applying several formulas for conditional formatting then copying them through the rest of

What's clear as mud is your screenshot. It would be much more helpful (and easier for you) to simply attach your Excel file.

What do you want to do if C2 (please use standard Excel notation) and D2 both have dates?

Also I'm assuming that cell either has a date or is blank. You don't seem to need to tell the difference between a date vs. some other type of number.

You don't need 10 formulas, you need six formulas. You will use "use a formula to determine which cells to format" and use these formulas:

For the first color, use this formula repeated for A2, B2, and C2: =C2<>""

For the second color, use this formula repeated for A2, B2, and C2: =D2<>""

Because you are using different rows and different columns, you are correct that you want to avoid absolute addressing.

Then you can use the Format Painter to apply that same set of formatting to any group of three cells having the same pattern.

(By the way, if you entering a formula without "$" then Excel should not add it for you on close or save. I cannot imagine what you are seeing happen there.)

You need one rule for each column with a colored header. I set up the formulas but I did not match the colors exactly. You need to go in and get the colors to match if they don't.

I wasn't sure what you wanted to happen if there are dates in columns F or G; those headings don't have a color fill. I omitted any rules for them, but if you look at the pattern in the formulas you will see how to add them.

In Excel, there is no such thing as a "date". There is such thing as a number that can be formatted as a date. For example, the number 41,640 can also be interpreted as 1/1/2014 if you format it as a date. So there is no way for Excel to tell that a number is intended to be a date. So I assumed in your case that any number greater than 41,640 is a date.

This is slightly above the novice level for conditional formatting so don't feel like you missed something.