I'm not sure why my automation is not working?

slsny support

The automation is supposed to have an alert going to a contact when a row is changed. It is based off of an equation that turns a cell "Red" when a date over two weeks has passed. This equation works but the automation is supposed to send out an alert when this change occurs. When testing with "Run Now", the message goes through to the contact but when the actual change to trigger the automation happens, there is no message. I've attached screenshots of how the automation is set up. Could someone assist?

Screenshot 2023-10-02 at 11.51.24 AM.png

Screenshot 2023-10-02 at 11.51.31 AM.png

Paul Newcome

What is the formula you are using to populate the "Red"?

slsny support

Hi Paul, the formula that I'm using is:

=IF(TODAY() - [Date Checked]@row >= 31, "Red", "Green")

Paul Newcome

And how exactly is [Date Checked] being populated?

slsny support

Screenshot 2023-10-02 at 3.02.10 PM.png

"Date checked" has the column type set as date, so that manually gets chosen from the calendar that pops up. Then, the "Need to be checked?" column is the one that changes the status from green to red once it has been two weeks after the date in "Date Checked". This works fine but maybe somehow the change is just not picked up by the automation for some reason? I've attached a screenshot of the set up.

Paul Newcome

Ok. So my next thought would be the TODAY function isn't updating until you open the sheet (expected behavior).

Do you have any of the various methods in place to for a TODAY update without having to open the sheet?

Have you checked spam folders and had your IT department check firewalls, whitelisting, etc.?

slsny support

Hi, sorry for the delay.

What are the various methods in place to for a TODAY update without having to open the sheet?

The test emails are going through just fine when performing a "Run Now" in the automations so they are not currently getting blocked. And when the sheet is opened and the TODAY function runs, the automation is not getting triggered and sending an email either. Could it be that there is something missing within my automation?

Paul Newcome

There are a number of options for triggering the TODAY function without opening the sheet. One is a Record A Date automation. Another would be a set of Lock/Unlock rows automations. Form entries and update requests will also force update the TODAY function without having to open the sheet.

Andrée Starå

Hi @slsny support

I hope you're well and safe!

Please have a look at my post below with a method I developed to update the sheet(s) daily.

More info: 

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/74527/daily-update-solution-without-the-need-to-open-the-sheet-use-zapier-or-similar

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅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!

LydiaM

My automations are no longer working for any of my sheets. They were working fine a couple of weeks ago. Last week I noticed they had randomly stopped working and have no idea why.

Any information? Otherwise I'm creating a support ticket.

KimTDSYN

I'm having similar issues but am not using formulas.

I have 3 automations to send emails when certain cells have certain values (dropdown cells). One sends the email and the other 2 do not. All 3 are to trigger when row changes. The one that works has no other conditions. The other two will send if 2 other cell values match a specific value (dropdown). I can run it manually and will get the email but it's not sending the email on its own. What should I check for?

Update: I changed the 2 automations to "hourly" versus "trigger". It seems the "trigger" is not working.

Stephanie Ralston

Hello Kim, I am having the same issue and I was wondering if you ever figured out the solution. If you could please share as this is mighty frustrating. I appreciate the help.

Thank you