Plan Your Spreadsheet
Before you begin entering data into a spreadsheet it is a good idea to do a bit of planning before you begin to type.
Points to consider
- What is the purpose of the
spreadsheet?
- What information needs to be included?
- What headings are needed to explain the information in the spreadsheet?
- What is the best layout for the information? in rows or columns?
Some General Rules
- Whenever possible, don't leave blank rows or columns when entering your data.
- Leaving blank rows and columns in data tables can make it difficult to use a number of Excel's built in features such as graphing and functions.
- Enter your data in columns when possible - as seen in the image above.
- When laying out your spreadsheet, place a title describing the data at the top of the first column of the table with the data below.
- If there is more than one data series, list them one after the other in columns (left to right) with the title for each data series at the top.
