What does "in the next 45 days" mean in an automated workflow condition?

Hello,

I am trying to figure out an automated workflow where the trigger is everyday at 8am and the condition is where a [Date Column] is in the next 45 days. I have many rows in the sheet that each have unique dates and emails to contact when 45 days prior to that date is reached.

My question is: does "in the next 45 days" mean that it will only send out one notification when 45 days hits? Or will it send out a notification each day at 8 am after the date is within the 45 day mark?

If it is the latter, will adding in an and condition stating "and where is not in the next 44 days" always solve this issue?

Thanks in advance,

Don

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Accepted answers

Paul Newcome

The shortest answer to your questions is Yes and Yes.

It will send every day for every date that is within the next 45 days, but adding a condition to say it is not in the next 45 days will take care of that.

I personally hate working in automations, so I tend to use helper columns with formulas. It presents a lot more options for triggering and (for me) is easier to set up.

All comments

Paul Newcome

The shortest answer to your questions is Yes and Yes.

It will send every day for every date that is within the next 45 days, but adding a condition to say it is not in the next 45 days will take care of that.

I personally hate working in automations, so I tend to use helper columns with formulas. It presents a lot more options for triggering and (for me) is easier to set up.

Don12345

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/393474#Comment_393474

This makes sense, and I will try a helper column instead.

On that note, does the change trigger work if it is a reference or formula and not a manual input? Where in essence the cell's formula does not "Change" but the cell's value changes? In example =IF(Today()=8/31/2023, "True", "False") will the trigger activate when the value changes from "False" to "True"?

*IF statement above is just a visual example*

Thanks!

Paul Newcome

Yes. I do this all the time.

=IF([Date Column]@row <= TODAY(-45), 1)

The set my trigger to when the helper column changes to flagged.

I typically use less than or equal to so that the flag remains. The trigger being when the row is flagged will only send the automation once, but keeping the row flagged allows me to use things like conditional formatting or report filters.

Thiara Perez

Hi @Paul Newcome

I came across this thread because I have spent the last 2 days trying to find a solution for an approaching due date alert and I can't figure it out. It seems so simple, yet I can't get it to work.

Basically, I have a due date column and a "assigned to" column. I want SS to scan my sheet every day and if there are any rows with due dates that are exactly 2 weeks from today (plus 2 conditions), send that person in the "assigned to" an alert, only for those rows that meet the criteria. That is all.

However, it does not matter how a set it up, I can't get it right. I either get an alert with ALL the rows that meet the conditions, even if the date is not in 2 weeks. Or, like Don's picture, that set up sends daily alerts for any rows due between now and the next 2 weeks (not what I want). I also used a helper column, I added a formula "due date - 15" so it can give me a date 15 days before. Then set the workflow for "when the date is reached" and that did not work either as I still got an alert for ALL rows, regardless of the date in the helper column being today, yesterday, or next year. What am I doing wrong?

I'd appreciate it if you could take a look at my last post in this thread and provide some input: Due Date alert — Smartsheet Community. I will try what you guys discussed here about using the conditions of "in the next 14 days" plus "not in the next 13 days".

Thank you!!

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