Speed up loading of a Report linked to multiple Sheets

Harvey E

I have a number of Workspaces representing different Projects.

I want to be able to Report on specific Sheets within each Workspace. I have several different Reports, each uses data from a different Sheet within the Workspace(s).

Whenever a new project (Workspace) is added, I amend the Report data source to include the new project (I navigate to the workspace, to a folder, to find the relevant sheet). This works fine and the report loads OK.

However, as there are a number of Reports that each have to be amended when a new project is added, this is a time-consuming and error-prone task. I realised I can tick the Workspace as a datasource, and it pulls in all the files from that Workspace into the Report. There might be 15 Sheets in the Workspace that are not relevant to the report, but Smartsheet clearly has to load the data anyway. As a result of the sheer volume of sheets in this approach, the Report is very slow to load and will only get worse.

My question - is there any way to filter a report such that it knows which sheets to open/process based on the report content? Could I put a helper column in all my sheets that a filter could look at to exclude the irrelevant sheets and speed up loading? I'm guessing not but wondered if there are any good ideas - or do I just need to ensure to add in just the required Sheets to the reports, rather than entire Workspaces?

Ipshita

Hi @Harvey E

We have a similar situation within our organization where we have more than 80 project trackers and a single report that generates selective data out of all the above sheets. Some helpful tips I can share for doing this is -

If possible, create a folder within the workspace to add all your relevant project data sheets within that folder. This would ensure you have them separated within the same workspace and yet you can just select this folder as your source in the Report which would be a one-time activity while you continue to add new project sheets to the same folder. That's what we do.

Unfortunately, there is no filter that'll work to differentiate sheets within a workspace because the filter option within a report picks up the columns from your source sheet and not workspace.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Ipshita

Andrée Starå

Hi @Harvey E

I hope you're well and safe!

• In the Report(s), you can filter by the Sheet Name, and I often do this in my client solutions.
• The Premium app, Control Center, would automate and keep the reports up to date.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Harvey E

@Andrée Starå @Ipshita thank you so much. Kind of what I thought but useful to check in.

Ipshita

@Harvey E - I am glad that's helpful :)

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Ipshita

Andrée Starå

@Harvey E

You're more than welcome!

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