Essay - How to Filter an Excel Database the Tutorial 'How to...

How to Filter an Excel Database

The tu*****rial "How to Filter ***** Excel *****" demonstrates how ***** use Microsoft Excel's Filter feature. In a nutshell, filtering is a w*****y to view or extract certain data using criteria specified by the *****r. The tutorial guides the user from ***** basic data filters (Data Form, AutoFilter) to advanced filters (Wilcards, Filter Ranges, Extract *****). ***** article did a f*****irly good job of s*****ing the steps involved in creating filters. However, it felt short on some usability issues that caused some problems when I tried to follow ***** examples.

The ***** is divided into two secti*****s: Simple Filters and Advanced Filters. The outline starts with an introduction ***** what Filtering is and ***** types of filter conditions Excel can handle. Each section contains step-by-step instructions along ***** screenshots so ***** *****s can perform the exercises accurately. A database called "Trails in the Black Hills" includes sample trail data that will be used in the different ***** throughout the course. After complet*****g the *****, the user can perform ***** on his own even with a ***** scenario.

***** article is very useful for Excel *****ginners. A ***** just needs to follow the course from start ***** fin*****h and he will know all about Excel filtering afterwards. The course also used real-life data (the ***** *****base), which made the course more interesting since it demonstrates a practical use ***** filtering. *****, I found some ***** issues and encountered mishaps during his study of the course. In the section ***** "Performing Advanced Filters," it didn't say ***** I had to delete ***** extra rows created in "Multiple cond*****ions ***** a single column." Since it didn't provide such instruction, filtering didn't work in the next section c*****ed "One cond*****ion ***** two or ***** *****s." The article also didn't show consistency ***** the ***** and the actual progress ***** ***** user. *****t doesn't highlight the specific section on the outline (left side) so the user will be at a loss ***** he takes a break and return ***** t***** article a few minutes l*****er. Of course, there is the page ***** on the upper right corner but this is not a very useful progress indicator ***** very inconsistent with the *****. *****re is also some inconsistency with describing ***** steps and showing screenshots. In some sections, there are numbered steps (ex. "***** Form Searches") while bulleted steps in some (ex. "Excel AutoFilter"). Some sections also lacked screenshots where these were most needed. This is particularly applicable to the "Advan***** Filters" section, where m*****takes are mostly likely to happen. One o*****r glaring usability issue is regarding the use of the sample database. In the "*****troduction" section, there's a link to a*****her web ***** displaying the database. The user is required to select everything then copy-paste to Excel. Wouldn't it have been easier ***** to provide a ***** to an actual Excel file where the data is already present?

The article shows a fairly ***** attempt on instructing the user