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Office 2007 & Excel

patchbunny

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patchbunny
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So my office recently switched over to Office 2007, and it's causing me fits.

In Excel 2003, the formula bar used to automatically resize itself to fit the contents of the cel. Now in 2007, it appears to only function as a fixed size that I have to manually change. Is there any way to get it to resize automatically once again? I can't find any help in the help files on this.
 
From what it looks like, the way the bar resized in 2003 and previous obscured so much of the spreadsheet itself that the auto-resize function had been removed. Seems manual resize is the only way supported now.
 
Just curious, are these gigantic formulas or just cells full of text?

And yes, Ctrl+Shift+U still works.
 
To the far right of the formula bar there is a button with a double arrow pointing down. When you mouse over it, the tooltip says Expand Formula Bar. Click it once and the formula bar expands. Click again to restore the formula bar to its original size.

To make the formula bar larger, click the bottom edge and drag it down until you reach the desired size. Then you can use the Expand Formula Bar button to toggle between your desired size and a single line.

That's the best I could come up with. I can't find a way to make it automatically resize itself. I suspect it might not exist.
 
Wrathernaut said:
Just curious, are these gigantic formulas or just cells full of text?

And yes, Ctrl+Shift+U still works.
Click to expand...

No, just say a cell where I have multiple lines of text, such as for a column header.

So... it looks like my choices are to always have multiple lines of the formula bar open, obscuring more of the spreadsheet the majority of the time, or deal with cells cropped off and me thinking that there's data missing until I click a button to do what used to be automatic.
 
Office 2010 seems to have little Up/Down scrollbar heads that appear at the end of the formula bar, whenever the value takes up more than one line.

So, if you suspect data is "missing" you can quickly glance at that, before you have to click to expand the bar.
 
Hopefully, patchbunny, you won't mind a bit of a derail. Wowbagger, did you upgrade from 2007? What is new that is worth the upgrade, if anything? I thought the UI from 2003 -> 2007 was a step down. Any changes to that in 2010?

And so on...any thoughts would be interesting.
 
SezMe said:
Wowbagger, did you upgrade from 2007? What is new that is worth the upgrade, if anything?
Click to expand...
I basically upgraded because:
* I am a software developer with a professional interest towards Microsoft platforms, so I always gotta keep up with the latest.

* I now have my own MSDN Premium subscription that includes a license to install the latest versions of Microsoft Office on a machine for my own usage. So, I might as well take advantage of that.

* I am a bit of a snob in the realm of software. Always gotta have the latest, anyway, for some reason. It might be a disease.

I didn't upgrade to gain any particular features, though there are a few new things I like, anyway:

* The "Backstage View", (which replaces the appallingly outdated "File Menu") is very nicely organized. It is fairly easy to figure out where you need to go, for various document-management-related tasks.

* Right-Click pasting from the Clipboard is more intuitive with the Paste Options icons that you can hover over, to see a preview of the paste. Seems to be more efficient than the SmartTag method, which I previously assumed couldn't be beat.

* Excel has a slew of new formulas to work with. Many of them are new, improved names for old things. But, they come in handy for folks who are into those sorts of things.

*Outlook has improved contact cards, and a nice, new "Conversations" view, that I like.

SezMe said:
I thought the UI from 2003 -> 2007 was a step down. Any changes to that in 2010?
Click to expand...
The UI is not much different from 2007, but they added more flexability in customizing it.

I have gotten used to it, so I don't mind "The Ribbon" interface so much. They have added it to all the apps, now, including Outlook and Visio, etc.

But, I still wish they added a "Legacy Menu" (or some would call it a "Crutch Menu") to the applications, so people more used to the old version could find things easier. (They have still have something like that in Internet Explorer 8.)

SezMe said:
And so on...any thoughts would be interesting.
Click to expand...

PowerPoint now has some relatively good video editing and effects abilities built into it. That might come in handy for me, one of these days.

Office On-Line is rather nice. But, unfortunately, it seems most people I know are already vested in Google Docs. So, I don't get to use it much.

Soon, I shall be reacquainted with SharePoint Server. I set up a server to play with, but have not had time to do much with it. It has been a few years since I have last done anything with it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Wow. Appreciate the thoughts. I too do software work but have more than one client at 2003 who see no need to upgrade. So my - like your - fetish with having the latest has to be moderated somewhat.
 
SezMe said:
Thanks, Wow. Appreciate the thoughts. I too do software work but have more than one client at 2003 who see no need to upgrade. So my - like your - fetish with having the latest has to be moderated somewhat.
Click to expand...
I do have a machine with a collection of older versions of Office apps. on them.

(I also have a virtual machine set up with Windows 3.11 and Word 2.0, for no reason other than geek cred., apparently.)
 
Office 2007 is a pain in the arse. It takes a special kind of ignorance to completely alter an interface people have been used to for over a decade, especially when functionality hasn't really been improved upon.
 
At my place of employment, I am stuck with '07 and '03 on two of the machines I work with. They each have good points with regards to the UI. '07's hover menus are downright awesome, but I really wish you could customize the ribbon menus.

I'm finding myself greatly preferring the interface now that I'm used to it.
 
Microsoft likes to make a big deal about SparkLines, in Excel 2010. I've tried out the feature, but don't really have a use for them. Does anyone else, out there, use them for anything?

GracefullyTalentless said:
Office 2007 is a pain in the arse. It takes a special kind of ignorance to completely alter an interface people have been used to for over a decade, especially when functionality hasn't really been improved upon.
Click to expand...
It's comments like this that make me wish it still contained a "Legacy" or "Crutch" menu.

After throwing myself into the ribbon interface for three years, now, I have gotten used to it. And, I do find it productive myself.

Word on the street is that most newbie users find it easier to work with as well. It seems to be mostly the older users, more used to the toolbar/menu system that don't like it. Muscle memory is a powerful thing, I guess.

SezMe said:
Or worse, the functionality has decreased.
Click to expand...
What functionality has decreased?

(I know Microsoft is no longer supporting web controls, but those things sucked, anyway.)
 
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