Custom Error Bars in Excel 2008: Where did they go?

[gmedding]

Custom error bars is a feature I've found myself needing quite frequently this semester now that I have a physics class. Error bars are required on every chart for every lab, and custom error bars were the only way to get them right.

This wasn't a problem in Excel 2003; that had the options I needed, but it was not Intel compatible (it ran really slow). Upgrading to office 2008 was going to be great (fast, new look, better features), but it has turned into a nightmare. I am forced to rely on remote access to my parent's computer (with office 2007) to do my homework, and installing Excel 2004 again won't be an option for weeks.

As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any reason to remove custom error bars from the chart options in Excel 2008, but they are gone.

All I want to know is: Where did custom error bars go? Why are they gone? And will they ever be brought back, or will I be stuck with Excel 2004?

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

We are just users like you. So:

All I want to know is: Where did custom error bars go?

They are gone. They are not anywhere, just not a feature of this release of
Excel.

Why are they gone?

Don¹t know for sure, but probably because Microsoft had to make some
critical schedule vs. feature decisions; and as a result, cut the feature to
make the shipping schedule.

And will they ever be brought back, Your guess is as good as mine.

or will I be stuck with Excel 2004?

If you really need them, I guess you are stuck with Excel 2004 until (if
ever) they are implemented in Excel 2008, or Excel 2012, or Excel 5000.

You need to express your concern and disappointment to Microsoft by using
Help-Send Feedback.

 

[gmedding]

Thanks for the reply, but I had a feeling that was the answer that I would get. It is frustrating, but I'll have to find a way to deal with it.

I did take your advice to send Microsoft feedback.

 

[Incs]

I feel your pain, because that is my pain as well. It drives me nuts!!! You suppose to have UPGRADE, instead we get DOWNgrade...

I have to move back to my PC just to do my data anlysis which requires custum error bars!!!

 

[jpdphd]

Methinks that Excel 2004 is a great tool to be "stuck" with! Very few
benefits come with the many headaches I've been reading about.

On Feb 3, 6:39 pm, (e-mail address removed) wrote:
will I be stuck with Excel 2004?

 

[gmedding]

Excel 2004 is fine... except that it is not Intel native. That is why I was so excited to upgrade: I was tired of painfully slow applications with strange compatibility issues (like Word's notebook view crashing when I stopped the audio recordings sometimes).

Other than Excel 2008, I'm pretty happy with this new version of Office. Even Entourage is useable now. I just wish I didn't have to downgrade Excel and / or use a different computer just to make my charts.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

They are gone. They are not anywhere, just not a feature of this release of
Excel.

What's interesting is that they're not really gone. It's just the user
interface to add them that's gone.
If you add them in Excel 2004 and then open the document in Excel 2008,
they show up.....

My *guess* is that it is a bug and I sure hope it will soon be corrected
:-\

Corentin

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

What's interesting is that they're not really gone. It's just the user
interface to add them that's gone.
If you add them in Excel 2004 and then open the document in Excel 2008,
they show up.....

My *guess* is that it is a bug and I sure hope it will soon be corrected
:-\

Corentin

Yes, I think there were a lot of things that were "left in" for
compatibility, but removed due to the development effort to support the UI.
I agree, I hope we'll see a bunch of these back before long.

 

[Joe Hanson]

Hi all,

They are still there, just not very easy to find. After you make your
graph, click so the whole data series is selected. Then right-click
and hit "Format Data Series" and error bars is an option in there.

Cheers,
Joe

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Hi all,

They are still there, just not very easy to find. After you make your
graph, click so the whole data series is selected. Then right-click
and hit "Format Data Series" and error bars is an option in there.

That brings up the possibility to add error bars, but not the custom
ones (or I really can't see the option).
You can use a fixed value, a percentage, etc, but not a custom value for
each bar.

Corentin

 

[mandy]

I am so glad I am not the only one with this problem!! I've been driving myself crazy the past day with formating my charts in Excel 2008. Corentin--thanks for the tip about editing in 2004 then opening in 2008. Although, it's not the ideal way to make charts--it works.

I just can't believe they left out the custom error bar feature! It's vital to the accurate portrayal of any data set!

Mandy

 

[rachel]

I have managed to get as far as adding error bars, I'm trying to show standard deviation on a chart but I go throught the process fine, click ok....then no bars!?!

 

[Hardy]

The update is out and still no custom error bars in excel. That's a pretty bad joke :angry:

 

[Buzzinhornet]

I seem to remember the beta version of Office 2007 for PC did not have custom error bars but the final release did, I am astonished and embarrassed this has been left out. I read in the official Mac office blog that Microsoft were tracking feedback and requests and were listening to their users. The number of references to this feature on the official Mac office website surely would be enough for the developers to realise this is an essential feature - personally I don't care for a fancy new GUI that is devoid of important features - isn't that called Microsoft Works? As a scientist Office 2008 is a downgrade for me.

 

[saib]

I seem to remember the beta version of Office 2007 for PC did not have custom error bars but the final release did, I am astonished and embarrassed this has been left out. I read in the official Mac office blog that Microsoft were tracking feedback and requests and were listening to their users. The number of references to this feature on the official Mac office website surely would be enough for the developers to realise this is an essential feature - personally I don't care for a fancy new GUI that is devoid of important features - isn't that called Microsoft Works? As a scientist Office 2008 is a downgrade for me.

 

[Mattias Soop]

The absence of real error bars in graphs has now forced me to look elsewhere for graphing even the simplest of data. Others may be interested in some easy-to-learn alternatives.

I use Gigawiz Citrin and have tried KaleidaGraph too. These are powerful and, for academic users, not that expensive.

 

[Lystrablue]

Our entire laboratory will be staying with Excel 2004 until we have custom error bars.
We cannot publish our data without them. :chagrin:

 

[Pat McMillan]

We certainly hear everyone's pain over this omission and want you to know
that we're working on getting this addressed as soon as we can.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[Michal Kahle]

OpenOffice 3.0 is going to have this feature. It is already in CVS and you can test it. They also promise that it will run natively on mac.

 

[jumanju]

has this already been fixed?
customization of error bars is an essential tool for scientific applications!
I would appreciate an update of the current situation.