O ur software offers many features that

can save you time and effort when you’re

learning statistics or analyzing data. How-

ever, when we demonstrate many of these

short cuts, tools, and capabilities at shows

and events, we find that even some long-

time users aren’t aware of them.

We asked members of our sales team and

technical support staff to list some of Mini-

tab’s most helpful, yet frequently over-

looked features. See how many you use—or

might want to start using!

Have It Your Way

To customize menus and toolbars to match

your curriculum or regularly used statistical

tools, choose Tools > Customize. You can

add, delete, move, or edit menus and tool-

bars; add buttons to Minitab that you can

simply click on to run macros; and set key-

strokes for commands. Specify default set-

tings using Tools > Options. Store all your

personalized settings and customizations in

a profile (using Tools > Manage Profiles)

that you can use whenever you choose and

share with colleagues.

Manipulating Data

Need to change the format of a column?

For example, do you need to convert a text

column to numeric format for your analy-

sis? Just choose Data > Change Data

Type and select the appropriate option.

May I Take Your Order?

Have you ever created a graph and wished

you could switch the order of the results? For

instance, you might want to change “High,

Medium, Low” to “Low, Medium, High”.

To display your results in a specific order,

right-click on the column used to generate

the output and choose Column > Value Or-

der. This lets you set the value order for a

text column using an order you define. The

value order lets you control the order of

groups on bar charts and other graphs, as

well as tables and other Session Window

output.

Minitab’s “Hidden” Helpers Fantastic features you may not know about—but might want to use!

Help Is Just a Click Away

If you’ve never clicked on Minitab’s Help

menu, you’re missing a tremendous col-

lection of resources. Of course you’ll find

guidance about how to use Minitab soft-

ware there, including step-by-step tutori-

als. In addition, you’ll also find:

Minitab’s Statistical Glossary. This

comprehensive, illustrated glossary

covers all areas of Minitab statistics.

Each definition contains practical,

easy-to-understand information.

StatGuide™. You’ve run an analysis,

but what does it mean? StatGuide ex-

plains how to interpret Minitab results,

using preselected examples to explain

your output.

A list of Methods and Formulas.

Links to helpful Internet resources, includ-

ing our extensive Knowledgebase/FAQ.

And if you don’t find the answers you

need, you can contact Minitab’s free Tech-

nical Support for assistance from highly-

skilled specialists with expertise in both

computing and statistics.

Can You Repeat That?

Frequently, you’ll need to modify or re-

run some part of an analysis you con-

ducted. You can easily return to your last

dialog box by pressing CTRL+e. It’s also

easy to recreate new graphs using different

variables while retaining all of your graph

edits. With a graph or control chart active,

choose Editor > Make Similar Graph to

make a graph that retains all properties of

that graph but uses different columns.

Everything In Its Right Place

Minitab’s Project Manager allows you to

navigate, view, and manipulate various

parts of your project. Right-clicking either

the folders or their contents lets you access

a variety of menus that allow you to man-

age Session Window output, graphs, work-

sheets, command language, and related

project areas.

You can also copy any or all analyses and

graphs to Minitab’s built-in ReportPad to

create reports and share your results with

colleagues who may not have Minitab.

You can move ReportPad contents to a

more powerful word processing program for

further editing and layout. Press CTRL+i to

access Minitab’s Project Manager.

Color Your World

To change the color of bars and symbols

on a graph, double-click on any bar or

symbol. Then use the Attributes tab to

change the fill pattern, color, outline, and

other aspects of how your graph appears.

Excel-lent Data Importing Capability

To import data from Excel into Minitab,

choose File > Open Worksheet, select

Excel from Files of type and navigate to

your Excel document. If you open a work-

book with multiple sheets, each Excel

sheet opens into a separate Minitab work-

sheet. You can also click Options and Pre-

view to specify the data you want to

import and to ensure that it is formatted

properly. You can also import CSV, TXT

and other data file formats using File >

Open Worksheet.

It’s Automatic

Minitab’s Autofill capability lets you auto-

matically repeat the value in a cell (or

cells), or follow a pattern as you click and

drag down a column or columns in a

worksheet. To repeat a value, select the

cell, then hover your cursor on the lower

right corner of the cell. When the cross ap-

pears, click and drag down the column to

repeat the value in other cells. To repeat a

pattern of values rather than a single

value, press CTRL as you drag, following

the same convention as in Excel. You can

even use Autofill with custom lists. For

example, with the worksheet active,

choose Editor > Define Custom Lists to

define “Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun” as

a list, type one of the values in the first

row of a column, and click and drag to fill

in the list.

What features in Minitab or Quality Companion

do you find most helpful? Let us know and

we’ll share your favorites in future issues of

Minitab News. Send your suggestions to

feedback@minitab.com.

Visit www.minitab.com for more information about statistics.

© 2010 Minitab Inc. Reprinted with permission.