I've updated the instructions for the lists with illegal characters.
Maybe this will help:

http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal02.html#Illegal

Create a lookup table with the range names that you'll use for each
dependent list. For example:

Field Sales FieldSales
Distributor/State Manager DistribMgr
Sales Manager SalesMgr

Then, your SalesMgr list would contain the list of skills for Sales
Managers.


hjneedshelp wrote:
Hello,
I've read the link: http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal05.html over and
over, and I am able make a dependent data validation happen for simple
one-word lists.

I do not have one-word lists, however, and the instructions provided for
two-word lists and illegal characters don't dumb things down enough for me to
complete my task - every time I try to follow the instructions, the second
drop-down list (the dependent data) is frozen - nothing drops down.

I have one category list named "Position" (drop-down list is, e.g.: "Field
Sales"; "Distributor/State Manager"; "Sales Manager"), and I want the second
drop-down list to include a list of skills for the "Position" that's
selected. Each skill list (appropriately named for each position) has
listings such as: "Distributor/Broker Relationship"; "Sales Skills";
"Territory, Channel, National Account Management"

I can create the 1st/category drop-down list fine. It's the second one
that's giving me problems. I've tried all the formulas suggested in the
Contextures link (where A2 is the first item in the category/"Position"
range), and I've tried multiple variations of the formulas...all to no avail.


Hope someone can help me. Thank you!


--
Debra Dalgleish
Contextures
http://www.contextures.com/tiptech.html