EPIC BPAL Spreadsheet Thread

[hackess]

ok I downloaded it but now what do I do? I've never made a spreadsheet before.Thanks for making it I'm having to cut back on my bpal testing now though since I'm so broke but I can still use this.

 

Use Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice (my personal fav) to open it, and then...whatever you'd like. Highlight scents you'd like to try, make notes on scents you've already tried. Many of us who use it have an at some times complex color scheme we use for marking scents we want to try.

[IncorrigibleGirl]

Is there a place that the old limited edition and retired scent descriptions are listed? Has anyone made a database of these? (Or am I the only one this obsessed?)

Thank you!

[faylie]

I know Andra has a very comprehensive spreadsheet which has I believe every BPAL ever made on it. You could PM her and ask if she could email it to you. She has done this in the past, I don't see why she would mind doing it now.

Edited February 15, 2009 by faylie

[Twitch]

While I've ordered only a small amount of scents thus far, I simply have a list of them in a plain text file. If I want to know if I've gotten something before, just hit CTRL + F and type in the name and there you go. Perhaps not as elegant as the Excel solution, but it seems like it will satisfy my needs.

[hackess]

Is there a place that the old limited edition and retired scent descriptions are listed? Has anyone made a database of these? (Or am I the only one this obsessed?)

Thank you!

 

All of those are in the spreadsheet I link in my sig.

[Mathenia]

All of those are in the spreadsheet I link in my sig.

 

Thank you so much for the spreadsheet! It's just what I needed and I've been putting off making one for myself. It opens very nicely in NeoOffice for those with Macs, too.

[hackess]

Sorry for the delay! Updated to include 13, Windy Moon, Dark Delicacies/Great Duets in Horror, the prototypes, etc.

[Poenari]

hackess,

I just have to say thank you thank you thank you, for taking the time to keep this spreadsheet updated! I know it's a lot of work, and probably a labor of love, but I appreciate it sooooo much!

[IncorrigibleGirl]

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

hackess,

I just have to say thank you thank you thank you, for taking the time to keep this spreadsheet updated! I know it's a lot of work, and probably a labor of love, but I appreciate it sooooo much!

 

[mparker]

Another thank you to hackness from me.

 

I just love the spreadsheet! It's everything I could want to keep track of my collection/wishlist/pending orders. Having just got my 13 bottle, I had to come in and snag the latest update. So, !

[masquedbunny]

ah! thank you, hackess! this is exactly what I need! I'm still really new to BPAL, but I already feel like what I have is getting away from me...

this is incredibly comprehensive. thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

~ri

[tielan]

Belated, but thanks for the update!

Is there a place that the old limited edition and retired scent descriptions are listed? Has anyone made a database of these? (Or am I the only one this obsessed?)

Thank you!

 

All of those are in the spreadsheet I link in my sig.

 

[binkin]

Making spreadsheets of my BPAL is at least 30% of the fun. I keep mine in OpenOffice, color coded and sorted by scent, collection, rating, notes, blah blah blah. I have decided that now with >100 scents in it, I need to build a relational database instead, so have been working on that. There is nothing I love quite so much as making lists, except possibly making lists while SMELLING GOOD.

 

I will have to check out Hackess' sheet when I'm not on Ye Ancient Laptop, because I also adore looking at other people's lists.

[izile]

I'm just mildly curious how others use their excel files.

 

I download Hackess's brilliant piece of work as a base, then add a column on the far left where I can put "X" for keeping an imp "5ml" (obvious) "'--'" for had but swapped off, and "y" for giving to males. And recently just added "MNS" for those sniffed at Meet and Sniffs.

 

Then I go back through with color coding. I see a lot of people mention color coding, but curious to know how they color code.

 

Ones I've tried that I SERIOUSLY never want to smell again, highlighted in red. 5mls are dark blue-green, loved imps are neon green, and then everything in between loved and hated is somewhere on the color spectrum between red and green, with yellow being "meh" or "undecided"

 

anybody else?

[Inventrix]

My spreadsheet is still a WIP, honestly. At the moment, I have three sheets. The first has each of the scents that I've actually tried so far. The first column I put an x in if I own a 5ml of it, the second and third are the name and the notes, and the next few are my review of the main stages of the scent (first sniff, on application, after a few minutes, after a while, after a few hours). Then I have the color associations, my general impression of it, and any specific comments about the scent.

 

The next page is more listy and less informative. I have a list of names of scents I've tried but didn't like, a list of scents I've seen recommended around the forums but haven't looked at the notes/reviews yet, a list of scents that I want to eventually try (with the notes descriptions), a list of which scents I intend to get to try in my next order (with notes descriptions), and then any pending order(s).

 

The third page has any specific notes that I've found are either uncomfortably amped or turned bad on my skin, any notes that tend to disappear on my skin, anything I might be allergic to, and a lovely column which checks the notes in my 'to try' list for anything that might not work for me and which note(s) it is that could cause the problem.

 

They sound so much more complicated/difficult to read when I describe them this way than they actually are!

 

I'm not big on color coding, because colors aren't searchable/sortable.

[sqwook]

Izile, good question.

I use Hackess' spreadsheet, and I don't rely on color coding (like Inventrix, because it's not searchable/sortable). Though I did assign a color to each category name, just so that it wasn't such a huge monolithic spreadsheet. I hide the LEs/Disc for the same reason - because I'm sticking to GC for the most part.

 

I have a Status column that indicates when something is Wishlist or, if I have it, where it came from (date of purchase & from who if on the forum). I keep the wishlist scents sorted up at the top of the file so they're always easy to reference.

 

I have a sort of "Then what" column that is what I'm doing with it - Keep the bottle, keep the imp, swap, meh/undecided. Also, if I did swap it, who it went to. My list is almost always sorted by this column, so I can quickly see what I have, what I have to give away that someone else might like, etc.

 

[hackess]

Now including March's 13, Flower Moon, CT5, Bards, Ides, April Fools!

[ephemera]

Now including March's 13, Flower Moon, CT5, Bards, Ides, April Fools!

 

 

[cuervosueno]

Yay Hackess! I just downloaded your spreadsheet--it's wonderful! Thanks so much!

 

Now, of course, I'll spend hours noting which blends I've tried....

Edited April 5, 2009 by cuervosueno

[Coldfire]

Now including March's 13, Flower Moon, CT5, Bards, Ides, April Fools!

 

 

 

SMooches and hugs to YOU Hackess!

 

I love your spreadsheet!

[thekittenkat]

Mods, forgive me in advance if I've missed something, but I've looked and searched through this and other forums, and can't find what I'm looking for.

 

About a couple of years ago, give or take a few months, I had a BPAL spreadsheet. I don't know where I found it (I wasn't on the forum then, unless I did register, but never posted, and I wouldn't remember the user name anyhow, as all that might be found on a computer that I don't use any more), or who made it, but it looked very useful.

 

Now that I have seriously gotten into BPAL oils, I really need a spreadsheet, and one that is either kept updated, or that would be easy enough to keep updated. I don't want to re-invent the wheel, of course, so if a spreadsheet is out there, would some kind forumite please point it out to me? Many thanks in advance!

[Coldfire]

Mods, forgive me in advance if I've missed something, but I've looked and searched through this and other forums, and can't find what I'm looking for.

 

About a couple of years ago, give or take a few months, I had a BPAL spreadsheet. I don't know where I found it (I wasn't on the forum then, unless I did register, but never posted, and I wouldn't remember the user name anyhow, as all that might be found on a computer that I don't use any more), or who made it, but it looked very useful.

 

Now that I have seriously gotten into BPAL oils, I really need a spreadsheet, and one that is either kept updated, or that would be easy enough to keep updated. I don't want to re-invent the wheel, of course, so if a spreadsheet is out there, would some kind forumite please point it out to me? Many thanks in advance!

 

 

Please search on the Member list for hackess. http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showuser=6364

 

She has a spreadsheet link in her signature!

 

hackess has the BEST spreadsheet around!

 

There is also a thread related to how we track our oils we have tried ----> here: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=10049

 

 

Good Luck!

 

[thekittenkat]

Please search on the Member list for hackess. http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showuser=6364

 

She has a spreadsheet link in her signature!

 

hackess has the BEST spreadsheet around!

 

There is also a thread related to how we track our oils we have tried ----> here: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=10049

 

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Coldie, thanks for all your help! Going to check both of these out.

[Hestia]

Newb question....

 

I downloaded Hackess' awesome database. yay!~ I am adding in the notes sections the scents I have on order, etc. I am not very good at excel yet, and I am sure there are things I can learn to better utilize this etc!

 

What I don't get is, say I want to update when Hackess does. how do I download her updates without losing my notes? Impossible? Do I have to just add stuff myself? I have on order decants of velvets and le mat and a bottle of planting moon, should I just add this stuff myself? 'cause I don't wanna. ;-)

 

There was something else, I feel, but my kids have distracted me....

;-)

[ephemera]

I usually save her new spreadsheet under a different name, copy the new data and paste it into my own spreadsheet. That way I keep all of my notes but get the new content as well.