Forum Discussion
Auto on/off blink cells
Hi! I have been banging my head on my desk for several days now trying to make any of 3 cells blink in a worksheet when a specific criteria has been me.
Brief synopsis:
One worksheet (WS1) automatically feeds data to another (WS2) in cells A23, A31, and A39 of WS2. When a specific text appears in any one of 3 cell in WS2, I would like the cell to blink. The criteria is "PARTS". When it appears in any one of those 3 cells, I would like it to blink red and white. If it does not equal "PARTS", I would like the cells to remain white. I would like this to run automatically when WS2 is opened, based on the current condition being met or not. Please see below for code being used. I believe I am missing how to properly link them through nesting, as I can get one to blink in the current code shown, but not the other two cells. Thanks!
Option Explicit
Sub BlinkCell()
Dim CellToBlink As Range
Set CellToBlink = Range("A23")
If Range("A23").Value = "PARTS" Then
Do While Range("A23").Value = "PARTS"
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 0
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
DoEvents
If Range("A23").Value <> "PARTS" Then
CellToBlink.Interior.Color = vbWhite
End If
Loop
If Range("A31").Value = "PARTS" Then
Set CellToBlink = Range("A31")
Do While Range("A31").Value = "PARTS"
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 0
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
DoEvents
If Range("A31").Value <> "PARTS" Then
CellToBlink.Interior.Color = vbWhite
End If
Loop
If Range("A39").Value = "PARTS" Then
Set CellToBlink = Range("A39")
Do While Range("A39").Value = "PARTS"
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 0
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
CellToBlink.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
Application.Wait (Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))
DoEvents
If Range("A39").Value <> "PARTS" Then
CellToBlink.Interior.Color = vbWhite
End If
Loop
End If
End If
End If
End Sub
I think making a cell blink is not a good idea:
- It becomes annoying very quickly.
- It can be dangerous to users who are susceptible to seizures.
Moreover, using Application.Wait makes Excel completely unresponsive.
It's better to draw attention to a cell by using a striking combination of text color, fill color and perhaps cell borders.
Thank you for your concern, but I truly do need this to work as needed to make this form as simple for 1 or 2 other users as possible.
reconfigure your macro to do the "loop" only once setting all of the corresponding cells you want to blink to the range you are 'blinking'. you can either use a Union operator or when defining the Range("cell1, cell2").
PS- I completely agree with Hans that this isn't a preferred method for a number of reasons. For me I agree with performance issue (but only a couple blinks shouldn't be too bad) but more so because if they don't see those couple of flashes then what? Also, this solution requires macros which means if they don't enable macros or go to excel online it doesn't work.
I agree bright RED cells with BOLD YELLOW Font or the such is better in the long run.
