Automated Email with all assigned tasks
I have a client where we are using SmartSheet to track tasks. Each person with assigned tasks should receive a scheduled reminder to complete the tasks. Most of the users don't log into SmartSheet and don't have tasks most of the time, so asking them to log in and see their assigned tasks is problematic.
I'm currently using the automation to request updates and it almost works. The problem is that it doesn't show all of the assigned tasks at the bottom of the email so people are missing their tasks. They can see them if they click through the form but that's not a user-friendly way to remind them of their tasks.
What I would like to do is a combination of the request for updates automation and the ability to send multiple rows from a report. Essentially, replace the task listing at the bottom of the request for update with a row report of their tasks that meet the criteria in the automation.
It seems like it might be possible with Notifications but for the life of me I can't future out exactly how that would work.
Any solutions out there?
Best Answer
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Hi @sgmaker
I believe the Condition Block dropdown looking at a Contact Column will list all possible contacts; this means it checks the contacts in individual cells, the contacts listed within the Column Properties, and the contacts who are collaborators shared to the sheet.
You noted:
Used the Run Now option and had it sent the notifications to me (my Administrator account). That worked perfectly so we are getting closer. Using Run Now without the send notifications to me resulted in no email to my other account.
Since the workflow says it runs, and the one that you trigger sending to yourself includes the correct rows (meaning it filters with the Condition Block correctly), this actually sounds like it may have to do with potential spam blockers set up for your second email address.
- Does the alert show up in-app in that second account? (So in the bell icon)?
- If so, I would suggest going through the steps in this Help Article: Issue: Email Not Received from Smartsheet
Let me know what you find out!
Cheers,
Genevieve
Answers
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Hi @sgmaker
Are you needing these people to take action on the rows (e.g. with the Update Request) or to just see the rows assigned?
If they only need to view their assigned rows, then I would suggest using an Alert workflow on a specific cadence (e.g. "Weekly"). This will then show them the fields you select in an email for all of the rows that they are assigned to.
So if this is my sheet:
I would set up an automation with the trigger set as when a date is reached:
And ensure the Alert is going to contacts in a cell where you select what columns/fields you want to have shown in the email:
Then the email received will have a list of all the assigned rows:
If you need them to make changes to those rows, however, then you'll need to use Update Request as you've been doing. I would advise them in the Message at the top to go through each of their rows, explaining that there may be multiple.
Cheers,
Genevieve
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Genevieve,
Thanks for the reply. I had already tried exactly what you described but never received the email so assumed I was misreading the documentation. Thanks for confirming I was on the right track and it should work!
To troubleshoot I changed the trigger to 'When rows are changed or added' keeping the rest of the conditions the same. The automation ran and I received the email. It only included the rows that had changed, not all of the rows that met the condition, which is what I believe is the expected behavior for that trigger.
I then changed the Trigger so it runs every day at a specific time, nothing changed in the Conditions or the action. This returned the automation to the original design. (Using a filter on the same conditions results in 45 rows). A screenshot of the automation is below. From what I can can tell this is essentially identical to your example with the exception of the conditions but since it ran with these exact conditions, and I've had no problem using conditions for "Request Update" actions, that shouldn't be the problem.
The automation says it ran but I didn't receive an email, which is exactly the original problem. Since my automation is the same as the example, but the actions are different, I'm really confused.
It's acting like the 'Alert someone' only sends rows that have changed, but that's not the behavior I'm looking for.
One additional piece of information that might be relevant. The list of people to select in "Assigned To" in the automation doesn't exactly match the list when using the filter. In fact, one name (the one I'm testing with) appears twice in the Automation list but only once in the Filter list. If I check one of them in the Automation list the software checks both. Since the automation list doesn't show the email address, just the name, I'm concerned that the Automation pull down is selecting the wrong contact and is filtering on the wrong email when the automation runs, resulting in the Criteria not being met.
Appreciate the assistance!
Matt
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Hi @sgmaker
Your hypothesis that the Criteria block may be filtering by the wrong rows is what I would check as well!
- Can you try using the "Run Now" option, sending the email to yourself, to see if it's finding that criteria?
- Can you post a screen capture of the sheet, showing the Assigned To column and values (blocking out the name, but showing that it's set up as a Contact with the circle next to the name)?
I'm wondering if you have text values in the cell but contact list values as options in the column, so the Assigned To is seeing the email address but the filter / Condition block only sees the text value, meaning an email can't be sent to that address.
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One additional clarification to set context. I have two accounts in Smartsheet as I play two different roles, one as administrator and one as a person who has assigned tasks. The email addresses are different, but the name is the same. In this use case, I want the email to go to the account where I am assigned tasks.
Used the Run Now option and had it sent the notifications to me (my Administrator account). That worked perfectly so we are getting closer. Using Run Now without the send notifications to me resulted in no email to my other account.
In the middle of all of this the regular request for update ran on exactly the same sheet and I received the update request at my assigned tasks account, so I don't think the problem is with the sheet (screenshot is below).
My speculation matches yours, that it's the filter criteria. That its somehow grabbing my administrator account and using that even though that has no assigned tasks in the specific sheet and doesn't appear in the filter on the sheet itself. To test this I changed the name on the Administrator account. That immediately changed the name on the Filter list for the automation, and I was able to check one without the other being automatically checked. When I ran it I still didn't get any email on my task account even through it has assigned tasks.
It seems strange that the pull down list for the Assigned To column in the Automation doesn't exactly match the pull down list for the Assigned To column in the filter in the Smartsheet itself. What is the data source for the list in the Automation? That might shed some light on the situation.
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Hi @sgmaker
I believe the Condition Block dropdown looking at a Contact Column will list all possible contacts; this means it checks the contacts in individual cells, the contacts listed within the Column Properties, and the contacts who are collaborators shared to the sheet.
You noted:
Used the Run Now option and had it sent the notifications to me (my Administrator account). That worked perfectly so we are getting closer. Using Run Now without the send notifications to me resulted in no email to my other account.
Since the workflow says it runs, and the one that you trigger sending to yourself includes the correct rows (meaning it filters with the Condition Block correctly), this actually sounds like it may have to do with potential spam blockers set up for your second email address.
- Does the alert show up in-app in that second account? (So in the bell icon)?
- If so, I would suggest going through the steps in this Help Article: Issue: Email Not Received from Smartsheet
Let me know what you find out!
Cheers,
Genevieve
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You learn something every day, I didn't know about the in-app alerts. Yes, it's all there so it must be the spam blocker. Thank you for your assistance!
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No problem! I'm glad we could get to the bottom of it 🙂
Checking the in-app alerts is a great way to see if the workflow was successful but the email is being blocked, as we found here. It's one of my first checks when my own emails don't come in as expected.
I hope you have a good week!
Genevieve
