Timestamps for Specifc Columns

Robin M. Samaroo

Hello,

I have used time stamps before but I was wondering if there was a way to do the following -

• Only one person using the sheet needs to see the timestamps - is there a way I can keep it hidden until she needs to see it?
• Is there a way to generate a time stamp report for like 3 columns of the whole sheet?

Thanks,

Robin

Andrée Starå

Hi @Robin M. Samaroo

I hope you're well and safe!

Can you elaborate on the process? When should one person see it?

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!

Robin M. Samaroo

Hi @Andrée Starå!

We have a team smartsheet that everyone works on to track project progress. There is one colleague who every so often will need to see when certain 3 columns were last updated. She does not want to crowd the sheet with adding a time stamp column for each of the 3 columns she needs to track because out of everyone she is the only one who will be looking at this information.

What is the best way that I can help get this information for her - do you think it would be generating a report?

Thanks,

Robin

Paul Newcome

I would suggest capturing the time stamp and then having two separate reports. One for the person that needs to see the columns and then another for those that do not.

To capture the time stamp, you have two options. If it is actually just a date stamp, you can set up three date type columns and use a set of Record A Date automations to automatically record the date when each of those three columns are updated.

If you need to capture the actual time stamp, you will need a unique identifier on each row, a system generated Modified (date) column, a helper text/number column, and a helper sheet.

First you would set up some Change Cell Value automations to output some type of distinguishing data into the helper column based on which of the three columns was updated.

Next you would use the Copy Row automation to copy rows when the helper text column is changed to any value.

Finally you would use a MAX/COLLECT to pull in the most recent time stamp based on the unique identifier in combination with the helper text column.

=MAX(COLLECT({Copy Sheet Time Stamp Column}, {Copy Sheet Unique ID Column}, @cell = [Unique ID]@row, {Copy Sheet Text Helper Column}, @cell = "1st column indicator")) + ""