countif help

[paul_pearson]

Hi

I have in cell C140 the formula =countif(C14:C131,"ted") and this works fine except for in some cells between C14:C131 i have the names ted/paul in the same cell and therefore it does not count Ted....Please how do i change formula to include Ted even if it has another name next to it

Thanks

Excel 2010

Paul

 

[RonB1111]

=COUNTIF(C14:C131,"*ted*")

 

[Jonmo1]

Try

=countif(C14:C131,"ted*")

 

[paul_pearson]

Thanks...the star on either side did the trick

Please how does that star work?

Paul

 

[RonB1111]

The star acts as a wildcard, so it will look for any combination of letters before or after Ted. Be aware you could get some unintended consequences if some has the letters Ted in their name - for example, if you're counting instances of Al, anyone named Allen, Alan, Alyssa, Albert, Sally, etc would also be counted.

 

[James Snyder]

The "*" is called a wildcard. Basically, it says 'anything on this side'. It can also be used in the middle: "SKEW*PART NUMBER".

 

[paul_pearson]

Thank you