Spreadsheet Design Guidelines

Revised 2009.11.19

The following guidelines apply to every spreadsheet that you create. Review this sheet often. Your grade will be docked for each guideline that you violate.

• Always include your user name as the last part of the name of every spreadsheet that you create (e.g. Payments-Kleent.xls, Charts-Kleent.xls, etc.). This one is very important. This is the only way that I have of keeping track of your homework. If you want to get credit for your homework, name it properly.
• Always "sign" your work by putting your name and course number in the right part of the header (e.g. Tom Kleen, CSCI100). That way it will appear on all pages when printed.
• Use the dollar sign for currency values, and display the cents for values less than $100. For larger values, omit the cents.
• Always verify that all columns are wide enough to display their contents before printing your worksheet. Any numeric cell that is too narrow will be identified by #### characters appearing in the cell. Any text cell that is too narrow will simply have the text truncated.
• Always make sure that all rows are tall enough to display their contents before printing your worksheet.
• When your spreadsheet depends on assumptions that may change, isolate those assumptions at the top of the worksheet.
• Use color and formatting to convey information (e.g. make negative numbers red, highlight [shade] areas of user input, etc.) and to divide your worksheet.
• Column Headings

· Always right-align (or possibly center—never left-align) column headings that are above columns of numbers.

· Always left-align (or possibly center – never right-align) column headings that are above columns of text.

· If column headings are wider than the data in the columns, turn on the "wrap text" feature for the heading cells.

· Make column headings bold. Shading and underlining them also makes your worksheet more readable.

• Printing

· Center printouts horizontally on the page (i.e., make left and right margins equal).

· Do not print gridlines unless explicitly told to do so. However, use cell borders to group or separate different parts of your spreadsheet.

· Use landscape orientation to print if the worksheet is wider than it is tall. Use portrait orientation to print if the worksheet is taller than it is wide.

· When possible, print all columns on a single page (never have a single right-most column spill over onto a separate page).

· Always do a print preview before actually printing to verify that your worksheet looks the way you want it to look and that you have followed the guidelines above. Also check how many pages your printout will be before printing.