Microsoft Excel 2007: Ribbons And Tabs

The Microsoft Excel 2007 Ribbon is the most vital part of the Microsoft Excel interface and contains the majority of the program's features. The Ribbon is arranged into a series of Tabs, each of which contains groups of related commands. Tabs are accessed simply by clicking on the name of each Tab. Within each Tab, commands are divided in groups: the name of each group is shown at the bottom of that group.

The Home Tab contains the most frequently used commands. Here you'll find the commands that are used all the time; commands related to the clipboard such as Cut Copy and Paste; commands for formatting the data within your cells; changing the font; changing the alignment and the appearance of numbers; commands for modifying cells such as inserting rows and columns; and finally commands for sorting and editing data.

As the name suggests, the Insert Tab is used to insert or add items into your worksheets. Some of these items are built into Excel such as charts; other items are inserted from outside the program such as pictures; for example, inserting a company logo.

The Page Layout Tab contains commands to control the appearance of your worksheets as a whole. Here, you'll find settings like the margins, orientation, the size of paper and the area of the worksheet to be printed. You will normally visit the page layout Tab before printing your worksheets.

The Formulas Tab contains those controls relating to the most powerful aspect of Excel: formulas and functions. Here you can insert functions, look for errors in formulas and control the way in which Excel handles formulas and carries out calculations.

In the Data Tab you will find commands for importing information into Excel from sources such as databases; sorting information and also filtering (in other words returning data which matches certain criteria).

Here you'll also find advanced data validation tools, tools for consolidation and for performing "What if?" analysis. Also, in the outline group, you will find commands for assigning different levels to different rows and columns of the worksheet. These outline commands make large worksheet easier to navigate and to manage.

The principal theme of the Review Tab is checking and protection. It is here that you will find Excel's spell-checker, commands enabling users to add comments to a worksheet and options for protecting both worksheets and workbooks.

The View Tab contains controls relating to the way in which your workbooks and worksheets are viewed. Here you'll find commands for zooming in and out on your work and for working with multiple worksheets and workbooks simultaneously.

The Developer Tab contains options for automation. It is here that you'll find tools for creating macros. Macros allow you to write Visual Basic code which can automate almost every aspect of Microsoft Excel.

Article Source: http://www.articlegoldmine.com

The writer of this article is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, a UK IT training company offering Microsoft Excel 2007 training courses at their central London training centre.

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