The Task
Create a list of wildlife sightings (fictional sightings are acceptable for this exercise) using spreadsheet software such as Excel. The final list should be larger in both height and width (zooming in can reduce the number of rows and columns required to accomplish this task) than can be properly displayed on your monitor. Adjust settings to improve your ability to read and enter data.
My Solution
Since I already maintain a sightings list (https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=2e6efb80915ed5bd&resid=2E6EFB80915ED5BD!3432&parid=2E6EFB80915ED5BD!3407), I decided to create a second list. After all, it’s unfair to ask others to make something if I’m not going to do any work myself. I decided to grab data from the Great Backyard Bird Count for University Place (Note: data is not available for 2013 since they have changed the way they collect and work with data).
I posted all species reported and provided the count for each year that I found data in Excel. I also copied the data into Google Docs to create an example in another accessible format.I focused on making it easier to work with data while zoomed in at 200% for both. The Excel file can be found at: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=2E6EFB80915ED5BD!4889&authkey=!APYjke4XFMfUdXo The Google file can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agcdh--NHOS0dGVCa3VtN202SWpSaF91bHJEbXNFSlE&usp=sharing
The first thing was quite simple. By clicking on the square in the top-left (between the row headers and column headers), I can select the entire sheet (ctrl-a would also work). Double-clicking on the line between any two columns sets them to the width of the contents. This was enough to make the contents of all columns visible.
Another option is to freeze panes. In Excel, you can split panes by dragging the box to the right of the horizontal scroll bar and the box above the vertical scroll bar (This has changed in Excel 2013. Instead, select Split in the Window section of the View tab). Drag the splits to separate the top row and left column from the rest of the worksheet. At this point, you can scroll the large area separately from the others. Due to the original purpose of letting you work with multiple sections of the document, you can wind up with the same data in multiple locations. For the sake of working with data, it is recommended that you go to the View tab in the ribbon and select Freeze Panes in the Window section. Now the dates will remain on top no matter how far down you scroll, and the species will remain visible if you scroll further to the right.
In Google, the splits are controlled by the lines at the top-left (surrounding the select all box mentioned earlier). You can drag these. Google only offers the freeze, so you will only be able to scroll the main area after splitting. You can also freeze panes by using freeze rows and freeze columns in the view menu. As of this writing, I have found that freezing panes while zoomed in results in confusing and misaligned selections.
This should be plenty for working with spreadsheet data, but I’m going to throw one more trick at you. In Excel, click the header for your first row (The number 1 to the left of the spreadsheet) to select the row. On the Home tab in the ribbon, look for an icon showing text angles at about 45 degrees. This allows you to change orientation. Select angle up text, and the text will be place in a vertical orientation. You can resize the columns again, and save even more space. Unfortunately, Google does not support angled text at this time, so this does not apply to their spreadsheets (although alt+enter will allow you to create multiple lines, possibly reducing the width to a single character).
Notes
Most of my work is in the standalone software for Excel. Some of the provided tasks may not available in the free WebApps version.
Feel Free to Comment
Now that this exercise has concluded, feel free to share any thoughts that you had regarding results, your approach, and any other ideas that popped in your head regarding this exercise.
I do not provide space to those who visit my blog. If you would like to share any files, you are going to have to find your own online storage. At that point, you can provide links with your comments. This particular exercise is intended to help people understand the basics of spreadsheets. If you are already familiar with this type of software, this task might be too easy for you. Please don't resort to macros since they could be confusing to those who are still learning.
About Sharing
Nobody should copy my work and then take credit. The nature of this exercise, however, could produce very similar results for different people. For this reason, I am unlikely to push too hard for credit. You can also add to my solution and pursue variations. Unless otherwise specified, similar guidelines should apply to solutions from other contributors.
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