In this tutorial we will be covering different methods to create dropdown list in SoftMaker PlanMaker. Now this article assumes that you already have PlanMaker SpreadSheet installed and accessible as it is a licensed software.
Method-1: Creating DropDown List using Data Validation
Data Validation is the most straight forward way to create dropdown list that restricts input to a cell or may be a range of cells to a specific list of values as per our requirement.
1. Select the cell where you want the dropdown list to appear in the spreadsheet.
2. Navigate to Data tab on the toolbar and click on Input Validation.
In the validation dialog box, under the Allow section, select List entries. Now there are couple of ways you can create your list items here (choose any one from the list based on your requirement):
- Either in the Source box you can enter the cell range that contains your list (
A1:A20). - Provide the list item in comma separated format for example:
Item1, Item2, Item3. - If you already have a range of items available in the spreadsheet then you can click on the spreadsheet icon as shown in the image and select your cell range and Hit Enter to Save.
- You can also set custom input message that appear when the cell is selected. This input message can be anything which can guide the user with the selection.
- The other option available to you is to set custom error message which appears when a user tries to enter a value which is not part of the dropdown list.
Once you click Ok, you can check your dropdown list is added in the cell you selected in first step with the list of items provided.
Method-2: Create DropDown List using Form Objects
Form Objects can be used for more interactive elements in your spreadsheet. They are particularly useful when you want to include buttons, checkboxes, or dropdown lists that have functionality beyond simple data entry.
Now assuming you already have some data which you want to convert into a list item or rather use it as a dropdown list. Here I have created some dummy entries:
1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. Choose Objects, then Form object, and select Dropdown.
This action will insert a dropdown in the selected cell.
Right-click on the newly created dropdown form object and select Form object: Properties.
In the Data tab of the properties dialogue, specify the cell range that contains the data for the list
For example here I have selected the cells which contains the item I want to add into the dropdown list:
Optionally, you can specify the target cell where the selected item's value will be displayed.
For example here I have selected a different cell for the result to be displayed in list format:
Use the Properties dialogue to adjust the appearance, including size, borders, and fonts.
Click Ok to save the changes, Once saved you can verify your changes, as you can see for me the drop down list contains all the items of the provided cell and the result cell contains only the selected item entry:
Now following this tutorial you should have been able to successfully create a dropdown list in SoftMaker PlanMaker SpreadSheet. If you have any questions or concerns you can ask in the comment section.
