auto-fill preset content (not sure if the labels are right)

[Shimbabwe]

I'm looking to use Excel spreadsheets as templates for reports. Unfortunately one thing has eluded me. Lets say I have a cell named 'Hoover building, third floor, East wing' I select it, fill in the information associated with that part of that floor in that building, and as soon as I start editing the cell a new one that says the same thing is automatically inserted below making it so that no matter how many different notes I need for the  'Hoover building, third floor, East wing' I always have the template notes ready because they just pop into existence.

[#2]

@Shimbabwe 

What's eluding me in a clear understanding of what you are wanting the template to do.

Do you want it to work such that when ever you start editing ,

"...a new one that says the same thing is automatically inserted below making it so that no matter how many different notes I need for the  'Hoover building, third floor, East wing' I always have the template notes ready because they just pop into existence."?

Or is that what you don't want?

I find it entirely possible to read what you've written either way.

Another question, though: are you using Excel because it has cells, specifically cells organized in rows and columns? OR, are you using or expecting to use, Excel's capabilities to calculate, store data, retrieve data from tables, etc? If it's just the former, you might find creating a Word template just as effective. Maybe even more so, as you have a bit more flexibility with layouts.

[#3]

@mathetes You were correct with the first understanding. Let me try to diagram it here.

Hoover building, third floor, East wing, (text added to the template)

'poof' a new row is added below with the same starting text as soon as I began typing. Forgot to mention that I'm hoping to coot the entire row as soon as a cell in that row is edited.

Hoover building, third floor, East wing,

I'm actually coming to Excel from Word. I get what you mean but there are just certain things that are not working for me with Word. I'm pretty sure that the columns and rows of cells in Excel will work well for me to organize the information.

[#4]

@Shimbabwe 

Sorry. It's still not clear what you want. Your "diagram" didn't communicate clearly. Can  you attach a copy of your workbook to a message? If you open the full text edit capability, you should see a place to drag and drop files.

[#5]

Cell A1 is the header, cell B2 is the subject of this discussion.

The aim is for as soon I start typing 'SOMETHING WRONG' in cell B2 after the template text cell B3 immediately creates a new row populated by the same template text.

And once again with cell B4 when I start typing 'SOMETHING ELSE WRONG' in B3.

Naturally its required that an entire row is created to avoid overlapping with the next header.

@mathetes 

[#6]

@Shimbabwe 

OK. See the attached file for a slight variation on your layout, one that uses Excel's data validation tool to create consistent sub-headings in column B, with your details in column C. It will end up looking like this:

 What I've done is create a "data validation" list on sheet 2, and in that list you'd put all the locations. For example:

What this does is give you a drop down selection for column B, which gives you a choice if you need to start designating work in a new area, looking like this

I've formatted column B that so it's in a slightly larger font and bold, so it stands out as a sub-heading.

But you only need to enter it once for a building if there are multiple floors or buildings to be reported on, because in column C, far as many rows as you need, you describe the various tasks

[#7]

Thanks for your help however I managed to find a somewhat limited but functionally sufficient solution. Select ten rows below each header row, click 'Insert', go to the Data tab, from the Outline section, click 'Group' with the newly inserted rows. I only get eleven rows for each section but honestly my boss'd probably be of the opinion that thats still too many. Underreporting is not something I'm likely to be accused of. Thanks again.