 VBA materials to learn here:
VBA for Excel 2007 tutorial-VBA programming?

Here's a good primer on the scope of variables.
Understanding Scope

See David McRitchie's site if you just started with VBA
Getting Started with Macros and User Defined Functions

What is a Visual Basic Module?
What Is A VBA Module?

Here is a good introductory tutorial using a VBA Class:
Classes In VBA

Ron de Bruin's intro to macros:
Where do I paste the code that I want to use in my workbook

Ron's Excel Tips
Ron's Excel Tips

Anthony's Excel VBA Page - Excel Application - Excel Consultant - Excel Consulting (see 3 tutorials in Excel VBA Basic Tutorial Series)

http://www.jlathamsite.com/Teach/VBA...troduction.pdf (95 page "book")

BET: Microsoft Excel Visual Basic

Creating An XLA Add-In For Excel, Writing User Defined Functions In VBA
Creating An XLA Add In

How do I create a PERSONAL.XLS(B) or Add-in
How do I create a PERSONAL.XLS(B) or Add-in

Creating custom functions
Creating custom functions - Excel - Office.com

Writing Your First VBA Function in Excel
Writing Your First VBA Function in Excel

VBA for Excel (Macros)
Excel Macros (VBA) Tutorial

Excel Macros Tutorial
Excel Macros (VBA) Tutorial

Excel Macros & Programming
Learning about EXCEL macros

VBA Lesson 11: VBA Code General Tips and General Vocabulary
VBA for Excel macros language

Excel VBA -- Adding Code to a Workbook
Excel VBA -- Adding Code to Excel Workbook

Beyond Excel's recorder

Helpful as a simple concise reference for the basics, and, using the macro recorder is endlessly powerful.
MS Excel: Cells

Learn to debug: 
Debugging VBA

How To: Assign a Macro to a Button or Shape
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/how-to-assign-a-macro-to-a-button-or-shape/

User Form Creation
Create an Excel UserForm

When To Use a UserForm & What to Use a UserForm For
When to use Userform & What To Use Them For. Excel Training VBA 2 lesson 2

Excel Tutorials / Video Tutorials - Functions
Excel VLookup Function Examples

INDEX MATCH - Excel Index Function and Excel Match Function
Excel Index Function and Match Function

Excel Data Validation
Excel Data Validation Tips and Quirks
Excel Data Validation - Add New Items

Excel -- Data Validation -- Create Dependent Lists
Excel Data Validation -- Dependent Lists

Your Quick Reference to Microsoft Excel Solutions
XL-CENTRAL.COM : For your Microsoft Excel Solutions

New! Excel Recorded Webinars
DataPig Technologies

Fuzzy Matching - new version plus explanation

Programming The VBA Editor - Created by Chip Pearson at Pearson Software Consulting LLC
This page describes how to write code that modifies or reads other VBA code.
Programming In The VBA Editor

VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel, by Bill Jelen "Mr.Excel" and Tracy Syrstad

Excel Hacks 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools, by David & Traina Hawley

VBA and Macros for Microsoft Excel 2007, by Bill Jelen "Mr.Excel" and Tracy Syrstad

Excel 2007 Book:  you can try this...there is a try before you buy ebook available at this link…

by Stephen/ Bovey, Rob/ Green, John Bullen (Paperback - Feb 11, 2005)
Professional Excel Development

by Rob Bovey, Stephen Bullen, John Green, and Robert Rosenberg (Paperback - Sep 26, 2001)
Excel 2002 VBA: Programmers Reference

"Professional Excel Development" by Rob Bovey, Dennis Wallentin, Stephen Bullen, & John Green

DonkeyOte: My Recommended Reading, Volatility
Volatile Excel Functions -Decision Models

Sumproduct
http://www.xldynamic.com/source/xld.SUMPRODUCT.html

Arrays
Excel: Introduction to Array Formulas - Xtreme Visual Basic Talk
Array in Excel VBA

Array Dimensions in Visual Basic - Working with Dimensions (code and graphics)
Array Dimensions in Visual Basic

Shortcut Keys in Excel 2000 through 2007

Pivot Intro
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Pivots/pivotstart.htm
Office 2010 Class #36: Excel PivotTables Pivot Tables 15 examples (Data Analysis) - YouTube
Excel Pivot Table -- Dynamic Data Source
Overview of PivotTable and PivotChart reports - Excel - Office.com

Email from XL - VBA
Example Code for sending mail from Excel

Outlook VBA
Writing VBA code for Microsoft Outlook

Function Dictionary
http://www.xlfdic.com/

Function Translations
Excel 2007 function name translations - Dictionary Chart Front Page

Dynamic Named Ranges
Excel Names -- Excel Named Ranges

How to create Excel Dashboards
http://www.mrexcel.com/Excel-dashboards-Xcelsius.html
Excel Dashboard Templates
Excel Dashboards - Templates, Tutorials, Downloads and Examples | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online
Excel Dashboards - Templates, Tutorials, Downloads and Examples | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online
Free Microsoft Excel Dashboard Widgets to Download
AJP Excel Information - Gauge 

Excel Dashboard / Scorecard Ebook
Excel Dashboards and Scorecards Ebook | How to Create Dashboards in Excel

Mike Alexander from Data Pig Technologies
Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports For Dummies

Templates
CPearson.com Topic Index
Excel Template - Golf Scores
Free Microsoft Excel Template Links & Search Engine

Microsoft Excel Cascading Listboxes Tutorial
Microsoft Excel Cascading Listboxes Tutorial - YouTube

Date & Time stamping:
McGimpsey & Associates : Excel : Time and date stamps

Get Formula / Formats thru custom functions:
Show FORMULA or FORMAT of another cell

A nice informative MS article "Improving Performance in Excel 2007"
Improving Performance in Excel 2007

Progress Meters
AJP Excel Information - Progress meters
Website Disabled

And, as your skills increase, try answering posts on sites like:
MrExcel.com | Excel Resources | Excel Seminars | Excel Products
http://www.excelforum.com
Excel Templates | Excel Add-ins and Excel Help with formulas and VBA Macros
VBA Express Portal
Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Word VBA Macro Automation Help

If you are willing to spend money for the training, then something here should work for you...
Amazon.com: excel tutorial dvd
Amazon.com: excel tutorial dvd

Advanced Excel Training - Online Excel Course
Advanced Excel Training - Online Excel Course


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## xenou (Feb 7, 2013)

I read books about Excel and Excel VBA programming.  I also studied the answers of experts here on the board to "reverse engineer" their solutions.  And I also learned a lot from a number of websites with in depth explanations of various topics.  If you want to develop VBA skills I think it is necessary to learn some basic programming concepts (any introduction to programming will do, but if it is geared for visual basic that won't hurt).  I also worked hard at learning SQL which I consider very useful for crunching certain kinds of data.  It's not a one time thing - I think I need to get up to speed on some of the new features in Excel and Access in recent years (I am getting a little behind now, basically  ).


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## japh (Feb 24, 2013)

Just joined this site - love this roll-up of links!


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## Gerald Higgins (Feb 25, 2013)

viggen66 said:


> . . . I have skimmed over the various *threats* over this forum . . .



I think I've missed those ! And I'm glad !


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## Rick Rothstein (Mar 4, 2013)

viggen66 said:


> ...I have noticed that most of the power users of excel on this planet have made his or her contribution to make this forum one of the best, but my question remains, how did you gather so much info and expertise from Excel.
> 
> Also, some members are MVP, which is the top notch recognition of expertise
> 
> By my case, I have read almost all books from John Walkenbach, (BTW I don't know if he is also a member of this forum) also from my professional career as an accountant, I have build several projects for the places I have been, of course the best way to learn is from trial and error, but do you have a career on IT or you are just like me, a curious person that wants to know almost everything that Excel can do, and how it can ease our life...


I started my programming career in BASIC (the forerunner to the compiled version of VB which, in turn, was the forerunner to VBA) in 1981. While I did use other languages, such as FORTRAN (kind of close to BASIC in concept), very little C/C++, a lot of awk (a UNIX scripting language), my main programming language, prior to retiring 10+ years ago, was in BASIC/VB (not VBA) where I would mainly write useful routines for our engineering work (I was a Civil Engineer doing Road Design) and, in addition, I wrote three large-scale programs for various other departments in our building.

Originally, I used to volunteer answering newsgroup questions for the compiled version of VB (which Microsoft was generous enough to award me their MVP status). When VB.NET replaced VB “Classic”, I chose not to learn it (I just did not like it), so I kept answering the compiled version of VB newsgroup question for a couple/few more years until the amount of questions being asked in the newsgroups dwindled substantially (I guess because Microsoft pushed VB.NET to the exclusion of VB “Classic”). Not wanting to give up on my volunteering efforts, I look around for some place I could apply my knowledge and settled on the then Excel newsgroups which seemed closest to my experience base... engineering (number crunching) plus I was a math major in college. All my VB skills still worked in VBA and all I had to do was learn the Excel model that is bound to VBA. That took about two years... I began by answering both Excel and VB “Classic” newsgroup questions slowly learning from other postings the parts of Excel I hadn’t figured out on my own.

After those two years, by which time I was answering Excel questions exclusively, I approached Microsoft about switching my MVP status discipline from VB to Excel. They reviewed and evaluated the quantity and quality of my Excel offerings and decided it was such that they granted me the switch in disciplines and made me an Excel MVP which I have now been for some 5 or 6 years now. I think that makes me unique in the Microsoft MVP world, not for having a double discipline (I am pretty sure others have done that as well); rather, for becoming an MVP in a discipline for which I have absolutely *no *practical hands-on experience in.


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## Rick Rothstein (Mar 5, 2013)

Rick Rothstein said:


> I started my programming career in BASIC (the forerunner to the compiled version of VB which, in turn, was the forerunner to VBA) in 1981. While I did use other languages, such as FORTRAN (kind of close to BASIC in concept), very little C/C++, a lot of awk (a UNIX scripting language), my main programming language, prior to retiring 10+ years ago, was in BASIC/VB (not VBA)... <<remainder of prior message snipped for space>>


Hmm! I forgot to include the most important part regarding my programming background (the part that sort of responds to viggen66's "question")... I am a completely self-taught programmer having never attended a programming course. And I completely agree with viggen66 when he said "the best way to learn is from trial and error"... that is exactly how I learned to program. When I would begin to learn a new language, the first thing I did was to read the user guide to see what functions and subroutines were available to the programmer to use (not to memorize them and their syntax; rather, just to know they were there and to have a sense of what they did). Then, I would set out to program a relatively complex project in the new language (early on, I used to use a fully graphical slot machine simulation as my beginner's project) and the one thing I always hoped for was that my program would *not* run the first time. If it did run, it might have been a fluke as opposed to knowledgeable programming skills; but, if it did not run, then I would have to fight my way to understanding why (what was it that I did I not understand about the function, subroutines and their interaction with each other that caused the program to fail)... once I figured out the source of my errors, only then did things become "clear" to me... from that point on, programs became exponentially easier and easier to construct within the new language. Probably a strange method to use when learning a programming language, but it worked for me.


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## Firefly2012 (Mar 5, 2013)

Rick Rothstein said:


> ....for becoming an MVP in a discipline for which I have absolutely *no *practical hands-on experience in.



That's a pretty awesome commendation as to what's possible when one's just an "amateur" 

I hope you wear your "Proby" badge with pride at the MVP Summits!

I regret i never persevered with programming when I was younger with my first computer - I was only interested in games at the time


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## blbat (Mar 5, 2013)

hiker95, thx for all the links in one location...I saved them all in a word doc!


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