Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet? Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work. So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around". In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content". Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know.
Probably too simplified an answer but could each person have their own tab. On Sun, Apr 5, 2026, 3:23 PM William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/PDDJ47L...
What I would personally do in this situation -- given my limited experience -- is to maintain a single spreadsheet document with multiple sheets. I include what it looks like in Google Sheets to add a (sub)sheet since I don't have Excel, but I'm told they function similarly. Have one sheet dedicated to (and named for) each person then have them import to their own sheet. Then you can merge them together however you like once all is collected. This could be automated if it's frequently repeated but I don't do enough of that to know how. So long as each person just imports to their own sheet nobody will clobber the work of anyone else. I'm sure there are more elegant ways to do this, consider mine a fallback if nothing better shows up. On Sun, Apr 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/PDDJ47L...
-- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56
I would second (third?) the suggestion of distinct, named sheets. I would also say that this is an awful way to manage data like this, and this approach is guaranteed to fail occasionally, or often, sometimes in subtle ways. A correct, but much less polite person has a similar, well-reasoned opinion, expressed here: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-dropkick-you-if-you-use-that-... Lastly, I recommend making very frequent backups; like, hourly. Excel has a lockfile failure mode that will leave you with a blank file and no history (not a funny story). Good luck! On Sun, Apr 5, 2026, 17:10 Evan Leibovitch via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
What I would personally do in this situation -- given my limited experience -- is to maintain a single spreadsheet document with multiple sheets. I include what it looks like in Google Sheets to add a (sub)sheet since I don't have Excel, but I'm told they function similarly.
Have one sheet dedicated to (and named for) each person then have them import to their own sheet. Then you can merge them together however you like once all is collected. This could be automated if it's frequently repeated but I don't do enough of that to know how. So long as each person just imports to their own sheet nobody will clobber the work of anyone else.
I'm sure there are more elegant ways to do this, consider mine a fallback if nothing better shows up.
On Sun, Apr 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM William Park via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/PDDJ47L...
-- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56 ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/GDOZYWQ...
I believe you can put it in google docs, and everybody can merge in their data, and IIRC immediately see others changes. There may be security controls to limit who can enter (by row or cell?) I am in a group where such a spreadsheet was created, we were each exhorted to adopt and update one row in it. I did not rise to the request. Carey
On 04/05/2026 2:17 PM CDT William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/PDDJ47L...
On Sun, Apr 05, 2026 at 03:17:51PM -0400, William Park via Talk wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know.
It sounds like excel is the wrong tool for the job (it almost always is). But I suppose it each person had their own file to populate, then a main sheet could be made that just collected the contents from the other files for a final view. Still sounds like a terrible solution. -- Len Sorensen
On Sun, 5 Apr 2026 15:17:51 -0400 William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
I have worked with spreadsheets accessed and updated by multiple people. The system basically worked. Solutions to your problem... 1. Don't employ morons. 2. Inevitably, this will happen even if all your people are competent. Learn from the experience, and don't repeat it very often. Spreadsheets like Excel and LibreOffice calc are widely available and convenient to use. Occasional trashing of data is a cost of collaboration. 3. Everybody keeps their own spreadsheet, and they copy and paste into the primary spreadsheet. If you are backing up the primary spreadsheet, you recover the undamaged spreadsheet, and everybody including the moron re-enters their data. 4. Forget the spreadsheet. Set up a database where everybody enters their data into a sandbox, and a central server updates the main database. Estimate the cost, and consider the possibility that they will take you up on it. 5. I have set up a PDM (Product Data Management) database for SolidWorks. You create files and check them into the database. People check the files out, update them, and check them back in again. If somebody screws up, you can go back a version or two (or three or four), and resume updating. There is no need to aggressively stop people from getting work done. I don't know how this would work with a single spreadsheet. I am not aware of any Free PDM software. -- Howard Gibson hgibson@eol.ca http://home.eol.ca/~hgibson
(1) I'll pass along, "separate worksheets". Though, someone has to write script to merge them. I am hoping for some existing "template" workflow, that they can modify or massage it for their need. (2) Forgot to mention... it has to be MS-Excel. Telling them to use something else is non-starter. :-) (3) Data extraction/loading (ETL) should be automated. Yes. But, you're dealing with "sales guys". You can set company policy, warn them, fire them. Still, they never enter full info into company CRM. On 2026-04-05 15:17, William Park via Talk wrote:
Question: How would you manage multiple people adding same kind of data into a spreadsheet?
Situation: This company uses Excel spreadsheet as final form for their sales peoples. So, each person pulls his/her own data from CRM subsystem, and adds to this spreadsheet. Well, a moron overwrote other people's entries, and lost entire weekend's work.
So they ask me, and I said, "I don't know, but I'll ask around".
In my previous companies, such spreadsheet would be on a server. And, whenever someone opens to edit, it would lock the file. But, this only addresses "access". Not the "content".
Possible Solution: I'm thinking "template". Each person would be populating same kind of data into spreadsheet. So, maybe a script merges data from his/her template? Maybe, a "web form"? I don't know. ------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/ talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/PDDJ47LTOXQXRR4POO5FBJVYVK26A7CU/
participants (7)
-
CAREY SCHUG -
Evan Leibovitch -
Howard Gibson -
Jim Ruxton -
Lennart Sorensen -
William Park -
William Witteman