Count the number of projects in a folder

John Plecki

Our team is looking for a way to count the number of projects of three distinct types.  I have them located within three different folders.  I do not want to have to use cell linking.  A user should be able to create a new project without having to open a summary sheet and create a new cell link.  If I could use a formula in a report life would be good - can't be done.  If I could do a sheet to sheet formula - this would help - can't be done.  While creating a new sheet a cell link would automatically be created to a destination summary sheet - I don't think this can be done.  I am trying to make this as seamless as possible for our end users.  I have created many workarounds for other issues but this one has me stumped.  Our management team wants to know how many projects we have open in each category.   

Shaine Greenwood

Hi John,

The good news? We're working on cross-sheet formulas.

The bad news? The feature won't be out for a few months (late summer-early fall).

In the mean time, if you track your projects as rows in sheets, and have the three project types labeled (for example, with dropdown list columns), then you can create a report for each of your three project types. The Report Builder form will tell you how many rows it finds but that information will still need to be manually updated in a Sight or a master sheet somewhere.

If your project types aren't explicitly labeled in your sheets, you'll need to do some extra work by adjusting your Report Builder criteria to pull in the correct number of rows. It sounds like you have a good grasp of reporting, but just in case, here's our Help Center article.

John Plecki

Thanks Shaine.  Great news on the cross sheet formulas!  I am very proficient in Excel (which can be a frustrating) and I am getting proficient in SmartSheets.  I want to thank you and your team for a job well done!  Best Project Management platform I have seen.  The biggest reason is that it allows me to do some intricate things while the end user does not need a Doctorate.  I strive to make the end user experience as simple as possible otherwise I will lose buy-in.  

I think I will have to over administer some of the data by creating cell links until your team rolls out the cross sheet formulas.  I have the project types already in the sheets ( I agree with the idea pull down menu to insure consistency).  I will create a summary sheet via cell link a create my count there.  Thanks for your help.  Look forward to a great future.