Enhancement Request: TODAY() as default value in forms

Matheus Vieira

Hi team,

I find that it would be very useful to the user just to implement a way to set up the date of "today" into data fields of Smartsheet Forms and new entries in Dynamic view.

In essence it would take today's date as default value.

Upvote if you find this useful so it could be implemented

Laura McDonald

It would be helpful to have the ability for a Date field to pre-populate in a form, but still allow the user to change the date if needed. In my specific use case, 90% of the time the date would be today's date, but if the user has to submit data for a previous date because it was missed, they still need the ability to change the date, so a column formula that always fills today's date doesn't work for this scenario.

srasbornik

Users who fill out the form shouldn't have to manually select today's date, and if this feature was implemented, then we could hide the field and automatically track the date the form was opened without the user having to fill that out. Last modified date changes too much to be reliable.

Andrée Starå

Hi @srasbornik

I hope you're well and safe!

You can add the System Column, Created Date, and use that instead.

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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srasbornik

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/376573#Comment_376573

Hi Andreé! Created date seemed to not always match the date of request, because it isn't editable - it would indicate that any row that had to be manually created was the created date, when ideally it should be the date a form request was submitted. For newer requests, it would work, but it creates confusion when it's not 100% accurate to what we're expecting it to be. If the Created Date field was editable, it would then be a sufficient solution.

Andrée Starå

@srasbornik

You could add a so-called helper column and reference the created date, so if needed, you could edit it or use a workflow combined with the Record a Date Action to record the date directly after it's been submitted.

Would that work/help?

srasbornik

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/376585#Comment_376585

This is a working solution! I have it implemented as an automation, such that whenever a created date is recorded, upon trigger it will update the record a date feature. This will allow for us to edit the request date if required. Thank you!

Andrée Starå

@srasbornik

Excellent!

You're more than welcome!

✅Remember! 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!

gregjohnsondsm43126

This workaround is not exactly what is wanted by our company. What is needed is exactly what was requested in the original post. A form field that references a Date column, that can be autofilled with TODAY() as a default, but edited by the user if required.

Stephen_at_ODOC

Agreed. A web form that has a "date submitted"-type column should be able to default to "Today's Date" for the purposes of the submission (and not default from thence on to the current date). Based on screenshots from 5+ years ago in the help groups, the "Default Value" calendar used to have a "today" button, which was at least helpful, but the current calendar is simply a calendar, with no "today" button.

JJMarr

I would love this functionality as well, to reduce teh number of keystrokes needed by staff to fill out the forms (which can be a drag since they then have to generate a document from the data. is it not possible to adda pre-programmed TODAY() default option to that field? the default value is a specific date, not always helpful. Thanks.

MPath

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/396673#Comment_396673

yeah, came across those as well in my search for answers.

Definitly would be a gain (re-gain..) te reduce (in my case) worker time spent on filling in forms.