Excel Timelines

By Mrs. BushmanLaird School

A Change of View.

• Go to Page Setup on the Formatting Palette and change the spreadsheet from Portrait to Landscape.

The Formatting Palette

• Once you have entered the years of your timeline, you are ready to start formatting those cells. Hold the shift key down and select all of the cells with the years in them.

• Change the font and size to around 18.

Alignment

• Set the Horizontal Alignment to Center. You can leave the Vertical Alignment alone.

Adding Borders

• Under Borders and Shading click on the triangle next to the word Type.

• Select the border with all sides darkened.

A Colorful World.

• Click the triangle next to Color and pick a color. If you are keeping your font color black, use a light color to shade your cells.

Heading• On the row above the

years, type in a brief title for what that year represents. Don’t worry if it over laps.

• Go to Format – Cells at the top menu.

• Click on Alignment.• In the Orientation box,

move the Text dot up until it reaches 45 Degrees.

Once Again.

• Hold the shift key down and highlight the title cells.

• Use the same Borders Type and a different pastel color for these cells.

Wrap It

• On the row below the years, hold the shift key down and highlight the cells.

• On the Alignment and Spacing section of the Formatting Palette, click on Wrap text.

Add The Story.• Type in the details for

each year profiled on the timeline into the corresponding cells.

• Once finished, go to the Alignment and Spacing section of the Formatting Palette and click on the Orientation with the words moving vertically sideways.

And Again.

• With the cells still highlighted, apply the same Borders Type and a different pastel color to the cells.

Title It.

• Pick a row of cells a few rows above your cell titles. Find a centered area and type in the main title for the timeline.

• The title should have a large enough font to easily view.

Merge

• Highlight the cells the title runs through.

• In the Alignment and Spacing section of the Formatting Palette click on Merge cells.

• The series of cells consisting of the title has now become one cell.

More Color!

• You can then add color and a border as you wish.

A Final Word.

• This idea, along with many others, can be found in Microsoft’s School of The Future web site:School of The Future