Conditional formatting for non-alphabetic data

[dbbath]

Hi there,


I have managed to sort some data according to non-alphabetical criteria. Specifically, I have sorted a range of data for children's attainment levels where 4E (year 4 emerging) comes before 4D (year 4 developing), which comes before 4S (year 4 secure), etc. So I have used 'Custom List' to insert the levels, like this: 3E, 3D, 3S, 4E, 4D, 4S.


Is there a way to use the same principle in conditional formatting? For example, if column B has data for each child for July and column C has data for September, I'd like Excel to highlight in column C the levels that have gone down (e.g. from 3S to 3D), the ones that have stayed the same, and the ones that have improved (e.g. from 3S to 4E).


Thank you in advance.

All the best,


David

 

[onlyadrafter]

Hello,

One possible way, probably not the best way, is to have a table with your data with a column to the right i.e.

3E 1
3D 2
3S 3
etc..

you could then use a VLOOKUP formula to check for a higher/lower value and colour as required.

 

[Jonmo1]

Cross posted and resolved.

Conditional formatting for non-alphabetic data