Establishing a Naming Convention

When you are developing Excel workbooks, there's little doubt that you'll need to come up with names for things like ranges, tables, formulas, and so on. If you are looking for solid ideas of how to come up with these names, you'll appreciate this tip.

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(Thanks to Steve Aprahamian, Michael Avidan (MVP), Alan Cannon, Ryszard Raciborski, Joe Smith, Bruce Augustadt, Jean Allard, Vince Lord, and Neil Fitzjames for contributing to this tip.)

Empty Cells Triggers Error

By default, Excel provides some feedback on your formulas so that you can easily locate potential errors. If you get tired of Excel pointing out some of these errors, you can adjust how it does its checking.

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Lookup Exactly the Data You Want

Excel's lookup functions are easily the most powerful worksheet functions you can use. Master these seven functions you'll never again view a worksheet full of data in the same way. The power these functions provide you is anything but small. Take your first step today!

Calculating the Distance between Points

Want to figure out how far it is between two points on the globe? If you know the points by latitude and longitude, you can calculate the distance using the techniques in this tip.

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Adding Comments to Protected Worksheets

When you protect a worksheet, Excel stops users from editing or otherwise making changes to the data in the worksheet. If you want to allow users to add or make changes to comments, you'll need to apply the workarounds in this tip.

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This section is for those having problems making Excel behave. If Excel is giving you fits, feel free to submit your own Help Wanted question.

If you have a solution for the problems below, click the link after the problem to send us your answer. (All responses become the sole property of Sharon Parq Associates, Inc., and can be used in any way deemed appropriate.) If your response is used in a future issue, you will be credited for your contribution to the answer.

Frequency Count for Top 10 Words

I have a worksheet that, in column A, contains a huge number of text values. I would like to determine the top 10 words that are in the column, along with the count for each of those words. A word may be the only thing in a cell, or a cell could contain multiple words, similar to a sentence. This makes it unclear as to how I should approach the task.
—Ella Kinderlane (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)