Car Show Helper

Requires Excel 2013 or better

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The CarShowHelper Excel Application was created to accurately record and manage the data needed to run a car show.

Beta release 4.0.2 is essentially the same as the version 3 in appearance but is a restomod under the hood for improved user experience.

• Version 4 is faster and more stable
• Dialogs are clarified, have more control tips.
• On-line help is available. Some Dialogs contain embedded help.
• Bad user inputs either disable the "OK" button or are highlighted in pink in the Dialog.
• An editor was added for car classification tables.

Installation: CarShowHelper4.0.2_Beta.xlsm is available for download here. Special Note: Downloading Excel add-ins and macro enabled workbooks can be dangerous due to the possibility of embedded malware. Newer versions of Excel provide significant protection. Please take appropriate precautions before enabling any downloaded Excel workbook.

CarShowHelper has two main worksheets, "Registration" and "Contacts" and a menu of tools for data entry, analysis, and record keeping. It may take some time to become familiar with its features and limitations. New users can run the Make Practice Data and Simulate Votes "learning" tools to explore and get comfortable with CarShowHelper without worry. Advanced users can access "Hidden" worksheets to create and edit custom car classification schedules, judging sheets, and a list of car makes and models. Below is a brief summary of CarShowHelper's Menus.

Car Show Tools Menu

1. New Show - Prepare registration sheet for new show. Options for the old show; archive, export to contacts, clear.
2. Settings - Select Classification Type, Car Numbering, Judging Sheet, Tally method, Trophy Names
3. Registration- Displays registration form, assigns car numbers, classifies, searches contacts for auto-fill.
4. Judging - Displays user-defined judging sheet for manual data entry with error checking.
5. Awards - Optional, Assigns user-defined special awards e.g. "Best of Show" to selected cars. Removes special awards cars from regular tally.
6. Tally - Sorts and filters the Registration sheet to display show winners. Exports/prints show winner report minus personal info.

Class Tools Menu

1. Rename Award - Renames a user defined special award. Updates registration sheet.
2. Edit Class Table - A dialog for editing a car classification table. A car classification table must have the name extension ".ClassTab" to be selectable in the Settings Class Table menu.
3. Delete Class Table - Removes an unwanted classification schedule and deletes it from the Settings menu.
4. Show Class Count - Shows the number of cars currently registered in each class.
5. Combine Classes - Combines two car classes in the active classification schedule into one with a new main and sub-class, start and end year, and description. Updates registration sheet.
6. Split Class - Splits one car class in the active classification schedule into two with a new main and sub-classes, start and end years, and descriptions. Updates registration sheet.

Data Tools Menu

1. Update Registration Info - Completes/updates blank/old fields in registration and contacts sheets if Year, Make, Model, FirstName, and LastName are the same in both.
2. Update Contact Info - Automatically updates older address, e-mail, and phone data for each contact with the most recent non-blank values in the table.
3. Beautify Table - Apply standard formatting to a registration or contacts sheet.
4. Edit Show Table - Edit registration or contacts sheet entries.
5. Mark Bad E-mail Addresses - Checks registration or contacts sheet for incorrectly formed email addresses. It does not validate addresses.
6. Mark Possible Table Duplicates - Color scores registration or contacts sheet for possible duplicates.
7. Make Practice Data - Appends simulated registrants to the registration sheet. Zip codes are authentic. The Club field is set to PRACTICE
8. Make Car Numbers - Appends sequential car numbers to the "Car No" field beginning with Setting/First Car No. or the highest registered car number.
9. Simulate Votes - Simulates judging scores using typical judging statistics. Use to score practice data to learn how to use CarShowHelper.
10. Plot Travel Distances - Uses contacts sheet Zip codes to compute the "as the crow flies" distance to any Zip code. Evaluate how far prior registrants are from a proposed show location.
11. Print Dash Cards - Prints simplified dash cards.
12. Print Registration Slips - Prints traditional registration slips to provide some compatibility with paper show systems.
13. Append Tables - A general purpose import tool for copying external spreadsheet table,for example, reports generated by on-line registration, into a CarShowHelper table. .
14. Simple Mail Merge - Creates a filtered email and/or USPS mailing list suitable for Microsoft Office Mail merge.
15. Hide Data Sheets - Shows only the Registration and Contacts sheets.
16. Show Data Sheets - Normally only Registration and Contacts sheets are visible. UnHides hidden Classes, Archive, Judging, Makes&Models, Zip Data, Misc Data, and Settings worksheets.
17. Reset Sheet Colors - Restores default sheet colors.