Somewhat arbitrary, but noticed...

[immyjimmy]

Wow! I had no idea I was going to start such a discussoin...
In all truth, I was probably just the first to mention it. Which is sort of like some of the answers to various questions posted on the board.

A person asks a questions and before long, there are replies. Once the question is answered to the asker's satisfactions, the thread basically becomes archived for search purposes. I know I've been waiting for a response to one of my questions by browsing other people's. If I see a topic that has no replies, I take a look to see if I can help. I figure it's the least I can do for all those who've helped me.

But back to the subject at hand... I don't know if it's possible, but if there was a way to segregate the number of threads started by a member from the posts in which that member replies to others posts... The rational being that those who start a thread are more likely looking for help wheras the replies are more likely to be help given/offered.

Lastly, I don't consider myself a master, but did like the title. I know there was one instance where I was able to solve a newbies question when (read- before) some of the more experienced board members did. How about:
Board Journeyman
?

Just my 2 cents (adjusted for inflation...)

Jim

 

[Zack Barresse]

The problem lies within the software. It is not advanced enough to be able to inturpret whether a user has answered a post with due regard to 'best practices' and 'coding etiquette'.

To do something like that it would actually take a board Moderator or Administrator (or like designee) to go around and check the threads of the subject(s) in question. Then they would have to make a decision based off of their thoughts/opinions of the skill and/or helpfullness/usefullness of the post.

Have you seen how many members this board has? It's hard enough to do this for a dozen members, let alone thousands. It would take a year!

So that is really not feasible. I mean, how would they choose? This would inevitably lead to the accusition of prejudice.

It's a lot of work to even just help out in a forum like this. There's constant work that needs to be done. And this takes away from the time that the Mods/Admins would like to answer questions (I believe the first reason they joined, most likely) and help people. A viscious circle.


As extremely admirable and exemplary as the thought is, it's probably not attainable. (And it was a good original question! )

 

[NateO]

Fair enough.

Anyone who has posted to this thread that can explain this (see the part re: 'Odd' and no one else gets to participate in this extraordinary opportunity):

http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=119126&start=3

Gets a custom title! I don't want a work around, I've already provided one.

The objective is to correctly tell us why Sumproduct() is returning bogus results.

No MVPs from this thread either (sorry).

 

[GorD]

Just noticed this thread (never really used this area of the board before) and my 2cents worth is: would it not be possible to have the board master as a junior rank to MVP. To start of it could be voted on by the MVPs in the same way as they do now for new MVPs. Eventually, when there's enough perhaps the board master could have an input too ( not too sure about that bit - there may be too many).

So basically if an MVP forms the opinion that someone is fairly competent they could nominate them for Master. You could put a minimum posts in also if you felt it neccessary, but someone with limited posts would be unlikely to come to an MVPs attention anyway.

I like the intermediate step as it is a long way between complete novice and MVP and it would also give the Op some degree of confidence in the answer.

 

[immyjimmy]

Nate,
Isn't SUMPRODUCT limited to singular values? If you feed it an array, won't it choke?

Jim
(aspiring Board Journeyman)

 

[NateO]

Hello Jim,

Nope, Sumproduct() works with arrays. From the Excel help file:

SUMPRODUCT
See Also

Multiplies corresponding components in the given arrays, and returns the sum of those products.

Syntax

SUMPRODUCT(array1,array2,array3, ...)

Array1, array2, array3, ... are 2 to 30 arrays whose components you want to multiply and then add.

Remarks

The array arguments must have the same dimensions. If they do not, SUMPRODUCT returns the #VALUE! error value.
SUMPRODUCT treats array entries that are not numeric as if they were zeros.

 

[immyjimmy]

Nate,

ray: Well, I tried... I went to the beginning of the post you listed and saw Firefytr's answer:

You'd need to return it as an array, as sumproduct will not work with singular values pitched against an entire range (array) of data.
_________________
Regards, Zack :|: Happy holidays!!

Shows what store I can put in those MVP's... (just kidding Zack - I know it's my limited understanding - you're great!)

I also went to the "Hall of Fame Winners" forum and saw Aladin's statement:

SUMPRODUCT or an array formula is used for counting as well as for summing when two or more conditions involved. I call these respectively multiconditional count and multiconditional sum.

So I'll keep plugging along, asking for help when I need it, offering it if I can (my favorite thing is to answer posts that no one else has). Maybe "board pilgrim" is the word I'm looking for.

All kidding aside, it was a nice boost to my ego to be listed as a board master, even though I knew otherwise. I know more about Excel than anyone I personally know. And I've met people who teach it at the college level. But I also know from this board that there are (MVP) people who play with Excel like my son plays with Legos! I am truly humbled and forever in the debt of those who've taken time to help me gain a better understanding of this magical tool. - Thanks, MVP's, Star people, former masters, singular dots and anyone else generous enough to give their time
here. I salute you! (Now where's the emoticon for that?)

Cheers!
Jim

 

[NateO]

Okay, not sure what the best solution is with this title business, I just thought this would be a fun, Excel-oriented challenge.

FYI, Aladin has shown me the light.

 

[PaddyD]

I know more about Excel than anyone I personally know.

In the spirit of lexical precision, how do you rank among the people you know impersonally?

 

[immyjimmy]

Paddy,

To paraphrase what I said in my previous post;
I work with Excel and I'm better at it than anyone I've met face to face. But there are people on this board who can bend it and shape it into what appears more art than science. The formulas and VBA code are a form of communication. The larger a users vocabulary, the more options they have. If the average person in America has a sixth grade understanding of English, I'd rate my understanding at 10th grade or better. But in Excel, if the average users skill level is 3, I'm at maybe 7 (2 extra points for formulas, 2 for VBA). The MVPs start at about 12.

Nate,
As I stated in my subject header, this thread is completely arbitrary. But it is noticed (and apparantly by more than just me). The last thing I want to do is cause the folks here who are so helpful to have more headaches. But by defenition, a FORUM is a place to exchange thoughts, ideas and recipes for coffee cake.

Now I'm off to find solutions to my Excel problems...

Happy Boarding!
Jim