Well, it depends on how you intend to use the drop down list.

If you only have a "few" (less than 5 or 6) items in your list you can use a
formula like this:

Assume cell A1 contains the list.

=IF(A1="item1",value1,IF(A1="item2",value2,IF(A1=" item3",value3,"")))

If your list contains "many" items then you need to create a 2 column table
like this:

........X...........Y
1..item1.....value1
2..item2.....value2
3..item3.....value3
etc
etc

Then you would use a formula like this:

=VLOOKUP(A1,X1:Y3,2,0)

However, since you allow users to manually enter items *not on the list* you
would need to account for that in whatever formula you decide to use.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Fritz" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I'm a bit of a neophyte at this...having trouble understanding
this...can you help me?

"T. Valko" wrote:

See if this helps:

http://contextures.com/xlFunctions02.html

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Fritz" wrote in message
...
Thanks very helpful...another question, if a user selects one of the
items
in
the pull down list there is a unique number associated with that item
which I
would like to have displayed in another column...how do I accomplish
that?

"T. Valko" wrote:

What type of pull down list?

If it's from DataValidation disable the error alert message.

Select the cell with the drop down list
Goto the menu DataValidation
Select the Error Alert tab
Uncheck: Show error alert.....
OK

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Fritz" wrote in message
...
If I have built a pull down list, how do I add the ability to also
add
free
form content to the chosen cell?