Indented rows formatting

Sam C

It would be nice to have some more obvious way to display indented rows with the ancestral grouping other than the slightly indented text. Maybe with a slightly colored background for the ancestor and/or parent/children rows so that it's easier to pick them out in grid view. Currently, for many of my projects, we highlight those groupings in the lightest green color to make it more obvious that these are grouped in reports, dashboards, and even to make it easier to view on the sheet itself. Maybe an icon would be nice other than the "+" to expand and collapse rows.

Paul Newcome

I usually use a hidden helper column and conditional formatting to automatically adjust colors/fonts/etc. on parent rows.

Helper column formula:

=IF(COUNT(CHILDREN([Task Name]@row))> 0, COUNT(ANCESTORS)))

This will put a number starting at zero on every parent row based on how far in it is indented. I can then use conditional formatting to make the parent rows stand out a little more based on client or personal preference.

This will also automatically adjust as you build out your sheet so you don't have to worry about missing a row if you decide to change its hierarchy level later on.

Dylan G

Great idea @Paul Newcome. I found that I had to modify the formula you shared slightly as shown below. I appreciate the tip!

=IF(COUNT(CHILDREN([Task Name]@row) > 0), COUNT(ANCESTORS([Task Name]@row)))

Paul Newcome

@Dylan G Yeah. Sorry about that. I must have gotten a little ahead of myself.