This is a guest post by Vijay, our in-house VBA Expert.
There are times when we are entering dates into several columns and would like to select a date from a popup calendar instead of manually typing.
Today, lets understand how we can set up a pop-up calendar in Excel so that your users can easily input dates by right clicking on a cell and inserting a date.
Keep in mind:
1. This code is only supported on the 32-Bit versions of Excel.
2. You need to have admin rights to be able to install the ActiveX Control
First, take a look at pop-up calendar
Here is a short demo of how our pop-up calendar behaves.
What we need to do this
1. Design user form that contains our calendar.
2. Create a Data Table
3. Put some VBA code to get this done
Design user form that contains our calendar.
First let’s design the user form, so start up Excel and bring up the Visual Basic editor and add an user form in the project.
We would need the Microsoft Date and Time Picker control for this project, so please ensure that you have the required file available on your system. If it is not available you may download the MSCOMCT2.OCX from this link.
http://activex.microsoft.com/controls/vb6/mscomct2.cab
Installing this file is pretty simple, you need to extract the contents form the CAB file and then copy this into your System32 folder and then register using the REGSVR32 utility.
If you are using Windows 7 or above you would need to copy this file into the SysWOW64 folder and then register.
For Windows 7 and above, please make sure you are running the Command Prompt (Admin) to be able to successfully register the ActiveX control.
Windows 7: Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt (right click and choose Run as Administrator
Windows 8: Windows Key + X, then choose Command Prompt (Admin)
Okay, let’s get back to designing the user form.
Insert a new Userfrom on the VBA project and then click on Addition Controls on the Tools menu.
Once the Additional controls dialog box is on the screen, locate the above highlighted entry and then select the same by clicking the box on the left. Now click Ok to close this dialog box.
Now place one Monthview control on the userform and one Command button.
Below are the properties that we need to change for the Commandbutton
• Caption = “Close”
• Cancel = True
• Name = cmdClose
Place this command button anywhere you like on the userfrom, we will place the Monthview on top of this to avoid show this to the user.
Since we have specified the Cancel = True for the commandbutton, the click event can be triggered by pressing the Escape key to handle the code that we will write for the Close button.
Now place the Monthview control as show in the picture below
We are done designing the Userform, now we need to write the code to handle the events.
Below is the code
Close Button
Private Sub cmdClose_Click()
Unload Me
End Sub
Userfrom
Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
'matching the date in the calendar with the date of the active cell
'if there is a date,
If IsDate(ActiveCell.Value) Then
Me.MonthView1.Value = ActiveCell.Value
Else
Me.MonthView1.Value = Now
End If
End Sub
Private Sub MonthView1_DateClick(ByVal DateClicked As Date)
On Error Resume Next
Dim cell As Object
For Each cell In Selection.Cells
cell.Value = DateClicked
Next cell
Unload Me
End Sub
What the above code does?
1. The close button code will simply unload the userform and take it off the screen.
2. The userform initialize event code will check if the current cell on which we are right clicking the mouse contains any date, if there is a date then it will set the date on the calendar as the one on the cell, otherwise it will show today’s date.
3. The dateclick event of the Monthview control occurs when we click on any date, this code is responsible for populating the cell with the date we have selected. If there are multiple cells selected the code will populate all of them with the date selected.
Adding the context menu option
Now comes the interesting part of adding the context menu option, one thing I would like to specify here as the name suggests “Context menu” these options change depending on what and where we are right clicking the mouse. You will see a different context menu when you right click on a cell, table, shape etc. as shown in the example below
Since every object has a different type of context menu associated we need to make site we are adding our option to the right place.
I would recommend reading this article to know more about the types of commandbars available and how to use them. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/aa141001(v=office.10).aspx
Also this link provides a list of available names http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel-questions/525939-visual-basic-applications-list-available-commandbars-excel-2010-a.html
We wanted to add the right click context option to a data table which is called as “List Range Popup”.
Create a Data Table
Type the heading in Cells
B2 = ID
C2 = Start Date
D2 = End Date
E2 = Name
Now click on cell B2, and press CTRL + T shortcut from the keyboard. Make sure to select the option My Table has headers and then click Ok.
We would need the add the below code to the Open event of our workbook so that this option is available to us every time we need to work here.
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
On Error Resume Next
Dim NewControl As CommandBarControl
Application.OnKey "+^{C}", "Module1.OpenCalendar"
Application.CommandBars("List Range Popup").Controls("Insert Date").Delete
Set NewControl = Application.CommandBars("List Range Popup").Controls.Add(Before:=1)
With NewControl
.Caption = "Insert Date"
.OnAction = "Module1.OpenCalendar"
.BeginGroup = True
End With
End Sub
We have also assigned a shortcut key of CTRL + SHIFT + C to this, for those who love to work more using the keyboard.
The above code will add the “Insert Date” context menu option to our data table(s) in the active workbook whenever we open this file.
Next is cleanup
We need to make sure that the context menu we have added is also removed when the file is close, the below code will do that for us.
Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)
On Error Resume Next
Application.OnKey "+^{C}"
Application.CommandBars("List Range Popup").Controls("Insert Date").Delete
End Sub
Note: I have seen the project code left over in the VBA project explorer even after we have close this file, and did some research on the same. The common reason for this is having some COM addins installed. Please share if you also run into this issue and if you were able to find any other reasons or ways to eliminate this issue.
Download Demo File
Click here to download the demo file & use it to understand this technique.
What about you? Do you use them often? Please share your experiences, techniques & ideas using comments.
If you are new to VBA, Excel macros, go thru these links to learn more.
Join our VBA Classes
If you want to learn how to develop applications like these and more, please consider joining our VBA Classes. It is a step-by-step program designed to teach you all concepts of VBA so that you can automate & simplify your work.
Click here to learn more about VBA Classes & join us.
About Vijay
Vijay (many of you know him from VBA Classes), joined chandoo.org full-time this February. He will be writing more often on using VBA, data analysis on our blog. Also, Vijay will be helping us with consulting & training programs. You can email Vijay at sharma.vijay1 @ gmail.com. If you like this post, say thanks to Vijay.
28 Responses to “Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools using Excel [Part 2 of 6]”
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Part 3: Preparing a project time line [upcoming] Part 4: Time sheets and Resource management [...]
the templates are great (I bought the combo).
What I'm missing is a way to have the project gantt chart and reporting with the data per resource, in such a way that I can also show the occupation per resource on an extended gantt chart.
So with hours entered per person per project or sub-activity, to show a gantt chart of how many hours/days a person spent on which project (or plans to spend).
[...] from: Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools using Excel [Part 2 of 6] 25 Jun 09 | [...]
Hi Chandoo,
Funny I have a post on the value of MS project lined up which I will post when the current monster project I'm working on finishes and I get some free time!
I'm not sure this would help with any of the projects I've worked on, closing down a to do list seems like more effort than it's worth, but it might be useful for some things. I guessing it doesn't, but does the time stamp not update when you recalculate the work book?
keep up the good work!
Ross
@Ross.. Thanks for sharing your ideas... I think to do lists are a great way to keep up with project activities and ensure accountability from individual team members, when they are implemented right.
"I guessing it doesn’t, but does the time stamp not update when you recalculate the work book?"
Your guess is right. When you change the calculation mode to "iterative", excel takes care of the nittygritties and retains older values in circular references in formulas.
[...] Project Management in Excel [New Series] - Gantt Charts | To Do Lists [...]
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting - Create a Timeline to display milestones Part 4: Time sheets and Resource [...]
Hi Chandoo,
The template give me lot of convenience to monitor the thing to do. It simple. Thank You
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting - Create a Timeline to display milestones Part 4: Time sheets and Resource [...]
[...] make sure you have read the first 4 parts of the series - Making gantt charts [project planning], team todo lists [project tracking], project time lines chart [reporting] and Timesheets and Resource Management using Excel. Also [...]
Chandoo,
I really do not see any befit to this function in Excel unless it was somehow tied into some other chart. That is say a scheduled activities % complete is based on the to-do list.
The only way this chart would be useful is if no one was assigned none dependent task that could be done by anyone. The cases were both of these conditions are true are so few and far between it really makes this chart worthless.
@Brian... Once you have a todo list up and running, it is easy to get metrics out of it. I didnt propose it as it might look a bit too micro-management-ish.
I am able to understand what you meant by "The only way this chart would be useful is if no one was assigned none dependent task that could be done by anyone. The cases were both of these conditions are true are so few and far between it really makes this chart worthless."
Can you explain?
"Chandoo"
What I mean is this. Lets say you have 10 task which are part of one activity/WBS that is in your schedule. One there are very few cases were many people would be assigned to complete this one scheduled activity with no direction being given who should what of the 10 task. It is poor management, and the task 90% of the time would not get done in a timely manner if say 4 people were responsible. Secondly, you are assuming all 10 task are independent of each other. You might need to do task 1 thru 3 before you can do task 4, and to do task 7 you might need to do 4 and 6. Thirdly, the time it would take to compile and then fill out the to-do-list even in limited applications is really not worth it.
I just see almost no applications why a team would need to inform others separate from the schedule that they have completed a task on a to-do list unless anyone of the 4 people could of completed that task.
My point is, there might be a few very limited applications for this type of list but this list would be worthless as a Project Management tool in every other case.
However, change this from a to-do-list to a document change log and it is perfect. Instead of to-do it is the documents name or summary of what changed in the document. The person is who edited the document, and the time stamp is when they checked it in. But I do not know why you would use excel when there is free software you can use commercially that is 10 times better that does document management.
I think using excel to do Project Management over a real Project Management application is a bad idea. Unless you are running a very small, simple project, the time and effort is a lot more to use excel compared to the cost of the Project Management software.
This comes back to my point, I love your site, however, just because you can do something in excel does not mean you should do it. To often the time it takes to use excel is wasted 10 times over from the cost of doing it in an application designed to for the specific application.
@Brian: The todo list mentioned here is meant to keep track of all the tasks for which detailed planning is not necessary but some sort of tracking is needed. These are not be confused with project activities (a la gantt chart).
I like your suggestion about using this as a document tracker. Pretty cool use.
Coming to your point about excel as a real project management tool, well, I have my views, but in a serious project environment, it would surely payoff to have a dedicated project management application.
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting – Create a Timeline to display milestones Time sheets and Resource [...]
Chandoo,
Wonder how the timestamp column will maintain its previous data. Both Today() and Now() functions will update as and when the next timestamp happens.
[...] Preparing & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Part2: Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools Part3: Project Status Reporting – Create a Timeline to display milestones Part4: Time sheets and [...]
I've combined this with the issue tracker since I like the automatic date stamp, but one thing I'm noticing is that I can't replicate the chart that goes along with the issue tracker because the cells that are referenced have the formula that inserts the time stamp instead of a the actual date value. All the dates of the last 30 days display 0 when they should have a value.
Is there a way around this?
I have edited the chart so that my team members can update the percentage completion of the assigned tasks. When the cell is updated, i would like the time stamp to update. How would I manipulate the formula to update whenever the drop-down list is changed?
[...] … ??? To Do List [...]
Excel is great however sometimes you need to get a better idea of what tasks each person on your team is working on at any given time. We've developed a web app that can do just that! Each person has a list of tasks, listed in the order they have to complete them.
HII,
I want to expand the database through excel where i am working on 11 cities as of now and i want to expand it upto 50 cities and hence forth the data related to it will also expand so i want to make it precise where i can get updates also that this work is required to be done at that particular day or date
Thanks for making all of this information available for free. I am currently using excel to track everything for the first time. I later plan to output our information here with a more visual presentation. Wish me luck!
Can some one point me out to some additional direction on the "Who Finished it?" column? Something more 'basic' for a newbie excel guy? lol I got everything else working on this tutorial but that column. I can't seem to recreate it and I know a lot of it is due to lack of knowledge with VB code. I'd like to recreate this column very much 🙁
Dear Chandoo,
Thanks for the team to do list, kindly let me know how to set the column who " finished it " from another work sheet
Hi Chandoo,
Unable to download it - can you please check the link and confirm.
Great inhisgt! That's the answer we've been looking for.
Hi Team,
I know u all are the best programmers in the world!!! that's I am here to rectify my issues. here is my question please ans me as soon as possible before 8-3-2017 its really urgent.
I have a project named the production tracker.
1) I require the user form which shows the names of the Associates which are linked to the different tracks. when the user is selected the particular track related details and dropdowns should appear.
2) I need to track the associate needs how much of the time to complete the particular task. with start stop and pause and resume timer.
3) It should display the daily count of the production and save the data to the another Excel file.
this production tracker should save all the data no matter how many people logs in into it.
Please help me for this it will be very appreciated.
you can directly email me on my mail ID: tusharkch694@gmail.com