Welcome to Customising Applications for Clients!

Over the next 18 weeks we'll be learning how we can customise standard office applications (spreadsheets, wordprocessors etc.) for clients by creating our own little programs (a.k.a. macros), as well as learning some nifty little features of the standard office Applications.

We will be using MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access in class (as this is all that we have access to), but if you would like to use other software at home (such as the free OpenOffice suite) just let me know and I'll do all I can to accommodate you!

But, let's get started! The first thing I'd like us all to do is create our own Web-Logs (a.k.a. Blogs). A Blog is just an easy way for us to setup our own website and publish on the web in minutes! For us, it'll also:

• help us to keep in touch,
  
• provide a place for you to express yourself on the net,
• provide an opportunity for you to reflect on what you're learning and help me improve the course!

Click on the "Get your own Blog" button in the top-right corner of the window and follow the instructions. You'll have your own web address in no time! For your first post, how about your favourite spot in the mountains!

Once you've created your own site, add a comment to this post with the address of your own site so I can track them and keep in touch!

In our first class this Friday, we'll start by flexing our Excel skills with a little exercise sheet. Once you've finished the worksheet, add a new post to your blog commenting on how you feel about your Excel skills... do you feel confident, are there areas you want to brush up on?

We'll then record our first Excel macro, and discuss what we've created.

On top of that, if we've got time, we'll even start learning the basics of computer programming by following a tutorial that will show us how to command a turtle (or a triangle in this case!) Don't miss it!