Audit Trail - Last Modified By Value + Copy A Row Flow

JJWW

Hi all,

I’m building an audit trail to capture any changes made to my main sheet.

In my main sheet, I have a column for last modified date (type = modified date) and a column for last modified by ( type = modified by). I have a flow that is set to copy a row to the sheet “change log” when any field in that row is changed.

Problem: in sheet “change log”, the “last modified by” column is always recorded as “automation@smarsheet.com”. I guess because this row is created by the automation flow in this sheet.

Question: Is there a way I can copy the “last modified by” column info from the main sheet instead?

yes I’m aware I can always go to main sheet to check cell history and see who changed it. But I’m trying to eliminate the manual work.

thank you all in advance

MichaelTCA

Hello,

Unfortunately, there's no way to view the activity from other sheets after a row has been moved. Regarding what it says due to the automation, if you're the sheet owner or account owner, automations will have that name, otherwise it will say Smartsheet automation. If the change was from a referenced cell, the activity log will say Cell Link instead.

The cell history from the main sheet ends when the row is copied or moved.

Copied: New row ID is created in the target sheet. No longer linked to previous row.

Moved: Activity is per sheet and not per row. New activity will start when moved.

If you don't have a current way to log who or what makes the change in a column, then it will be a struggle. The activity log won't help anymore than a viewable reference.

When submissions are made, like a service log, I make it a requirement to enter the submitters contact info. Through the process, multiple people get assigned to a portion of the procedure which allows me to pin point who did what when the activity log doesn't provide all the answers.

Manually applying who made the change before the row is copied or moved could solve this issue, but it really depends on what is triggering the change or where it is coming from.