iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Your First Basic Spreadsheet

Up & Away, Megaville’s leading superhero outfitter, has decided to invest in the next generation of heroes by launching a sidekick academy to train aspiring teen do-gooders. Enrollments have already surged beyond expectations, and the academy’s new staff is struggling to keep up. The future of Megaville depends on these youngsters’ talents, but the future of the sidekick academy depends on staying organized during this crucial startup phase. The first task is to create a contact list of all of these eager enrollees. Specifically, what’s needed is a single place to track the sidekicks’ “mask names” as well as their real names, ages, email addresses, phone numbers, and street addresses. It’s Numbers to the rescue!

Gimme a Grid

To get started with your new spreadsheet, double-click the Blank template in the Template Chooser. Numbers opens a wide window containing a single table—an empty grid constructed from rows and columns that chop the table up into blocks called cells (Figure 17-3). Numbers labels its columns with letters (A, B, C…) and rows with numbers (1, 2, 3…). Columns and rows intersect in cells, giving each cell an address. Combine the column letter and row number to make a cell coordinate: For example, D4 is the cell in column D, row 4.

This table is where you’ll enter the sidekicks’ information. Each row will hold the info for one sidekick, with the cells of each column holding a single piece of contact info: first name, last name, age, and so ...