Author: Debra Dalgleish

Posting From an iPad

Last week I bought an iPad 2 and have been busy experimenting with it. There are plenty of games, and social apps, which are very entertaining. Now I am trying to find some practical uses for the iPad, so it’s not just a toy.

Today I found a WordPress app that lets me write posts for the blog, so this is my test post. It’s hard to type on the on-screen keyboard, so please ignore any typing errors.

I also bought Numbers for iPadicon, and will let you know what I think of it, after using it for a while. It’s very different from Excel, so it will take some time to figure out.

If you have an iPad, and know of any useful apps, please let me know in the comments.

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Format VBA Code Examples in Blog Post

On the Contextures blog, Gregory suggested using the WordPress plugin, CodeColorer, for formatting the Excel VBA code examples.

In Twitter, Dick Kusleika said that he’s using CodeColorer too, and it works well. I decided to test the plug-in here, before installing it on the Contextures blog.

The CodeColorer feature list looks promising, especially these items:

  • syntax highlighting of code in comments
  • code protect from mangling by WordPress (for example, quotes, double-dashes, etc would look just right as you entered)

Installing the CodeColorer Plugin

The installation was quick and easy, using the WordPress dashboard. After activating the plugin, I went to the its settings page, to see what could be adjusted. What’s the fun in having a new toy, if you don’t try to break it?

CodeColorer01

There is a preview of the code, at the bottom of the settings panel. I changed the Theme, from the default of Slush and Poppies(!) to Vibrant Ink. The preview only changed after I clicked the Save Options button.

Yikes! That’s not the look I’m going for.

CodeColorer02

Twitlight (yes, TwiTlight), looked about the same. At the other end of the code formatting scale, Dawn is a bit too subtle.

CodeColorer03

So, back to Slush and Poppies it is. Is it just me, or would Slush and Puppies be a better name?

CodeColorer04

The Formatted Code

Here’s the snippet of code that I copied from Excel VBA.

Sub DeleteCustomLists()
' built in lists are not deleted
Dim n As Long

n = Application.CustomListCount
On Error Resume Next
For n = n To 1 Step -1
Application.DeleteCustomList ListNum:=n
Next n
End Sub

And this is how it looked in Excel

CodeColorer05

Formatted Code in Comments

The CodeColorer plugin is supposed to format the code in the comments too. You can test it here, and please let me know if you have any trouble, or suggestions.

To format your code in the comments, use this syntax:

CodeColorer06

Thanks!

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Organizing Email in Outlook

A couple of weeks ago, due to some computer problems, I set up a new copy of Outlook 2010 on my laptop.

I’ve used Outlook for many years, starting with Outlook 98, I think. Usually I copy the old Outlook files to a new machine, or upgrade over an existing version, but this time I was starting fresh.

In the past, I’ve had one or more folders for each client, plus dozens of other folders for website related emails, personal correspondence, newsgroup follow-up, and anything else I could think of.

The Simple System

This time, I’m keeping it simple. In addition to the built in folders that Outlook has, I’ve only created 3 folders for my mail:

  1. _ Followup
  2. _Business
  3. _Personal

OutlookFolders01

The underscores keep my folders above the other Outlook folders, so they’re easy to find. So far, it’s working well. I don’t have to think about filing, or wonder which subfolder I stored an email in. To find something in the Business folder, I can sort by name, or date, or use the filter or search tools.

Your Outlook System

How about you? Is your Outlook folder system simple, or complex?

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Excel Video Tutorials With Camtasia Studio

A few years ago, the nice people at TechSmith gave me a licence for Camtasia Studio, and I use it to make my Excel video tutorials.

I’m currently using Camtasia Studio 7, and use a few of its great features, like cursor highlighting. That surrounds the pointer with a bright yellow circle, so it’s easier for viewers to follow what I’m doing.

Of course, there are many features that I haven’t explored, so when today’s Camtasia Studio newsletter arrived, I followed a couple of the links to their online tutorials.

To test my new skills, I updated a short pivot chart video that I posted recently, by adding a title clip, transition,  zooms, and a couple of callouts.

Below, you can compare the original video with the updated version. What do you think? Do any of the added features help? Please let me know in the comments, or in the features poll at the end of this blog post.

The Original Excel Tutorial Video

Here is the original pivot chart video, hosted on YouTube:

The Revised Excel Tutorial Video

Here is the revised pivot chart video, hosted on Screencast.

Vote in the Video Features Poll

In the poll below, please pick the features that help make the video better.

[polldaddy poll=4876611]

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Congratulations Operation Red Nose Caledon

One of my long term clients set up a volunteer program in her community, to help keep drinking drivers off the road during the holidays. It’s a chapter of Operation Red Nose, which was started in Quebec, in 1984.

If you go out for the evening, then decide you shouldn’t drive home, you can call Operation Red Nose. They’ll pick you up, and take you home in your own vehicle. A team follows in another car, and returns the driver to the home base. The ride home is free, and contributions are gratefully accepted.

The program operates from late November until New Year’s Eve each year. This year Operation Red Nose Caledon provided 321 rides, and received over $7000 in donations. That money will go to four local programs:

  • The Optimist Club of Caledon
  • Caledon Navy League
  • ‘L.I.F.E. for Youth’ Caledon Community Services
  • ‘Safety Village and Graffiti Eradication’ Caledon O.P.P.

I helped with their Access database, and am glad that it reduced the paperwork and manual tracking that the volunteers had to do. It’s a great feeling to help out a team that is doing something so positive in their community. And I even got a plaque!

operationrednose

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Diners, Drive-ins and Dives Spreadsheets

Did you know that there’s a blog for fans of the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
tv show? Best of all — it has spreadsheets!

Scroll down a bit, and in the right-hand sidebar there are links to Google
spreadsheets — one for the locations, and another for recipes. Below that, you can click on a Flavortown Menu name, to see a filtered list
of recipes.

Have fun, and eat at your own risk!

http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/

Shrink Long URLs With Google URL Shortener

When you’re adding a link in Twitter, or in an email, you might not want to include a really long URL. In the past, I’ve often used a site like bit.ly or is.gd to create a shortened version of the link, and use that instead of the long link.

Now there’s a Google URL Shortener, that’s built in to your Google account, so I’ve just switched to using that. It’s easy to use, and I can quickly see all my shortened links, and track the clicks.

[Update: 2023-07-02]

  • Google URL shortener is no longer available, so now I use BL.INK to create short links, and highly recommend it. I bought a lifetime deal from AppSumo in 2021, and it was a great investment!
  • Or, if you don’t create many short links, Bitly has a free version that you can try. I used Bitly for a while, after Google’s shortener shut down, and it worked reliably.

Google Short Link Example

For example, I created a short link for this Contextures Blog post.

Create a Shortened URL

To create a shortened link:

  • Copy the long link
  • If you want to track the click on the shortened link, log in to your Google account
  • Go to the Google URL Shortener page, and paste the copied link into the URL box

googleurl00

  • Click the Shorten button, to create the shortened URL
  • Copy the short URL, and paste it into your tweet or email (or anywhere else you need a link)

googleurl01

Track the Shortened URL Clicks

To see the details on clicks for the shortened links:

  • Log in to your Google account, and go to the Google URL Shortener page
  • In the list of your shortened URLs, click the Details option for any of the links

googleurl03

  • You’ll see the information about the clicks on the selected URL, such as Referrers and Countries.

googleurl02

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Save

New Volume Setting for Google Alerts

Do you have Google Alerts set, so you can keep track of specific topics online? For example, you can get an update in your RSS feed if your name appears in a blog, or discussion, or in the online news.

I keep track of a few topics, including my name, with Google Alerts, and just discovered there was an automatic change to the settings.  A new column, Volume, has been added, with a default filter for "Only the best results."

googlealerts01

This setting will reduce the number of alerts that you get, so you might want to change the Volume setting to "All results", at least of a while, so you don’t miss anything.

googlealerts02 

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