Excel Spreadsheet Macro: Highlight Duplicates

This is a simple yet effective macro for your Excel spreadsheet. There are times you need to highlight duplicate data in your worksheet. You could use the duplicates function but that actually ends up deleting everything that is a duplicate. Sometimes you may just want to point out what is a duplicate and not physically delete that data. This macro is what you could use instead.

Sub DupinRed()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Rng = Selection.Rows.Count
For i = Rng To 1 Step -1
myCheck = ActiveCell
ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select
For j = 1 To i
If ActiveCell = myCheck Then
Selection.Font.Bold = True
Selection.Font.ColorIndex = 3
End If
ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select
Next j
ActiveCell.Offset(-i, 0).Select
Next i
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

How do I create a ratings system in Excel?

Normally, this blog is about me trying to help you with Excel spreadsheets. Well today, maybe you can help me. I am trying to come up with a new rating system in Excel. I don't want this to end up being a popularity contest, so I want to use experience as a criteria too. Users will rate an item A through F (could be anything from restaurants to roller coasters) with a value of 1 to 5, 1 being lowest and 5 being highest. Not every user will rank every item, only the ones they have ever experienced. To account for this I have a user experience index. I counted the total number of items experienced by each user, ranked them in reverse order, then divided by the total number of users (in this case there are 5). Thus, each users experience index is between 0 and 1, with 1 being the most experienced user.

I also wanted to incorporate a popularity index. I count how many users have used each item, rank them in reverse order, then divide by the total number of items. The popularity index is between 0 and 1, with 1 being the most popular item.

So now that I have this data I am not sure what to do with it. How can I combine them in a meaningful way? I've tried this formula:

(User rating * user experience index)/SUM(user experience index) * popularity index

The problem is probably with the popularity index. With it being linear, it gives far too much advantage to the most popular items, and goes too far to penalize those that don't see as much action. It over-compensates for the problem I described. I don't remember anything from the one statistics class I took in college so I'm not sure what to do. It feels like the linear experience index actually works really well, it just seems like the popularity index is off.

Any suggestions?

NCAA Bracket Madness by David Tyler

We have a special treat for you today. Our very first guest blogger is David Tyler, the creator of what I consider to be the best March Madness Excel bracket on the internet, as I stated in a previously. I really appreciate David taking the time and sharing his insight, experience, and wealth of information with us today. Now, on to the article!
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Every March, thousands of people fill out NCAA basketball tournament brackets, for which someone is faced with the challenge of running the pool.  This process can be tedious and fraught with human error.  To alleviate this, we can use a two-file Excel solution: a Bracket file submitted by all pool participants, and a Pool Manager file used to track the results once the tournament has begun.

Nick asked me to provide a brief posting on how these files work.  Below is a basic overview, but I recommend poking around the files to learn more.  Please bear in mind that the bracket files aren't perfect, and there are better ways that I've often been too lazy to implement, but the current files serve their purpose.

The Brackets

Most importantly: we need good, clean data.  Let's say there is a game involving Massachusetts.  If the participant puts the winner as "UMass," a human understands what that means, but Excel doesn't.  The file needs to have "Massachusetts" exactly.

To keep data consistent, all participants must submit the exact same bracket file.  By using VBA code that allows the user to click on a cell to advance that team, there is no opportunity for mis-typing.  The user clicks on "Massachusetts" in cell B4 and it automatically advances the cell's contents ("Massachusetts") to cell C5.  The user sees this as a quick and easy way to fill out a bracket; in reality, its main purpose was to help ensure good data.

For users who don't/can't enable macros, the file also uses a combination of Data Validation, formulas, and Conditional Formatting to ensure clean data.  Having alternative checks is an important component to maintaining clean data.  Many thanks to my friend Tom Szarek for the clever design of these great VBA-free features.

Collecting the brackets

With everyone using the same bracket file, we always know what data is going to be in which cells - e.g., C5 will always have the winner of the upper-left region's 1-16 matchup.  This allows the Pool Manager file's VBA code to open a participant's bracket (previously saved off to the pool administrator's hard drive), store the picks in an array, and then write those picks at a row of data in the Pool Manager file.  This is automatically repeated for all participants, storing all pool participant data on the same worksheet.  At this point, the Bracket files are no longer of any use.

Evaluating the brackets

Using formulas, we compare the actual winners of the games (from the MasterBracket tab) with the participant's picks.  If 'actual winner' on MasterBracket = the 'pick' on the Picks tab, the participant earns the points from that game.

The participant score is computed instantly with formulas on the Leaders tab.  VBA then sorts the leaderboard in descending order so the highest scorer is on top.  The resorting could be done with some array formulas, similar to those used on the PartInfo tab, but VBA is easier and less resource intensive.

Enjoy March!

Any time you are doing the same task multiple times, you need to question how Excel and VBA can be used to reduce the workload.  With these files, pool administrators can handle a large number of participants with little additional effort.  Further, once the Pool Manager file has all data, the administrator can send the file to all pool participants -- this lets participants track scores on their own, generate scenarios, and see other pool participants' picks.  The less time spent on administration, the more time there is to enjoy the games and the taunting of friends in the pool.

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That was great David, very informative, especially the part about reducing the workload when working with repetitive tasks. I've found that to be very true in my engineering work experience. Thanks again for sharing with us. Don't forget to check out David's blog here.

We're always looking for innovative and unique features and spreadsheets utilizing Microsoft Excel so please don't hesitate to contact me with your ideas or if you are interested in guest blogging.  Thanks for reading.

How do I make horizontal rows into vertical rows in Excel Spreadsheet?

To make horizontal rows into vertical columns, highlight the cells you want to change, copy, right click cell you want to move to, select ‘paste special’, click ‘transpose’ box, hit ok. It's that simple!

Join our free email newsletter for more advanced Excel tips to make your life easier! Don't worry, we won't swamp your inbox and you can unsubscribe at any time. We'll even send you some useful Excel templates from time to time. Cheers!
 

What’s the best 2010 NCAA Excel Bracket?

March Madness is here! Are you looking for a great way to start an NCAA Basketball Tournament pool with your friends or coworkers? After downloading several different Excel spreadsheet brackets I think I have found the best one.

http://whenthewhistleblows.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/ncaa-basketball-march-madness-excel-brackets/

Through the use of several macros, the bracket is very easy to use and has a very clean appearance (much more so than most of the other Excel brackets that I downloaded). You can even create html pages to post on the web the current standings. Download it and see for yourself!

 

(Note: there are two files to download, the blank bracket to distribute to all of your friends plus the Pool Manager to keep track of all your scores. Instructions are included!)

How do I insert the degree symbol in Microsoft Excel? (And other keyboard shortcuts)

There are a number of keyboard shortcuts that can be used to generate symbols in Excel spreadsheets. The most asked about one is how to insert the degree symbol. Here is a list of some of the most frequently used keyboard shortcuts:

Alt + 0176 = ° (Degrees)
Alt + 0149 = • (Bullet)
Alt + 0162 = ¢
Alt + 0188 = ¼
Alt + 0189 = ½
Alt + 0190 = ¾
Alt + 0177 = ±
Alt + 0178 = ²
Alt + 0179 = ³
Alt + 0163 = £
Alt + 0128 = €
Alt + 0151 = — (m dash)
Alt + 0150 = – (n dash)
Alt + 0187 = »
Alt + 0169 = ©
Alt + 0174 = ®
Alt + 0165 = ¥
Alt + 0177 = ±
Alt + 0247 = ÷
Alt + 0166 = ¦
Alt + 0134 = †
Alt + 0227 = ã
Alt + 0191 = ¿
Alt + 0161 = ¡
Alt + 0209 = Ñ
Alt + 0241 = ñ
Alt + 0225 = á
Alt + 0233 = é
Alt + 0237 = í
Alt + 0243 = ó
Alt + 0250 = ú
Alt + 0252 = ü
Alt + 0186 = ° (1° = primero)
Alt + 0170 = ² (2² = segunda)

As with most software these days, there are a number of different ways to get to the same result. You can also use character map to use the symbol you are looking for:

A character map of all special symbols, including foreign language characters, can be displayed by going to Start>Run, typing charmap, and clicking OK (Windows XP users). Vista users will type charmap into the Search window at the bottom of the Start Menu. Choose the font corresponding to the one you're using and click on a character. Next click Select>Copy to copy the character. Return to your document, click where you want the character inserted, and go to Edit>Paste (or do Ctrl+V) to insert it.

Finally, the simplest way is simply to where MSOffice users can go to Insert>Symbol to accomplish the exact same thing.

How do you automatically enable macros when Excel is opened?

•To automatically enable all macros when Excel is opened so you don’t have to do it manually every time, please read the following instructions:

1. In Excel, click the Office button in the upper left corner of the screen. 

 

  2. Click the "Excel Options" button in the lower right.

  

3. Click the "Trust Center" button on the left. Then, at the bottom right, select "Trust Center Settings" as shown below.

 

4. In the next window, select "Macro Settings," then select the radio button for “Enable all macros."

 

  There you have it! Now you don't have to enable the macros every single time that you open Excel.