101.1 - Orientation
Spreadsheets are generally loved by engineers, accountants and scientists and they are often times misunderstood, under-appreciated, feared, and even loathed by all others who have not yet been properly indoctrinated.
This page contains the following sections:
This page contains the following sections:
- What is a spreadsheet?
- Who uses spreadsheets and why?
- Basic Vocabulary
- Advanced Vocabulary
- Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets
- Google Sheets for a Progressive Path Forward
- A google Account is required to continue...
1) What is a Spreadsheet?
Spreadsheets are an electronic version of graph paper. Instead of just having horizontal lines, like paper and digital documents, they also have vertical lines like graph paper. The vertical lines crossed with the horizontal lines create unique data input areas called "cells".
There is no significant limit to the data that can go into a cell. It can be text, it can be numeric, it can be a date, it can be an equation. A cell is just a digital box on a digital document. Technically you could take the entire text from word document and place it into a single cell, so that makes these cells pretty powerful.
Cells of a spread sheets provide a "matrix structure" also referred to as a "grid". The vertical and horizontal lines on a spreadsheet are referred to as "gridlines".
There is no significant limit to the data that can go into a cell. It can be text, it can be numeric, it can be a date, it can be an equation. A cell is just a digital box on a digital document. Technically you could take the entire text from word document and place it into a single cell, so that makes these cells pretty powerful.
Cells of a spread sheets provide a "matrix structure" also referred to as a "grid". The vertical and horizontal lines on a spreadsheet are referred to as "gridlines".
- Spreadsheets visibly resemble "graph paper" -- most don't realize it, but you can in fact use spreadsheets like graph paper by using the outline tool to create shapes. This is very crude, but it has it's uses. While generally speaking the use of spreadsheets is not for the same things graph paper is used for, data can be stored in spreadsheets to create graphs.
- Spreadsheets also visibly resemble "engineering paper" -- engineering paper is a type of subtle graph paper that engineers are taught to use in college. It can double as both paper and graph paper at the same time due to the more subtle grid lines. Engineers are the kind of folks who might use spreadsheets for crude sketching, but they more than likely use it for data storage and manipulation and as a way to create graphs from a data set.
- Spreadsheets visibly resemble "ledger paper" -- a type of paper that was used for bookkeeping by business owners, bookkeepers and accountants before the age of computers. Spreadsheets are used for an electronic version of that all of the time.
- Spreadsheets with numbers in cells visual resemble math matrices -- matrix math is something that can be done with a spreadsheet
- Spreadsheets with data in cells that is organized by row and column resembles a database structure -- For this reason spread sheets are often used as an alternative for storing data that might otherwise be stored in more complex database systems and/or in relational database systems. When multiple "sheets"/"tabs" of spread sheet are used for database like information, each tab is referred to as a "flat table". It's flat because it is not intrinisically connected to other sheets via primary or foreign keys.
- Cells of a spread sheet create a "table structure" which is often times associated with general data, and spreadsheets typically have graphing functions built in to convert data. For this reason spread sheets are often used as an alternative for storing data that might otherwise be stored in more complex database systems and/or in relational database systems.
According to Google:
Do you see the problem with that? They pigeon hole spreadsheets as something for "calculations" when that is only a small portion of their applicable uses.
Restating the information above...
Cells can contain:
Cells also can have "meta data" and "functions" associated with them like:
When you get down to the cellular level, spreadsheets get pretty darn powerful.
- A Spreadsheet is an electronic document in which data is arranged in the rows and columns of a grid and can be manipulated and used in calculations
Do you see the problem with that? They pigeon hole spreadsheets as something for "calculations" when that is only a small portion of their applicable uses.
Restating the information above...
- Spreadsheets should be thought of as an electronic version of graph paper that is used for almost everything other than graphing, although the data contained in spreadsheet "cells" is often used for creating graphs.
- Instead of just having horizontal lines, like paper and digital documents, spreadsheets also have vertical lines like graph paper and together those lines are referred to as a "grid".
- "Cells" are the distinct areas created by the grid lines.
- A "cell" is just a digital box on a digital document that can contain all kinds of things...
Cells can contain:
- plaint text
- numbers
- dates
- links to websites
- equations
Cells also can have "meta data" and "functions" associated with them like:
- cell color
- border type and border color
- Validation criteria
- Conditional formatting rules
- Discrete user permissions
When you get down to the cellular level, spreadsheets get pretty darn powerful.
2) Who uses a spreadsheet and why?
Clever individuals in all walks of life seeking an awesome way to manage all kinds of lists (to do lists, shopping lists, etc) -- The most under realized use for spread sheets is list management. The adjustable columns and rows in spreadsheets make them nearly perfect for all types of list making and list tracking. If you get nothing more out of this website than list management on cloud based spreadsheets accessible via all of your digital devices simultaneously, you will have benefited in an amazing way.
Clever individuals in all walks of life who want a simple system for sketching space to scale -- The grid can be adjusted to squares and the border tool can be used to create vertical and horizontal lines. While there are many other sketch systems out there, don't overlook this very simple system that can come in surprisingly handy from time to time for gross dimensioning of non curved spaces.
Accountants and Financially Oriented Individuals -- One primary use for spread sheets is accounting and financial record keeping and analysis. Spreadsheets are a perfect tool to replace "manual ledger paper" -- the tools of bookkeepers, business owners, accountants and bankers before the age of computers. We have even built entirely free bookeeping "software" in Google Sheets to compete with Quickbooks, and it will meet the needs of most small business people... so don't underestimate the power of spreadsheets, especially when combined with cloud computing as found with Google Drive/Google Suite. (For more on that accounting solution see http://zap-accounting-software.weebly.com )
Engineers, Mathematicians and Scientists -- Spreadsheet grids provide a structure conducive for matrix style math used in higher math classes. Likewise data can be stored in cells and equations can be applied to cells and groups of data for analysis purposes, so they are used frequently by engineers, mathematicians and scientists for analysis and graph creation
Database Scientists and those with simple Database needs -- Spreadsheet grids create a "data table structure". For this reason spread sheets are often used as an alternative for storing data that might otherwise be stored in more complex database systems and/or in relational database systems. When used in this manner, each sheet in a spreadsheet file is referred to as a "flat table". It's "flat" because it is not inherently connected to parent or child records on others sheets via shared keys. With just a little work, a spreadsheet can in fact operate as a relational database and that is something most need to learn more about to some degree, if for no other reason than to understand the strengths and weaknesses of using spreadsheets for database applications.
Clever individuals in all walks of life who want a simple system for sketching space to scale -- The grid can be adjusted to squares and the border tool can be used to create vertical and horizontal lines. While there are many other sketch systems out there, don't overlook this very simple system that can come in surprisingly handy from time to time for gross dimensioning of non curved spaces.
Accountants and Financially Oriented Individuals -- One primary use for spread sheets is accounting and financial record keeping and analysis. Spreadsheets are a perfect tool to replace "manual ledger paper" -- the tools of bookkeepers, business owners, accountants and bankers before the age of computers. We have even built entirely free bookeeping "software" in Google Sheets to compete with Quickbooks, and it will meet the needs of most small business people... so don't underestimate the power of spreadsheets, especially when combined with cloud computing as found with Google Drive/Google Suite. (For more on that accounting solution see http://zap-accounting-software.weebly.com )
Engineers, Mathematicians and Scientists -- Spreadsheet grids provide a structure conducive for matrix style math used in higher math classes. Likewise data can be stored in cells and equations can be applied to cells and groups of data for analysis purposes, so they are used frequently by engineers, mathematicians and scientists for analysis and graph creation
Database Scientists and those with simple Database needs -- Spreadsheet grids create a "data table structure". For this reason spread sheets are often used as an alternative for storing data that might otherwise be stored in more complex database systems and/or in relational database systems. When used in this manner, each sheet in a spreadsheet file is referred to as a "flat table". It's "flat" because it is not inherently connected to parent or child records on others sheets via shared keys. With just a little work, a spreadsheet can in fact operate as a relational database and that is something most need to learn more about to some degree, if for no other reason than to understand the strengths and weaknesses of using spreadsheets for database applications.
3) Basic Vocabulary
The vocabulary for spreadsheets can be very confusing when you get going. There are multiple words that mean the same thing and they are all similar to each other. And many people use some words out of context adding to the confusion.
In layman's terms
A digital spread sheet file is often referred to as a "Workbook". It is called a "workbook" because it can have multiple "worksheets" in it. Each worksheet is associated with a "tab" in the work book, with the "tab" just being a label for the sheet. Each "worksheet" could be thought of as a separate piece of Graph Paper and the "tab" could be thought of as an identifying title given to that piece of paper.
In that sense, a digital "Workbook" with multiple "worksheets"/"tabs" is much like an old fashioned "ledger".
The sheet represents a piece of digital graph paper which can be as wide and as long as you'd like. It could be 1 page wide and 2 pages long, it could be 3 pages wide and 10 pages long or it could be 8 pages wide and 2 pages long. The page width and height is simply dictated by the number of rows and columns you are using to store information and the width of the cells as specified by you.
Controlling page breaks for printing purposes can be very tricky. It is harder than controlling page breaks in a word processing document. Google is behind Microsoft in this area, but for many applications this is not a deal breaker.
Lingo in the real world...
People who collaborate on a workbook will often say "send me that spreadsheet" or "share that spreadsheet with me" when in fact they mean "send me that workbook file" or "share that workbook file with me". You can't send or share a spreadsheet outside of it's parent file but in the spoken language we convolute all of this regularly -- and in fact if you said send me the workbook to some folks, they might be lost. I'd guess "spreadsheet" is more common than workbook in spoken conversation.
Microsoft's Version of Spreadsheets
The files are called "workbooks" or "spreadsheets". The individual sheets inside are called "worksheets" or "spreadsheet(s)" or "sheet". The file extension on a spreadsheet file is .xlsx . Older spreadsheets prior to windows 2008 had .xls extensions (with no trailing x).
Google's Version of Spreadsheets
The files are called Google Sheets or "gSheet(s)". The individual sheets inside are called "sheet(s)". The file extension for the files are .gsheet . That said, any gsheet file you might see in your google drive on your PC, Mac, Chromebook or other is not a real file like a Micrsofot xlsx file. That file reference is in fact just a shortcut to a webpage that is used to present your cloud powered virtual spreadsheet. You can verify this by noting the file size of all gSheets is always 1 kb.
In layman's terms
A digital spread sheet file is often referred to as a "Workbook". It is called a "workbook" because it can have multiple "worksheets" in it. Each worksheet is associated with a "tab" in the work book, with the "tab" just being a label for the sheet. Each "worksheet" could be thought of as a separate piece of Graph Paper and the "tab" could be thought of as an identifying title given to that piece of paper.
In that sense, a digital "Workbook" with multiple "worksheets"/"tabs" is much like an old fashioned "ledger".
The sheet represents a piece of digital graph paper which can be as wide and as long as you'd like. It could be 1 page wide and 2 pages long, it could be 3 pages wide and 10 pages long or it could be 8 pages wide and 2 pages long. The page width and height is simply dictated by the number of rows and columns you are using to store information and the width of the cells as specified by you.
Controlling page breaks for printing purposes can be very tricky. It is harder than controlling page breaks in a word processing document. Google is behind Microsoft in this area, but for many applications this is not a deal breaker.
Lingo in the real world...
People who collaborate on a workbook will often say "send me that spreadsheet" or "share that spreadsheet with me" when in fact they mean "send me that workbook file" or "share that workbook file with me". You can't send or share a spreadsheet outside of it's parent file but in the spoken language we convolute all of this regularly -- and in fact if you said send me the workbook to some folks, they might be lost. I'd guess "spreadsheet" is more common than workbook in spoken conversation.
Microsoft's Version of Spreadsheets
The files are called "workbooks" or "spreadsheets". The individual sheets inside are called "worksheets" or "spreadsheet(s)" or "sheet". The file extension on a spreadsheet file is .xlsx . Older spreadsheets prior to windows 2008 had .xls extensions (with no trailing x).
Google's Version of Spreadsheets
The files are called Google Sheets or "gSheet(s)". The individual sheets inside are called "sheet(s)". The file extension for the files are .gsheet . That said, any gsheet file you might see in your google drive on your PC, Mac, Chromebook or other is not a real file like a Micrsofot xlsx file. That file reference is in fact just a shortcut to a webpage that is used to present your cloud powered virtual spreadsheet. You can verify this by noting the file size of all gSheets is always 1 kb.
4) Advanced Vocabulary
When you really get into the lingo, you will realize it can be confusing.
Workbook -- The digital file that contains a spreadsheet or multiple spreadsheets is often referred to as a "Workbook". It is called a "workbook" because the file can have multiple "worksheets" and/or "spreadsheets" in it.
Worksheet -- The term "worksheet" is derived from "accounting worksheets" and the idea of a "workbook" came from the aggregation of multiple "worksheets".
Spreadsheet --
Tab -- Each spreadsheet/worksheet in a spreadsheet/workbook has a "tab" that is used to identify the sheet. In conversation we will often say "Go to the customer tab" instead of saying "go to the customer worksheet" or go to the customer spreadsheet"
Sheet -- When sheet is used, it is very specifically referring to worksheet or the contents on a single tab of a spreadsheet/workbook.
Page Breaks -- There are no "pages" when viewing a spreadsheet in normal mode. Each tab is not meant to be thought of as a page by default, although that is often times how they are used. Controlling page breaks for printing purposes can be very tricky. It is harder than controlling page breaks in a word processing document. Excel has very good page break management. Google sheets does not but that can be worked around in many situations.
Workbook -- The digital file that contains a spreadsheet or multiple spreadsheets is often referred to as a "Workbook". It is called a "workbook" because the file can have multiple "worksheets" and/or "spreadsheets" in it.
Worksheet -- The term "worksheet" is derived from "accounting worksheets" and the idea of a "workbook" came from the aggregation of multiple "worksheets".
Spreadsheet --
- A file that that contains "spreadsheets". Synonymous with "workbook" and seemingly more generic.
- A single tab in a spreadsheet file -- Do you see the problem here?? -- the term spreadsheet could refer to a digital file or it could refer to a worksheet in a given file...
Tab -- Each spreadsheet/worksheet in a spreadsheet/workbook has a "tab" that is used to identify the sheet. In conversation we will often say "Go to the customer tab" instead of saying "go to the customer worksheet" or go to the customer spreadsheet"
Sheet -- When sheet is used, it is very specifically referring to worksheet or the contents on a single tab of a spreadsheet/workbook.
Page Breaks -- There are no "pages" when viewing a spreadsheet in normal mode. Each tab is not meant to be thought of as a page by default, although that is often times how they are used. Controlling page breaks for printing purposes can be very tricky. It is harder than controlling page breaks in a word processing document. Excel has very good page break management. Google sheets does not but that can be worked around in many situations.
5) Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets
Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are currently the two most popular spreadsheet software solutions.
Microsoft Excel will be refereed to as “Excel”. Excel files end in .xlsx. There are versions of Excel for both PC's and Mac's.
Google Sheets, referred to more commonly as gSheets, is a cloud based software solution that works via all major web browsers. Its files end with a .gsheet extension (even though their files aren’t really digital files like you are familiar with). While gSheets is designed to work in all major browsers, it's highly likely you will get the best experience if you use Google Chrome when possible.
Excel was created by Microsoft and initially released in the mid 1980s. Early competitors included Lotus 1-2-3 and Borland’s Quattro (Pro). Eventually Microsoft owned the market and by around 2003 Excel was fairly well built out for both Mac and PC.
With Windows 2007 Microsoft upgraded all it’s office productivity suite products (MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point, Outlook) to a different menu and navigation system called “the ribbon” and many of us who knew Excel like the back of our hand were almost forever turned off, but we didn’t have many other highly developed options to bail to at that time.
Google's office productivity products came along after the internet revolution had taken hold, and as browser technology expanded in the early 2000's they decided to build something that looked nearly identical to Excel 2003, but something that in fact operates behind the scenes in a totally and completely different manner. The data in each cell in Google spreadsheets is in fact stored in a massive cloud based database with your name on it... where as the data in each cell in a Microsoft spreadsheet is stored in a distinct file on your computer.
"GSheets" is the result of Google's exploration of a paradigm shifting spreadsheet, and it is simply stellar for all of your basic and advanced spread sheet needs. Gsheest was first introduced in 2006 and it didn't have many users for many years -- it was very limited due to all aspects of web technology they were trying to employ, but a December 2013 upgrade was rolled out with various improvements that made it a true competitor to MS Excel from a commercial perspective.
Because GSheets is fully cloud based, it offers file and data sharing functionality that Microsoft Excel can never have. This makes gSheets not only a better solution for most users needs who use multiple devices, it grossly expands spread sheets into the realm of shared database systems for both relational and non-relational applications, and that is a real game changer.
Per one user...
Microsoft Excel will be refereed to as “Excel”. Excel files end in .xlsx. There are versions of Excel for both PC's and Mac's.
Google Sheets, referred to more commonly as gSheets, is a cloud based software solution that works via all major web browsers. Its files end with a .gsheet extension (even though their files aren’t really digital files like you are familiar with). While gSheets is designed to work in all major browsers, it's highly likely you will get the best experience if you use Google Chrome when possible.
Excel was created by Microsoft and initially released in the mid 1980s. Early competitors included Lotus 1-2-3 and Borland’s Quattro (Pro). Eventually Microsoft owned the market and by around 2003 Excel was fairly well built out for both Mac and PC.
With Windows 2007 Microsoft upgraded all it’s office productivity suite products (MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point, Outlook) to a different menu and navigation system called “the ribbon” and many of us who knew Excel like the back of our hand were almost forever turned off, but we didn’t have many other highly developed options to bail to at that time.
Google's office productivity products came along after the internet revolution had taken hold, and as browser technology expanded in the early 2000's they decided to build something that looked nearly identical to Excel 2003, but something that in fact operates behind the scenes in a totally and completely different manner. The data in each cell in Google spreadsheets is in fact stored in a massive cloud based database with your name on it... where as the data in each cell in a Microsoft spreadsheet is stored in a distinct file on your computer.
"GSheets" is the result of Google's exploration of a paradigm shifting spreadsheet, and it is simply stellar for all of your basic and advanced spread sheet needs. Gsheest was first introduced in 2006 and it didn't have many users for many years -- it was very limited due to all aspects of web technology they were trying to employ, but a December 2013 upgrade was rolled out with various improvements that made it a true competitor to MS Excel from a commercial perspective.
Because GSheets is fully cloud based, it offers file and data sharing functionality that Microsoft Excel can never have. This makes gSheets not only a better solution for most users needs who use multiple devices, it grossly expands spread sheets into the realm of shared database systems for both relational and non-relational applications, and that is a real game changer.
Per one user...
I have yet to find anything I can’t do in Gsheets that requires me to go back to using Excel. I’d imagine there are some complex data analysis work or graphing in which Excel may be warranted, but I don’t know what those are. If there are complex page break needs, that would require Excel, although a recent update to GSheets in 6/2017 is showing a little progress as it relates to margin control.
As with anything there are some trade offs but in the scope of things, GSheets is the wave of the future and for most, that wave can be riden now with many great benefits over MS Excel.
The step that put me over threshold as a user was embedded in that 2013 upgrade. They allowed text in one cell to flow over to the next if there was no data in the next cell. While that may not sound like a big deal, in web programming land, that type of visual manipulation to a table structure is a huge deal and incredibly complex.
When they did that, I was able to move my "to do" lists from MS Excel to gSheets and that was a revolutionary moment that converted my mobile phone into a mobile database device with both read and write capabilities in a spreadsheet without any issues related to file locking or file synchronization. I viewed this step much like many likely viewed the invention of the light bulb. This is what the digital age had been waiting for in my opinion... believe it or not!?
At that point, the idea of using gSheets as shareable, database systems was solidified in my mind and the differences between what one could do with Excel vs gSheets cloud product started to more clearly manifest for me.
As with anything there are some trade offs but in the scope of things, GSheets is the wave of the future and for most, that wave can be riden now with many great benefits over MS Excel.
The step that put me over threshold as a user was embedded in that 2013 upgrade. They allowed text in one cell to flow over to the next if there was no data in the next cell. While that may not sound like a big deal, in web programming land, that type of visual manipulation to a table structure is a huge deal and incredibly complex.
When they did that, I was able to move my "to do" lists from MS Excel to gSheets and that was a revolutionary moment that converted my mobile phone into a mobile database device with both read and write capabilities in a spreadsheet without any issues related to file locking or file synchronization. I viewed this step much like many likely viewed the invention of the light bulb. This is what the digital age had been waiting for in my opinion... believe it or not!?
At that point, the idea of using gSheets as shareable, database systems was solidified in my mind and the differences between what one could do with Excel vs gSheets cloud product started to more clearly manifest for me.
Ultimately, the biggest difference between the two systems is invisible to a user. It has to do with they way the raw data is stored. GSheets was designed for multiple users sharing data on the cloud from the get go. Excel was designed decades earlier as a math tool intended to be used by a single user on a single machine. An old Cadillac is nice, but Tesla is the wave of the future.
Google will openly reference Excel for comparison purposes, but the reverse is not true. Microsoft and those editing Wikipedia are hoping that if they don't mention Google's rising star, maybe people won't adopt the most powerful tool available today in the personal and office computing arsenal.
Visual Comparison -- Google sheets in its current form looks nearly identical to Excel 2003
Functional Comparison -- From a basic functionality perspective Google sheets is currently comparable in functionality to Excel 2003 and maybe 2008 (as of this writing, 6/11/2017) . One very limiting factor with gSheets at this time is the inability to mange page breaks and margins with for printing purposes with comparable control.
Back-end Software Design and File Structure -- The way they do what they do on the back-end is as different as night and day and that is where Google blows the socks off of Microsoft, and Microsoft can/will never catch up. Excel files are individual text files. They are stored on individual PCs or Macs. This makes it very difficult for two people to access the same file at the same time. Google is presenting a "virtual spreadsheet". Their spreadsheet data is in fact stored in a cloud based database, and the give that data the appearance of a "spreadsheet" for user interaction. The real benefit of the Google system is that multiple people can be accessing the same "virtual spreadsheet" at the same time, making it behave as much like a website as a spreadsheet.
Networked Spreadsheets -- Googles virtual spreadsheets and file sharing are paradigm altering. Individuals can now collaborate on these documents in ways that could not be dreamed of with modern day excel files, and learning how to make this work for your advantage should be your top priority.
Visual Comparison -- Google sheets in its current form looks nearly identical to Excel 2003
Functional Comparison -- From a basic functionality perspective Google sheets is currently comparable in functionality to Excel 2003 and maybe 2008 (as of this writing, 6/11/2017) . One very limiting factor with gSheets at this time is the inability to mange page breaks and margins with for printing purposes with comparable control.
Back-end Software Design and File Structure -- The way they do what they do on the back-end is as different as night and day and that is where Google blows the socks off of Microsoft, and Microsoft can/will never catch up. Excel files are individual text files. They are stored on individual PCs or Macs. This makes it very difficult for two people to access the same file at the same time. Google is presenting a "virtual spreadsheet". Their spreadsheet data is in fact stored in a cloud based database, and the give that data the appearance of a "spreadsheet" for user interaction. The real benefit of the Google system is that multiple people can be accessing the same "virtual spreadsheet" at the same time, making it behave as much like a website as a spreadsheet.
Networked Spreadsheets -- Googles virtual spreadsheets and file sharing are paradigm altering. Individuals can now collaborate on these documents in ways that could not be dreamed of with modern day excel files, and learning how to make this work for your advantage should be your top priority.
6) Google Sheets for a progressive path forward
The rest of this website will focus on Google Sheets.
All of the basic uses and user keystrokes are going to be very similar in all spread sheet applications so you can apply the basic information in any program you'd like.
Google's cloud based system with network sharing of the spreadsheets that enables concurrent users is a paradigm buster, and that is why Google Sheets should now be the first system of choice for all individuals moving forward whenever possible.
To truly take advantage of all aspects of Google Sheets you will need to become more familiar with Google Drive, Google Synch, Google Chrome, Tab Cloud and a few other tools. We will skim over the bare minimum in this website to get you up and going. For a much fuller instruction set on the items just mentioned (Google Drive, Google Synch, Google Chrome, Tab Cloud, etc) see the http://soul-proprietor-guide.weebly.com website. The Soul Proprietor Guide website is a paid website as opposed to free like this one, but it's likely well worth the money for those who are seriously interested in coming up to speed on Google Cloud infrastructure fast.
Likewise, this website is only designed to get you up and going as a basic GSheets user (as opposed to spreadsheet creator or programmer). If/when you are ready to start converting spreadsheets into more powerful database systems, those instructions pickup at http://diy-software-club.weebly.com .
For those invested in Microsoft Excel and/or cloud drives other than Google, the shift to Google requires some work but in most cases, the resulting efficiency gains will be shocking. What Google has that the others don't is the cloud based office productivity tools and the back-end of their "file system" is just one big database with a portion of that designated for you.
Existing excel power users should remember that those who are using very advanced features of excel and/or those using their very powerful page break management may need to modify your approach on some things or stay with Excel until those features find their way to Google Sheets.
All of the basic uses and user keystrokes are going to be very similar in all spread sheet applications so you can apply the basic information in any program you'd like.
Google's cloud based system with network sharing of the spreadsheets that enables concurrent users is a paradigm buster, and that is why Google Sheets should now be the first system of choice for all individuals moving forward whenever possible.
To truly take advantage of all aspects of Google Sheets you will need to become more familiar with Google Drive, Google Synch, Google Chrome, Tab Cloud and a few other tools. We will skim over the bare minimum in this website to get you up and going. For a much fuller instruction set on the items just mentioned (Google Drive, Google Synch, Google Chrome, Tab Cloud, etc) see the http://soul-proprietor-guide.weebly.com website. The Soul Proprietor Guide website is a paid website as opposed to free like this one, but it's likely well worth the money for those who are seriously interested in coming up to speed on Google Cloud infrastructure fast.
Likewise, this website is only designed to get you up and going as a basic GSheets user (as opposed to spreadsheet creator or programmer). If/when you are ready to start converting spreadsheets into more powerful database systems, those instructions pickup at http://diy-software-club.weebly.com .
For those invested in Microsoft Excel and/or cloud drives other than Google, the shift to Google requires some work but in most cases, the resulting efficiency gains will be shocking. What Google has that the others don't is the cloud based office productivity tools and the back-end of their "file system" is just one big database with a portion of that designated for you.
Existing excel power users should remember that those who are using very advanced features of excel and/or those using their very powerful page break management may need to modify your approach on some things or stay with Excel until those features find their way to Google Sheets.
6) A google account is required to proceed...
When you sign up for a Gmail Email account most don't realize you get a free suite of digital office products that mirror those of Microsoft Office.
This has been the case for many years, but until 2013 the Google offerings were very week and limited and thus they were not very broadly adopted. In late 2013, there was a significant upgrade to the google suite products, and with that upgrade, Google's Suite of office products became a truly viable resource for small businesses and individuals.
If you do not have a gmail account, you will need to sign up for one before proceeding further. To sign up for a gmail account, go here: https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?hl=en-GB
Google Suite Accounts
Google in fact has two types of accounts. One type of account is free (aka a gmail account) and one is designed for business entities (a Google Suite Account).
The Google Suite account requires that you own a domain name for your business entity first, and then it costs $5/month/registered email account for a given domain name.
The name "Google Suite" is a little confusing because most view what they get with their gmail account as a "digital office suite". You in fact get that same suite of products with both accounts. The added functionality with a Google Suite account is in fact related to corporate level IT management for all users in your domain, and it includes 24/7 phone support, which a gmail account does not offer.
We have a lot more information on Google Suite accounts in the paid section of http://soul-proprietor-guide.weebly.com website.
For the purposes of this website, if you don't have a gmail account, just sign up for a gmail account to get going.
https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?hl=en-GB
- Microsoft Word >> Google Docs
- Microsoft Excel >> Google Sheets
- Microsoft Power Point >> Google Slides
This has been the case for many years, but until 2013 the Google offerings were very week and limited and thus they were not very broadly adopted. In late 2013, there was a significant upgrade to the google suite products, and with that upgrade, Google's Suite of office products became a truly viable resource for small businesses and individuals.
If you do not have a gmail account, you will need to sign up for one before proceeding further. To sign up for a gmail account, go here: https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?hl=en-GB
Google Suite Accounts
Google in fact has two types of accounts. One type of account is free (aka a gmail account) and one is designed for business entities (a Google Suite Account).
The Google Suite account requires that you own a domain name for your business entity first, and then it costs $5/month/registered email account for a given domain name.
The name "Google Suite" is a little confusing because most view what they get with their gmail account as a "digital office suite". You in fact get that same suite of products with both accounts. The added functionality with a Google Suite account is in fact related to corporate level IT management for all users in your domain, and it includes 24/7 phone support, which a gmail account does not offer.
We have a lot more information on Google Suite accounts in the paid section of http://soul-proprietor-guide.weebly.com website.
For the purposes of this website, if you don't have a gmail account, just sign up for a gmail account to get going.
https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?hl=en-GB