Does my licensed user have the same capabilities as he would in his own account?

TAP

I am a consultant that creates custom sheets for each of my customers. I am hoping to assign a workspace to each customer. Each customer will be given one of my licenses so that they can edit fields under specific columns.

My concerns are:

1. That they will have access to the formulas, hidden columns and automation by saving as new or as a template.
2. I don't want them to be able to create their own sheets and workspaces or use the save as new or as a template.
3. I don't want them to use my account as their personal account.

Is this possible?

Paul Newcome

If you are granting them a license, then they are able to do all of that as if they have their own account.

A user does not need a license to edit fields. They just need to be shared to the sheet with the appropriate permissions.

However... If they have their own license and are shared to one of your sheets, they will still be able to "save as new" and create their own copy, formulas and all.

If you are worried about them being able to access certain pieces of your solution, you may want to look into creating a Dynamic View for each client or look into WorkApps.

If those are not viable options, then you would need to get creative with your formulas and use reference sheets that your clients do not have access to.

TAP

Paul,

I can't thank you enough. I have been waiting for over 8 days for a response to my questions from Smartsheet. Support is definitely NOT their strong suit. Hopefully, you are not a SmartSheet employee?

One of your statements really stands out:

"A user does not need a license to edit fields. They just need to be shared to the sheet with the appropriate permissions."

My understanding is that my customer needs a license to edit fields i.e. edit cannot share. Is that not so?

Andrée Starå

Hi @TAP

I hope you're well and safe!

To add to Paul's excellent advice/answer.

In general, the collaborators don't need a license if they only need to edit fields.

Which Smartsheet plan do you have?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support the Community by marking it Insightful/Vote Up, Awesome, or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

TAP

Hi Paul,

It appears that the correct answer is "yes" if you have a Business plan? Does a edit cannot share contact have permission to save as new or as a template? Do they need their own paid account?

TAP

Paul,

If I share with a person with a free account, and they upgrade to a paid account, will they be able to save my shared sheet as a "save as new" or save as a template?

Paul Newcome

@TAP The big thing here is THEIR plan. If they have a paid account and their account has capacity to own more items (there is a limit on the "Pro" level) then they can "Save As New" anything they are shared to regardless of their permission. Even a Viewer can save as new assuming they are able to own items.

Paul Newcome

@TAP In answering another question here in the Community, I did fid out that if YOU are on a Pro plan, the other user does need a paid license to be able to edit items owned by you.

TAP

Paul,

Thank you, now I understand.

Is it realistic to use workspaces to support multiple clients, each requiring a separate contact list? Would all of the separate lists end up as one big list in My SmartSheet Contacts?

I provide and maintain Gantt charts for each of my clients. Their participation is simply to update the date and status fields. Am I trying to use SmartSheets for a purpose it is not intended or would it be best to set up separate SmartSheet accounts for each client?

Andrée Starå

@TAP

Have you explored using the Premium App, WorkApps, as an option, as Paul suggested earlier?

That sound like the perfect solution for your need.

Paul Newcome

@TAP I would have to go back to my original comment where I suggested looking into Work Apps.

Another suggestion that may work would be to insert a unique ID column on your Gantt Sheet. Then create a second sheet that has a form. In this form, include a dropdown with all of the unique IDs as well as a field for each piece the customer will need to edit (set the form to put new entries at the top of the sheet.

From there you would use formulas with cross sheet references (INDEX/COLLECT most likely) to pull in the updated data based on their form submissions.

Drop a published view of the sheet and use a web content widget to put the form (also set to refresh for new submissions) on the same dashboard.

They can then view the Gantt and "submit" their updates via form by selecting the appropriate unique ID for the row they want to update then filling in the field they want to update.

TAP

Paul,

Thank you for all your help.

I like the Work Apps suggestion, but until I have more clients, I suspect the cost of an enterprise account would be prohibited.

I am going to try your unique ID suggestion. Not having any experience with Forms, what type of account would my customers need to access the forms?

Paul Newcome

They shouldn't need anything other than access to the form to be able to fill it out (double check the form settings to ensure). If you are dropping things on a dashboard though, they will need at least a free user account so that they can log in and view the dashboard.