This site hosts the free Listifier add-in for Microsoft Excel.
The Listifier turns tables of information into lists, because lists can be easily manipulated in Excel, while tables cannot.
The Listifier is being provided free of charge, in the hopes of saving time and making your day easier.
There are two general ways to organize information in Excel. The first way is to create a list, which has headings arranged across the top row:
| Heading1 | Heading2 | Heading3 |
| data | data | data |
| data | data | data |
| data | data | data |
| data | data | data |
If you've ever used Excel to make a simple mailing list, then you've probably done things this way:
| Name | Address | City | State | Zip |
| data | data | data | data | data |
| data | data | data | data | data |
| data | data | data | data | data |
| data | data | data | data | data |
The second way to organize information is commonly seen in reports. We'll call this table format (though you might also see it referred to as a grid or crosstab format). In this format, headings are placed across the top, and across the left side:
| Column Heading | Column Heading | Column Heading | ||
| Row Heading | Row Heading | data | data | data |
| Row Heading | Row Heading | data | data | data |
| Row Heading | Row Heading | data | data | data |
| Row Heading | Row Heading | data | data | data |
This last format is wonderful for the eyeball, but bad for the computer. Why? If you've used Excel, you'll appreciate
its ability to filter data
(http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA011127901033.aspx explains the different ways to use Excel's built-in tools to filter and find information in a list)
. You might also take advantage of
Excel's wonderful PivotTable feature
(http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/using/excel_pivot_tables_collins.mspx provides an excellent example of how a PivotTable can be used to easily create complex reports. When you look at that page, please notice that the source data is in list format, not table format!)
.
Data that's in table format is impossible to
effectively sort, filter, or use in a PivotTable.
You can use the free Listifier for Excel add-in to turn your table-formatted data into list-formatted data.
Click to download The Listifer.
Unzip the file; save it to your computer. Follow Excel’s directions about loading add‑ins.
Listifier should now show up at the bottom of Excel’s Data menu.
Enjoy!