# It was twenty years ago today...



## MrExcel (Nov 21, 2018)

On November 21, 1998 I posted the first answer at MrExcel.com. A simple little formula of =A2-DAY(A2)+1 got this whole thing started.

It is amazing that the community here has posted over 1 million threads in twenty years. We have a great knowledge base about Excel here and I love that I've had the opportunity to meet some of you in real life. To mark the 20 year anniversary, I have some free swag available: Read offer number three  at this page for more details.

For those of you who have posted here over the years, my sincere thanks for being a part of the community.

For those with over 500 posts here, check your spam or promo folders over the next couple of hours for an email with a subject line of "Your User ID - Thanks for being part of the MrExcel community" from Bill Jelen.

Sincerely,
Bill Jelen


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## My Aswer Is This (Nov 21, 2018)

Thanks Bill I received your E-mail and appreciate your Offer. I'm no Excel expert but  I'm still able to give some help to users here at Mr. Excel. I'm friends with you on FB and I love NASA and all the space photos you share on FB and: We Report Space​. I have followed nearly every launch since the Mercury days. I now live in Central Florida and can see many launches from my front yard even thou I'm about 100 miles South West of the Cape.

Take care and wishing you a nice Thanksgiving and coming Holiday Season.


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## VBA Geek (Nov 21, 2018)

Thank you, Bill. It's great to be part of MrExcel community


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## Domski (Nov 21, 2018)

Hi Bill,

Congratulations on your anniversary. Amazing achievement to have kept this community going for such a long time.

I don't post much any more but I look back very fondly on the time when I was more active and can only give great thanks for everything I learnt from all the big brains here.

Best wishes,

Domski


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## JenniferMurphy (Nov 21, 2018)

Bill,

Thanks so much for this amazing resource. I have gotten dozens of answers that I would never have figured out on my own. You have saved me hours of work and hundreds of screwups.

My best to you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

-jm


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## RoryA (Nov 21, 2018)

I guess that makes us MrExcel's Lonely Hearts Club Band?


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## Darren Bartrup (Nov 21, 2018)

Excel really started to click when I joined this site.  

Your email has a date error though - you posted your first answer today?


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## shift-del (Nov 21, 2018)

Hi Bill

Not many communities in the net last for 20 years.
Best wishes for the next 20 years.




MrExcel said:


> For those with over 500 posts here, check your spam or promo folders over the next couple of hours for an email with a subject line of "Your User ID - Thanks for being part of the MrExcel community" from Bill Jelen.


Just over the line. But so far no email.


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## DRSteele (Nov 21, 2018)

Thank you, Bill, for creating and fostering a thriving community of like-minded persons willing to help each other.


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## Michael M (Nov 21, 2018)

A fantastic website that has survived for a number of reasons !!
1. Great content and knowledgeable contributors
2. A set of standards that haven't changed
3. moderators that can, and do !

In the time I have been involved with Mr Excel, I have always receive unrivalled support from other posters, whether they be MVP's or newbies !
The mods have kept us all in line and on track and made sure that, to the best of their ability, rubbish and spam is eliminated ASAP.

Congratulations to all involved.....keep up the great work.


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## Trebor76 (Nov 22, 2018)

Hi Bill,

It's been great to be part of something that makes a real difference to so many people.  Thanks for creating MrExcel and congratulations and best wishes to you and whole MrExcel community.

Regards,

Robert


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## Johnny C (Nov 22, 2018)

Hi Bill and everyone else that makes this such a useful resource. 

Not managed the whole 20 years, I've been here 12 years and 15 days. Still not hit 1,000 posts yet but not far off.

I wrote my first Excel 4.0 macro in, I'm guessing, 1993? All it did was go down a sheet and colour every other line light grey to emulate the pajama paper that printers used back then. 

Round about 2006 I realised I wasn't scratching the surface on VBA and read John Walkenbach's excellent VBA 2003 book. That gave me some questions I couldn't find the answer to. Back then I don't think Google existed so I must have found this site through the old Yahoo! search engine. I've learnt so much from this site it's untrue. Whenever I've got a question it's my 'goto' site. I've learnt so much I don't need to visit as much as I once did, it's more if I'm at a quiet point at work and to help others the way people like RoryA helped me. 

I just realised the way it's impacted my life; I wouldn't be doing the job I am today if I hadn't learn so much. I think that must apply to a lot of people. 

I remember the internet from the early days, before Windows or web browsers existed. Back then it was still very much this amazing new resource where people just shared stuff for free, because they could and it was a great thing for everyone to do. Sadly there's not much of that ethos around any more. But this website remains true to that. Just a bunch of people helping each other out because they can and it's a good thing to do, we all learn from it. No malice, hate, bad stuff, just what the ancient Greeks referred to as 'philoxenia', generosity of spirit to strangers.

No doubt there's a lot that gets filtered out by the Mods but I've never seen anything written in bad spirit.

So, it's a big fat thanks from me!


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## Jack in the UK (Nov 22, 2018)

Hi Bill, well 20 years and counting, so much has happened and so many great people world wide have come and gone and luck and float around the place

Had great fun on this web site for sure and few ups and few downs, 

I joined in Feb 17th, 2002
Total Posts
Total Posts 3,186
Posts Per Day 0.52

Not bad i guess, thank you for setting this site sure I did loads on other forums well we all do that to be honest, what would be true is without MrExcel Jack would be clueless about pretty much everything IT and most of all Excel

Well done Bill keep up the astonishing work, and remember just how many millions you/ your site MrExcel has helped every day

Congratulations and thank you 

Jack in the UK ( jiuk)


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## hiker95 (Nov 24, 2018)

Bill,

Thank you for the best Excel Site available.

And, thank you very much for your latest e-mail ++++


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## KevCarter (Nov 25, 2018)

WOW, 20 years of helping Excellers of all levels, including boneheads like me. Thank you very much for so kindly sharing your knowledge, and for creating an environment where so many others can share and learn as well!!!

Kevin


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## onlyadrafter (Dec 1, 2018)

Bill,

Amazing and brilliant. We got computers at work in 1991, but only for CAD. Can't remember exactly when we started using other software, but I think it may have been 1994. it then took me 9 years to discover this site. SO glad I did. I don't think I have ever learnt so much about anything anywhere else.

There are too many people to thank, but anyone who has answered a question here is worthy of thanks. So THANK YOU to you all. Keep this amazing and wonderful site going.

I don't visit this site much anymore, and I doubt I will be visiting in another 20 years time, but I hope this site is still going.

PS Bill, a very big thank you to yourself not only for hosting this site, but especially the free book offer.


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