In Excel Gantt Charts part of our project management series, we have discussed about how using Conditional Formatting and Formulas we can make a gantt chart like this:
But when you have large project plans, gantt charts like above can get pretty intense and hard to read. So a better approach is to group various tasks in project plan – like this:
In this article, we will learn how you can make such a grouping in a regular gantt chart.
For this tutorial, we will choose a familiar project – Project Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich. (If you dont know what a PBJ is, you should find-out, prepare and eat one before reading any further. I am serious…)
Step 1: Make the regular project plan gantt chart in the following format
We will not talk about making a regular gantt chart. Here is an excellent tutorial on making excel gantt charts (and one more).
Once you are done, the chart should look like this:
Step 2: Add a new column and define groups of activities
This is very simple. Just add a new column (preferably to the left of activities) and define groups of project activities there. Like this,
Step 3: Select the entire gantt chart and add “subtotals”
To do this, just go to Data Ribbon (or menu) and select “Subtotals”.
Once you are inside the subtotals dialog, select “Start” and “End” columns to add subtotals.
In order to get the correct grouping in the gantt chart, we need minimum of start and maximum of end in each group. But this is not possible with subtotals dialog. So we just select “minimum” as the subtotal type.
Once you press OK, Excel will insert new rows and add SUBTOTAL formulas automatically.
Step 4: Change the SUBTOTAL formulas
Since both Start and End subtotals are pointing to minimum, we need to change the formulas for End so that they show Maximum. Just do that by editing the subtotal formulas manually and changing total type to “4” (MAX) for column End.
While we are at it, you can also change the labels from “Min of <group>” to “<group>”.
Step 5: Modify the conditional formatting so that groups are shown in a different color
In the conditional formatting add another condition (like when activity is blank) so that we can show those rows in a different color. [here are some tutorials on conditional formatting]
Now our Project Plan for Peanut butter sandwich is ready with groups.
Download the Gantt chart template with grouped activities
Download a copy of this example – Excel 2007 | Excel 2003 [mirror]
Get a copy of my project management template set – It has 7 gantt chart templates and 17 other project management templates.
Do you group tasks in your project plans ?
Grouping activities can be very useful to monitor project progress. In large projects usually there will be hundreds of activities. It can be a nightmare to know which ones are delayed, which ones need attention. By grouping you can present overall picture while allowing drill-down to items that need attention.
Do you group tasks in your plans? What is your experience like?
More resources on Project Management using Excel:
I suggest reading my 7 part series on project management using excel. Starting with Excel Gantt Charts to Project Dashboards.
Also, read the excel conditional formatting tips article and primer on excel subtotal formula.
21 Responses to “How to Filter Odd or Even Rows only? [Quick Tips]”
Infact, instead of using =ISEVEN(B3), how about to use =ISEVEN(ROW())
So it takes away any chance of wrong referencing.
I like Daily Dose of Excel
I like it.
Just a heads up, you do need to have the Analysis ToolPak add-in activated to use the ISEVEN / ISODD functions. An alternative to ISEVEN would be:
=MOD(ROW(),2)=0
rather than use a formula, couldn't you enter "true" in first cell and "false" in the second and drag it down and than filter on true or false.
Just for clarification, is Ashish looking to filter by even or odd Characters or rows?
so many functions to learn!
Nice support by chandoo and team as a helpdesk. Give us more to learn and make us awesome. Always be helpful.......
In case you want to delete instead of filter,
IF your data is in Sheet1 column A
Put this in Sheet2 column A and drag down
=OFFSET(Sheet1!A$1,(ROWS($1:1)-1)*2,,)
(This is to delete even rows)
To delete odd rows :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!A$2,(ROWS($1:1)-1)*2,,)
If your numbered cells did not correspond to rows, the answer would be even simpler:
=MOD([cell address],2), then filter by 0 to see evens or 1 to see odds.
I sometimes do this using an even simpler method. I add a new column called "Sign" and put the value of 1 in the first row, say cell C2 if C1 contains the header. Then in C3 I put the formula =-1 * C2, which I copy and paste into the rest of the rows (so C4 has =-1 * C3 and so forth). Now I can just apply a filter and pick either +1 or -1 to see half the rows.
Another way, which works if I want three possibilities: in C2 I put the value 1, in C3 I put the value 2, in C4 I put the value 3, then in C5 I put the formula =C2 then I copy C5 and paste into all the remaining rows (so C6 gets =C3, C7 gets =C4, etc.). Now I can apply a filter and pick the value 1, 2, or 3 to see a third of the rows.
Extending this approach to more than 3 cases is left as an exercise for the reader.
Another way =MOD(ROW();2). In this case, must to choose betwen 1 and 0.
[...] How to Filter Even or Odd rows only [...]
very different style Odd or Even Rows very easy way to visit this site
http://www.handycss.com/tips/odd-or-even-rows/
Thanks for the tip, it worked like magic, saved having to delete row by row in my database.
Thanks!
Thankssssssssssssssss
Hi Chandoo- First of all thanks for the trick. It helped me a lot. Here I have one more challenge. Having filtered the data based on odd. I want to paste data in another sheet adjacent to it. How can I do that?
For Example-
A 1 odd
B 3 odd
C 4 even
D 6 even
I have fileted the above data for odd and want to copy the "This is odd number" text in adjacent/next sheet here. How can I do that. After doing this my data should look like this
A 1 odd This is odd number
B 3 odd This is odd number
C 4 even
D 6 even
Hi! Could you please help me find a formula to filter by language?
Thank you!
Chandoo SIR,
I HAVE A DATA IN EXCEL ROWS LIKE BELOW IS THERE ANY FORMULA OR A WAY WHERE I CAN INSTRUCT I CAN MAKE CHANGES , MEANS I WANT TO WRITE ONLY , THE FIG IS FRESH, BUT IN BELOW ROW IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY TAKE THE SOME WORDS FROM FIGS AND MAKE IN PLURAL FORM , WHILE USING '' ARE'' LIKE BELOW
The fig is fresh - row 1
Figs are fresh - row 2
The Pomegranate is red - row 3
Pomegranates are red - row 4
=IF(EVEN(A1)=A1,"EVEN - do something","ODD - do something else") with iferron (for blank Cell)