Soapmaking Spreadsheet Recipe Tool

[Grantxw8]

Hi Eva, I’m guessing, from your name only, that you might be Spanish speaking? Once the tool is finalised i could try translating it. I have some Spanish speaking friends who could help me. Thanks for the suggestion. It wouldn’t have occurred to me.

Hola Eva, por tu nombre supongo que eres hispanohablante. Una vez que la herramienta esté terminada, podría intentar traducirla. Tengo algunos amigos hispanohablantes que podrían ayudarme. Gracias por la sugerencia. No se me habría ocurrido.

Translated with DeepL (https://www.deepl.com/app/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=share-translation

 

[Grantxw8]

Hi Eva, I’m guessing, from your name only, that you might be Spanish speaking? Once the tool is finalised i could try translating it. I have some Spanish speaking friends who could help me. Thanks for the suggestion. It wouldn’t have occurred to me.

Hola Eva, por tu nombre supongo que eres hispanohablante. Una vez que la herramienta esté terminada, podría intentar traducirla. Tengo algunos amigos hispanohablantes que podrían ayudarme. Gracias por la sugerencia. No se me habría ocurrido.

Translated with DeepL (https://www.deepl.com/app/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=share-translation

Hi Eva,
I’ve been thinking about the translation. It will be a big job. All the text on the buttons, the labels on the sheets, the drop down lists would need to be translated. I’m willing to do the work but I’d like to do it only once. That means waiting until I’m sure there won’t be any changes required. I’ll wait for any feedback from the group here - I believe there are some people using the tool - and see about incorporating those. Once it is all stable I can look at translation.

Having said that, I may have a go at the easier parts to test how difficult it might all be.

Can you confirm for me what language you speak? Is it Spanish?

Hola Eva,
He estado pensando en la traducción. Será un gran trabajo. Habría que traducir todo el texto de los botones, las etiquetas de las hojas, las listas desplegables. Estoy dispuesto a hacer el trabajo, pero me gustaría hacerlo una sola vez. Eso significa esperar hasta estar seguro de que no será necesario hacer ningún cambio. Esperaré a recibir comentarios del grupo aquí -creo que hay algunas personas que utilizan la herramienta- y veré cómo incorporarlos. Una vez que todo esté estable, podré estudiar la traducción.

Dicho esto, puede que pruebe con las partes más sencillas para ver lo difícil que puede resultar.

¿Puede confirmarme qué idioma habla? ¿Es español?

 

[Grantxw8]

Another update. Just tidying up behind the scenes for the most part. I've had a first run at translating this into Spanish (still waiting for confirmation that this is the language that's requested). I have no idea if the translation makes any sense. I speak no Spanish, but I'll be seeing my Spanish-speaking friends on Thursday so, if time allows, I'll ask them to look at it. So far all the translation is done by some very clever machines.

This one is numbered v4.5.

Otra actualización. En su mayor parte, se trata de poner orden entre bastidores. He hecho un primer intento de traducir esto al español (todavía estoy esperando la confirmación de que este es el idioma solicitado). No tengo ni idea de si la traducción tiene algún sentido. No hablo español, pero el jueves veré a mis amigos hispanohablantes así que, si el tiempo me lo permite, les pediré que le echen un vistazo. Hasta ahora toda la traducción la hacen unas máquinas muy listas.

Ésta lleva el número v4.5.

LINK

 

[Whillow]

So the weekend came and went and I was unable to do any soap making. Hoping I will have more time this week. Working full time is getting in the way of enjoyable things for me. LOL.

 

[Vicki C]

I love this - looking forward to diving in and understanding it. Nice work @Grantxw8

 

[Grantxw8]

So the weekend came and went and I was unable to do any soap making. Hoping I will have more time this week. Working full time is getting in the way of enjoyable things for me. LOL.

Hi Whillow, I confess to being excited about the prospect of getting your feedback. I fully understand that life gets in the way though. Please, feel no pressure. Just know that I'll appreciate your input when you get a chance.

I love this - looking forward to diving in and understanding it. Nice work @Grantxw8

Hi Vicki C, of course you're very welcome. I'd be more than happy to hear your thoughts when you've had a chance to use it. I made this for myself but I'd really like it to be useful to others. However, I need help seeing how others would use it. Your input would be most welcome (but not obligatory ).

 

[Whillow]

Hi Whillow, I confess to being excited about the prospect of getting your feedback. I fully understand that life gets in the way though. Please, feel no pressure. Just know that I'll appreciate your input when you get a chance.

Hello Grant,

I have tried for several hours to get this to work on my computer. Apparently the macros you used aren't playing well with my computer. I did try at work as well but the hospital's security is even stronger than mine. Do you have any ideas on how to get around this?

 

[Grantxw8]

Hello Grant,

I have tried for several hours to get this to work on my computer. Apparently the macros you used aren't playing well with my computer. I did try at work as well but the hospital's security is even stronger than mine. Do you have any ideas on how to get around this?

Hmm. It depends on lots of things. Mostly what the security settings are on your computer. Is it a Mac or Windows PC?

What normally happens when I try opening a spreadsheet with macros is I get a warning about the dangers of opening such files. I then have the option of opening it anyway. I'm on a Mac so your mileage may vary. My daughter has a Windows PC so I'll see if I can go through it on that to see what needs to be done.

Thanks for trying.

 

[Whillow]

Thank you. I did try to over ride it but each time I was unable. I will keep working at it.

 

[Grantxw8]

Well! That's a bummer. I'm running the current version of Excel on my Mac that supports the xlookup function that's been available for a couple of years. However, it breaks the formulas on my daughter's computer because... Microsoft!! No good reason really but I can fix it by reverting to the vlookup function which has been around a lot longer. It'll take some time for me to do this.

I also have some info on the macro problem but I'll post that from my computer with screenshots to make it clearer (I'm on my phone ATM).

Gotta love technology.

 

[Grantxw8]

Thank you. I did try to over ride it but each time I was unable. I will keep working at it.

Are you on a Windows machine? Windows 10 or Windows 11?

 

[Grantxw8]

So, I saw the following when I opened the file on my daughter's PC.

I looked up what to do about this and found:
https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/enable-disable-macros-excel/
One page suggested using the "Properties" (right clicking on the file and down at the bottom of the resulting menu) to produce the following:

A little paranoia is a good thing but Microsoft seem to be taking things to extremes. Of course, they may know a lot more about what the bad guys can do so.. there's that.

Even after choosing to unblock the file, I still got a warning at the top of the screen and had to make it editable.

I'm going to rework some things that seem to be broken between versions of Excel to make it more compatible. I know a lot of people will have older versions so it's worth putting the effort. Please don't spend much more time on this until I've been able to do this.I don't want to add to your frustration.

I should have thought to check this before but Microsoft assures us that all versions of Excel are equal these days. Apparently it's not so. :-(

 

[melinda48]

Hello Grant,

I have tried for several hours to get this to work on my computer. Apparently the macros you used aren't playing well with my computer. I did try at work as well but the hospital's security is even stronger than mine. Do you have any ideas on how to get around this?

Have you tried opening it with Google sheets online?

 

[Whillow]

Have you tried opening it with Google sheets online?

No I have not. I will do that when I get home.

 

[Whillow]

So, I saw the following when I opened the file on my daughter's PC.
View attachment 74346

I looked up what to do about this and found:
https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/enable-disable-macros-excel/
One page suggested using the "Properties" (right clicking on the file and down at the bottom of the resulting menu) to produce the following:

View attachment 74347

A little paranoia is a good thing but Microsoft seem to be taking things to extremes. Of course, they may know a lot more about what the bad guys can do so.. there's that.

Even after choosing to unblock the file, I still got a warning at the top of the screen and had to make it editable.

I'm going to rework some things that seem to be broken between versions of Excel to make it more compatible. I know a lot of people will have older versions so it's worth putting the effort. Please don't spend much more time on this until I've been able to do this.I don't want to add to your frustration.

I should have thought to check this before but Microsoft assures us that all versions of Excel are equal these days. Apparently it's not so. :-(

Thank you Grant. I will wait. I am full of paranoia right now along with Microsoft apparently LOL - I have been having random homeless people trying to break into my house while I'm at work - so a little on edge and stressed out.

I will post when I can. Thanks again

 

[Grantxw8]

Hi Folks (and especially you Whillow ),

It has taken me waaaay longer than I expected but I went back to basics and have removed any of those troublesome 'modern' functions I was using and replaced them with decades old functions that should play nicely on even the oldest versions of Excel.

I've tested this version on both Windows (v10) and MacOs (Ventura, also known as v13.5). I've run it on an old Excel version on Windows and on an up-to-date Office 365 version. I've done the same on my Mac. They all operated as expected. If there are any issues running this version then it would probably be a local issue with your set-up.

I apologise that I didn't test the original version this way. My excuse is that I believed that all current versions of Excel could use the functions I relied on. This wasn't true so... I'm sorry for any stress I caused anyone.

I've made changes to how the tool works. I've simplified things for the users. There is now only one version. Everyone has the choice to do water discounting if they want. Macros are absolutely necessary in this version. If you're not comfortable enabling macros then this tool isn't for you. As I've explained before, this is a tool I built for myself and I'm sharing what I use for free. Hopefully, it will be useful for some soapers who can't justify spending money on other software. I'm guessing that's hobbyists rather than commercial soapers. When you first open the file you may, depending on exactly which version of Excel you have (and your security settings) see a variety of security warnings about the dangers of opening files from unknown/trusted sources. These are very real and should be heeded. There's bad people out there. However, if you like to live on the wild side (and what soaper doesn't ) you can ignore these, trust me, and use this tool to have some soaping fun.

Features include:
Design Sheet - use this sheet to see the expected characteristics of a soap for the oils used
Recipe Sheet - Choose different mould sizes and have recipes automagically resize to suit
Set-up Sheets - Use these sheets to input your mould dimensions; fragrance types/suppliers/prices; Oil types/suppliers/prices; Colourants types/suppliers/prices, Standard Recipe Sheet for recording your go-to recipe.
Print Sheet - A sheet formatted for printing your recipe with all necessary data, pricing, dates etc.
Batch Sheet - There's a button that will move the information from the Recipe Sheet to a Batch Sheet to record some basic batch-cost information.
Lots of other stuff too.

Anyway, sorry this has taken me so long. Thanks for your patience. Have fun.

Cheers, Grant

(PS. I'm always happy to receive feedback on this. If you like it, hate it, find an issue etc. please feel free to let me know. sending this out into the world is, I imagine, a bit like sending your child off to college. It's nice to hear how its doing occasionally ).

 

[Grantxw8]

No I have not. I will do that when I get home.

Did it work for you in Google Sheets? If not, I've completely reworked it to make it as backwards compatible as I can. LINK

 

[Grantxw8]

Thank you Grant. I will wait. I am full of paranoia right now along with Microsoft apparently LOL - I have been having random homeless people trying to break into my house while I'm at work - so a little on edge and stressed out.

I will post when I can. Thanks again

So sorry to hear about your troubles. I can't imagine how that must make you feel. I have a lot of sympathy for those without homes but there's no excuse for breaking into the homes of others.

 

[Whillow]

Hi Folks (and especially you Whillow ),

It has taken me waaaay longer than I expected but I went back to basics and have removed any of those troublesome 'modern' functions I was using and replaced them with decades old functions that should play nicely on even the oldest versions of Excel.

I've tested this version on both Windows (v10) and MacOs (Ventura, also known as v13.5). I've run it on an old Excel version on Windows and on an up-to-date Office 365 version. I've done the same on my Mac. They all operated as expected. If there are any issues running this version then it would probably be a local issue with your set-up.

I apologise that I didn't test the original version this way. My excuse is that I believed that all current versions of Excel could use the functions I relied on. This wasn't true so... I'm sorry for any stress I caused anyone.

I've made changes to how the tool works. I've simplified things for the users. There is now only one version. Everyone has the choice to do water discounting if they want. Macros are absolutely necessary in this version. If you're not comfortable enabling macros then this tool isn't for you. As I've explained before, this is a tool I built for myself and I'm sharing what I use for free. Hopefully, it will be useful for some soapers who can't justify spending money on other software. I'm guessing that's hobbyists rather than commercial soapers. When you first open the file you may, depending on exactly which version of Excel you have (and your security settings) see a variety of security warnings about the dangers of opening files from unknown/trusted sources. These are very real and should be heeded. There's bad people out there. However, if you like to live on the wild side (and what soaper doesn't ) you can ignore these, trust me, and use this tool to have some soaping fun.

Features include:
Design Sheet - use this sheet to see the expected characteristics of a soap for the oils used
Recipe Sheet - Choose different mould sizes and have recipes automagically resize to suit
Set-up Sheets - Use these sheets to input your mould dimensions; fragrance types/suppliers/prices; Oil types/suppliers/prices; Colourants types/suppliers/prices, Standard Recipe Sheet for recording your go-to recipe.
Print Sheet - A sheet formatted for printing your recipe with all necessary data, pricing, dates etc.
Batch Sheet - There's a button that will move the information from the Recipe Sheet to a Batch Sheet to record some basic batch-cost information.
Lots of other stuff too.

Anyway, sorry this has taken me so long. Thanks for your patience. Have fun.

Cheers, Grant

(PS. I'm always happy to receive feedback on this. If you like it, hate it, find an issue etc. please feel free to let me know. sending this out into the world is, I imagine, a bit like sending your child off to college. It's nice to hear how its doing occasionally ).

Grant,
Thank you very much. I look forward to delving in. I will provide feedback as I am able. It is still very kind of you to provide it to use free of charge. I will look at it tomorrow after work and will pick your brain if I get stuck.

Whillow.

 

[Whillow]

So sorry to hear about your troubles. I can't imagine how that must make you feel. I have a lot of sympathy for those without homes but there's no excuse for breaking into the homes of others.

Thanks. It will be an ongoing issue until the city figures out a solution. It is the drug addicts that scare me the most. I keep everything locked up tight anymore since last year when I was home recovering from surgery and an unknown drug addict woman with no shoes entered my home, took off her pants and started singing to my parrot.

Keeps life interesting I guess. Lol.