first
Sharing users in Smartsheet complain that they are not notified when changes are made. I'm looking for a way to keep track of changes.
Question summary
- I want to keep a history of notifications, but emails and comments are not saved in the sheet, which is inconvenient.
- I would like to add not only a notification of changes, but also an easy-to-understand explanation.
- I want to leave a history that all users can check at any time.
Answer summary
- Record notification content in columns on a sheet and automatically insert it into emails using workflow:
- Create "Information" in the column of the sheet and write a description of the change.
- Insert the contents of "Information" into the "Placeholder" of the email in the workflow.
- Create a "notification log" by copying "information" to another sheet.
- Record only the latest notification information:
- Create a "latest information" column and include a formula to determine whether it is the latest information.
- If it is the latest information, copy it to the "Notification Log".
Summary
- By recording the notification content in the "Information" column and automating it with a workflow, you can efficiently keep a history.
- A mechanism that records only the latest information prevents duplication.
- This way, all users can see the notification history with change descriptions at any time.
Supplemental
- This solution does not support creating email content for individual users.
- This feature is not implemented as a standard feature in Smartsheet, but can be achieved by leveraging automation features.
Translation of correspondence
Question
GM Michael ✭✭✭
One of the complaints we hear from sheet sharing users is that they often don't know when something has changed. Sure, I could create this manual task outside of Smartsheet, but I'd like to capture it within the sheet.
For example, I can compose a message using "File -> Send email to shared users" as a method and easily send it to all users, but the history of these notifications doesn't seem to be persisted anywhere on the sheet .
Similarly, you could use a single row and send sheet update messages from that row to save history, but it would be difficult to tag all sheet users. Needless to say, there is no way to properly freeze that line. This allows users to check the comments on that line at any time to see what changes occurred and when.
Is there an easy way to document changes that I decide to document (instead of viewing the activity log) in order to keep a group of users informed of updates, changes, improvements, etc.?
answer
julie fortney Excellent grades
Hello@GMichal
You're not the only one who needs a history of notifications sent from Sheets. Unfortunately, this is only logged if you send a row update request.
Here are some ideas that may be helpful.
If you want your users to quickly find changes, you can use the highlight changes feature.
You can also create automations that alert users to changes.
Although not the most efficient way to view changes, you can right-click a cell to view history.
jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp ✭✭✭✭✭✭
01/18/24 Edited 01/18/24
@GMichal
I created a demo solution that documents sheet changes and notifies shared users of important changes within a sheet.
automation approach
I checked my automations and currently the following triggers are available
Add or change rows
Add or change attachments
Add or change a comment
delete row
Change share
So for trigger events 1-3, I copied the rows to a sheet of records so I could view them chronologically in the report.
In the demo dashboard, we filtered by specific users who had tasks assigned to them, with the most recent ones displayed at the top. As a result, we created a history document for the task.
(Comments are recorded by adding the latest comment column and modifying the row, but you can also change the value of the helper column by adding or modifying it like an attachment).
API approach
(This is just a survey.)
Regarding "File -> Email to Shared User", I also checked the Smartsheet API, and there doesn't seem to be a way to retrieve the history currently.
The following methods are available in the Smartsheet API:
List of events
This method can determine if someone deleted a sheet, who did it, etc. (Available in Enterprise plan).
Cell history list display
This method includes formatting and cell linking, and can be used when finding or repairing is difficult.
It takes time to develop because you need to specify and retrieve Sheet_ID, Row_ID, and Column_ID individually.
GM Michael ✭✭✭
I like your ideas here, but most of the time I'm notifying users in plain English of changes made to meet their requests. Many are Smartsheet users, not authors. This means they can't decipher his Smartsheet terminology, so he ends up having to write an email with a general description of the work done.
Unfortunately, while the results must be documented in the Smartsheet Maintenance Tracker with the ability to automatically send them to the requester, the individual sheets themselves are not captured chronologically, so there is an execution history of the description of the work performed. It will remain. It will be visible to all sheet users at any time.
julie fortney Excellent grades
@jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp I will continue to use your dashboard as a reference – great idea!
jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp ✭✭✭✭✭✭
01/19/24 Edit 01/19/24
Hello@GMichal &@Julie Fortney
Instead of writing individual emails, I came up with the following solution: Enter the contents of the email in the "Information" field Use this as one of the sheets. "Placeholder" in "Customize workflow messages". ” This automates the inclusion of “Information” content into emails. I created a report named "Information Log" by copying the contents of this "Information" to another sheet through the "Copy Rows" automation. This acts as "log documentation". Notification sheet changes.
While updating the demo solution, I noticed the following: The initial solution automation records changes in the Sheet Change Report sheet. This includes adding or changing "informational" content. Therefore, we came up with a way to prevent it from being copied to the "Sheet change report" sheet again when the "Information" content is changed.
A column named "New Information" was created and the following formula was used to determine if the information is the most recent related to that column. If it is the latest, it will be copied to "Information Record".
[New information] =IF(JOIN(COLLECT({record of information range information}, {record row ID of information range}, [row ID]@row, {record of latest information of information range}, 1)) = Info @line, 0, 1)
On the Record Information sheet, Record Range of Information is up-to-date by referencing the range of that column using the following formula: Determine whether there is. (Updating the "Information" will overwrite the old "Information").
[row number] =MATCH(created@row, created:created)
[Latest information] =IF(MAX(COLLECT([row number]:[row number], [task name]:[task name], [task name]@row)) = [row number]@row, 1, 0 )
Newly added automation rules will send a customized email to Assigned and Interested contacts, as well as to Everyone this sheet has been shared with, when the information changes. will be done. Next, check "New information" and that line will be copied to "Information record". (The previous automation solution was adjusted to not copy rows to "Record Sheet Changes" if "New Information" was checked.)
Although it is not possible to write customized content for each user in an email, by recording the email content as "information" in the field of the sheet and automatically sending it, it is possible to meet the needs of users who want to obtain information such as stakeholders. Masu. Email. This approach also allows you to document sheet changes and create a log of "notifications" of sheet changes.
https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=3067c935de8749399a904039d1e97bc9
GM Michael ✭✭✭
I love it! My first response to anyone requesting changes to Smartsheet was, "No, it's not a built-in feature, but if you sleep with me for a while, I might come up with a workable solution." Thank you for coming up with a workable solution.
jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp ✭✭✭✭✭✭
We will be happy to help! 😁