Automated actions are inconsistently triggered

melissa.g.mendez

When I enter a new Task into this sheet, I'd like to automate it so that all the other columns auto-fill. I'll set the automations to auto-fill default values, and then I'll simply change those cells that need adjusting.

Setting this up felt straightforward, but now that I've got it set up it's happening inconsistently. Sometimes I add new rows but they do not auto-fill. Just now, I refreshed the sheet and the automation applied to every row including all the already-existing rows (and overwrote the values in those cells).

Can you help me understand where I've goofed? What I'm intending is that when I enter text into a new row, in the Tasks column, it triggers the following:

Andrée Starå

Hi @melissa.g.mendez

I hope you're well and safe!

How did you test the Workflow?

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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melissa.g.mendez

I've tested it a half-dozen times by entering text into a new row. Nothing happens if I wait a min or two, so I then either save or refresh the page. Sometimes the rest of the row then auto-fills, but often times it doesn't. Sometimes the last row I entered auto-fills, but not the 4 or 5 above it for which I also just entered text. Once or twice, clicking save repeatedly at 10-15s intervals caused the row to populate, but other times it didn't.

The time it overwrote values already in the form was the one time I clicked >run now in the >automation >manage workflows page, so I know to avoid that, but I can't figure out why the automations work occasionally but not consistently.

Thanks for your help!

MichaelTCA

Hello @melissa.g.mendez

Have you tried changing the trigger to "When rows are added or changed"?

Andrée Starå

@melissa.g.mendez

Happy to help!

Try changing your workflow triggers to added or changed instead and check if that makes a difference.

Did it work?

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melissa.g.mendez

Thanks both for suggestions. I've got it now; here's what I learned.

1. Patience is key. The rows eventually auto-fill about 1/2 the time, but it takes more than a few minutes and about half the time they simply don't auto-fill. Still, sometimes is better than never.
2. Changing the trigger from "when a row is added" to either of the options that included a "when the row is changed" wasn't fit for purpose because I need to update and change rows all the time, so this made a mess with additional (the default) values popping in at unwanted times.
3. I'd been concerned that it be quick because I occasionally wanted to be able to choose non-default values (values other than the automated cell contents) immediately after entering new rows, so I was mashing the button so that I could then make the changes. Instead, I added exceptions to each automation so that if I choose a value in that column, the automation doesn't run in that column.

Now I have an automation like this example for every column, I can choose values where needed, and the columns I leave blank will auto-populate with my default values (eventually).

Thanks for the steer, and hope this write-up is helpful to anyone else searching up the same scenario!

melissa.g.mendez

Comment added later to add that it doesn't work more often than it does. Perhaps because I'm in an enterprise and cloud access isn't instantaneous (?). I love the idea of automating these features but it's not reliable as executed.