5 Cool ways to use Conditional Formatting in Microsof

1 Highlighting rows / columns in tables

2 No-nonsense project plans / gantt charts
3 Extreme Incell graphs
4 Highlight mistakes, errors, omissions, repetitions
5 Create intuitive dashboards

1. Highlighting rows / colums in tables

<select any cell in the tables and goto menu "format > conditional formatting" to view the formula det
Revenues
# Month Andhra TN K'taka Gujarat Mah MP Rest of India
1 Jan07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
2 Feb07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
3 Mar07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
4 Apr07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
5 May07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
6 Jun07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
7 Jul07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
8 Aug07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
9 Sep07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
10 Oct07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000

Revenues
# Month Andhra TN K'taka Gujarat Mah MP Rest of India
1 Jan07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
2 Feb07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
3 Mar07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
4 Apr07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
5 May07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
6 Jun07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
7 Jul07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
8 Aug07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
9 Sep07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
10 Oct07 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000

Created by http://chandoo.org/wp - Point Haired Dilbert - Feel free to share / extend / mail / save / modify
ing in Microsoft Excel

ing" to view the formula details>

Sales Growth
Andhra TN K'taka Gujarat Mah MP Rest of India
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000

Sales Growth
Andhra TN K'taka Gujarat Mah MP Rest of India
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000

extend / mail / save / modify as you like

2. No-nonsense project plans / gantt charts
<select any cell in the tables and goto menu "format > conditional formatting" to view the formula det

Project Plan for Bootcamping a start-up

Day >
# Activity Start End 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1 Findout what to do 1 2 1 1
2 Dig a little deep 2 3 1 1
3 Scope out junk 4 4 1
4 Write a spec 5 6 1 1
5 Sit and design 7 8 1 1
6 List out can't dos 8 8 1
7 Scope out dreams 9 9 1
8 Update specs 9 10 1 1
9 Update design 10 11 1 1
10 Start coding 12 26 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
11 Test 20 26
12 Fix bugs 21 32
13 Test again 26 32
14 Roll out 33 35
15 Cha-ching 36 36

Created by http://chandoo.org/wp - Point Haired Dilbert - Feel free to share / extend / mail / save / modify
 to view the formula details>

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
1

nd / mail / save / modify as you like

3. Extreme In-cell Graphs
Highlight the rows that have more than average number of visits

Web traffic details for Chandoo.org/wp [PHD] Jan & Feb 2008 Created by http://chandoo.or
Date # Visits Graph
1-Jan 08 151 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2-Jan 08 131 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3-Jan 08 150 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4-Jan 08 158 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5-Jan 08 85 |||||||||||||||||
6-Jan 08 107 |||||||||||||||||||||
7-Jan 08 154 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8-Jan 08 168 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9-Jan 08 151 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10-Jan 08 171 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11-Jan 08 192 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12-Jan 08 139 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13-Jan 08 137 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14-Jan 08 232 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15-Jan 08 186 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16-Jan 08 194 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17-Jan 08 204 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18-Jan 08 199 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19-Jan 08 104 ||||||||||||||||||||
20-Jan 08 162 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21-Jan 08 308 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22-Jan 08 259 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23-Jan 08 263 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24-Jan 08 240 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25-Jan 08 199 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
26-Jan 08 171 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27-Jan 08 187 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
28-Jan 08 246 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29-Jan 08 226 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
30-Jan 08 168 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31-Jan 08 191 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1-Feb 08 186 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2-Feb 08 138 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3-Feb 08 156 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4-Feb 08 201 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5-Feb 08 184 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6-Feb 08 204 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7-Feb 08 374 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8-Feb 08 231 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9-Feb 08 116 |||||||||||||||||||||||
10-Feb 08 140 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11-Feb 08 160 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12-Feb 08 209 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13-Feb 08 191 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14-Feb 08 145 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15-Feb 08 192 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16-Feb 08 125 |||||||||||||||||||||||||
17-Feb 08 159 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18-Feb 08 217 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19-Feb 08 219 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20-Feb 08 229 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21-Feb 08 137 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22-Feb 08 159 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23-Feb 08 154 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24-Feb 08 194 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25-Feb 08 229 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
26-Feb 08 224 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
27-Feb 08 191 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
28-Feb 08 165 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29-Feb 08 160 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by http://chandoo.org/wp - Point Haired Dilbert - Feel free to share / extend / mail / save / modify as you like
ail / save / modify as you like
4. Highlight Errors / Repitions / Mistakes / Omissions
Highlight Repitions as you type / paste Highlight Errors
Start typing to experiment
List of Indian Cities X Y X by Y
Delhi 12 13 0.92308
Surat 82 10 8.2
Ahmedabad 6 89 0.06742
Chennai 121 0 #DIV/0!
Ranchi 0 83 0
Mumbai web 2.0 #VALUE!
Kolkata does this work? #VALUE!
Hyderabad 12 cool #VALUE!
Mysore 89 89 1
Bangalore
Mysore
Surat
Ranchi
Chennai
Kochin
Dehradun
Coimbattore
Delhi

Created by http://chandoo.org/wp - Point Haired Dilbert - Feel free to share / extend / mail / save / modify
 Highlight Omissions on Master list from list A & B

List A List B Master List

Google Microsoft Google
Yahoo Oracle MSN
Technorati SAP Yahoo
Youtube Peoplesoft flickr
flickr Seibel myspace
myspace Salesforce.com linkedin
orkut MySQL orkut
facebook SUN facebook
cnn cnn
rediff rediff
nytimes
ibnlive
wsjonline
Microsoft
Oracle
SAP
Peoplesoft
Intel
AMD
TI
Seibel
Salesforce.com
MySQL
Onyx
SUN
GNU
Mozilla

share / extend / mail / save / modify as you like

5. Create Intuitive Dashboards
Instead of pasting data in raw tables …

Sales of ACME Widgets - RAW DATA

Monthly sales Market Share
Month AP TN K'taka Goa ROI AP TN K'taka Goa
Jan-07 566 792 471 939 951 32% 72% 62% 72%
Feb-07 549 627 37 747 990 52% 48% 53% 96%
Mar-07 246 288 299 220 885 44% 8% 51% 13%
Apr-07 499 940 608 638 947 74% 99% 86% 31%
May-07 247 702 977 181 602 47% 57% 72% 25%
Jun-07 818 529 891 213 439 16% 10% 25% 15%
Jul-07 359 329 201 408 256 27% 59% 90% 21%

Indicate sales performance graphically on a dashboard

Sales of ACME Widgets - Dashboard

Monthly sales Market Share
Month AP TN K'taka Goa ROI AP TN K'taka Goa
Jan-07 566 792 471 939 951 32% 72% 62% 72%
Feb-07 549 ▼ 627 ▼ 37 ▼ 747 ▼ 990 ▲ 52% ▲ 48% ▼ 53% ▼ 96% ▲
Mar-07 246 ▼ 288 ▼ 299 ▲ 220 ▼ 885 ▼ 44% ▼ 8% ▼ 51% ▼ 13% ▼
Apr-07 499 ▲ 940 ▲ 608 ▲ 638 ▲ 947 ▲ 74% ▲ 99% ▲ 86% ▲ 31% ▲
May-07 247 ▼ 702 ▼ 977 ▲ 181 ▼ 602 ▼ 47% ▼ 57% ▼ 72% ▼ 25% ▼
Jun-07 818 ▲ 529 ▼ 891 ▼ 213 ▲ 439 ▼ 16% ▼ 10% ▼ 25% ▼ 15% ▼
Jul-07 359 ▼ 329 ▼ 201 ▼ 408 ▲ 256 ▼ 27% ▲ 59% ▲ 90% ▲ 21% ▲

Created by http://chandoo.org/wp - Point Haired Dilbert - Feel free to share / extend / mail / save / modify
Share
ROI
67%
50%
42%
3%
53%
28%
96%

Share
ROI
67%
50% ▼
42% ▼
3% ▼
53% ▲
28% ▼
96% ▲

extend / mail / save / modify as you like