Grouping without sorting by that grouping?

D_E_

I have a row report that I need grouped by one column and sorted by a different column. The grouped column is sorted as text and is showing 1, 10, 11, 12...2, 20,21...

The column that I want to sort on is sorted as a number which is correct.

Any ideas on how to break what SmartSheets has built in?

Lucas Rayala

Hi @D_E_ -- your description seems to answer itself, so you may need to provide some screen shots to clarify. Reports can group by one criteria and sort by a second criteria. Yes, things are always sorted first by the group name, and then internally by whatever other criteria you want. Are you saying you need to sort the groups differently?

Lucas Rayala

If you need to re-order the group names, you can create a helper column in the main sheet that appends a prefix to your group name to sort on. Then group on the helper column. I do this all the time, especially when I'm capturing workflows. For instance, I will create a helper column where the values will be generated by a formula:

1 Ready for Signature

2 Review Needed

3 Completed Project

The 1, 2, and 3 will be generated by a formula, and they will dictate how the groups sort in the report.

D_E_

@Lucas Rayala I forgot to add that I have to present this in a dashboard via a chart so if I group by one column that is the column that shows on the chart which adds a complexity to the situation.

This is how I want to present my information but when I group into the next year it shows the order I stated in my first question because it sees the year/week as text and not numeric. If I group by Week it will sort numeric but then I have to build a report by year to show the data. I hope that makes sense.

Lucas Rayala

@D_E_, I think you just want two reports. Building out another report should be as simple as doing a "Save As", unless there's some complexity I'm not seeing. Would that work?

D_E_

What I have moved to is filtering by year and showing a chart by year. I was hoping to figure out a way to only have one chart that progressed but I don't think that SS is going to be able to do what I want since it is only reading it as a text and I can't change that. Thanks for the suggestions @Lucas Rayala!

Lucas Rayala

Good luck!