How can I visually group rows together using automation?

LorenOhh

I am in the process of moving information from Google Sheets to Smartsheet. I would like to automatically apply formatting to a group of rows to indicate that they belong together.

In Google Sheets, I would use borders to separate orders. This would indicate to my team and a group of items belonged to the same order (example below):

I know that Smartsheet does not have borders so I am looking for a way to visually indicate that a group of rows belongs to an order. If possible, I would like to do this automatically via conditional formatting (i.e. apply a color to all rows associated with an order) but have not found a way to make it work.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Matt Johnson

Hi @LorenOhh

Before going down the path of conditional formatting the sheet, you should try the group feature in reports. Below is a link to help article on that. The benefit to a grouped report is that when a new row is added to the bottom of a sheet, it automatically gets grouped and sorted into the right area on the report. If that's not what you're looking for though, reach back out and we can look at other options.

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2482082-configure-grouping-to-organize-results-in-report-builder

I hope that helps.

Matt

LorenOhh

Hi @Matt Johnson ,

Thanks for this suggestion, however, since this is a sheet that the team works off of and needs to be updated constantly, I cannot have a separate sheet or report that they have to check.

Matt Johnson

I understand. That's a shame, most of my clients have their Teams work mainly off reports because of the group feature. Sheets are rarely accessed directly.

I would use a helper column then with a column formula that would deliniate the groups somehow.

Nicole Tellez

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/423794#Comment_423794

@LorenOhh I would also suggest what Matt is saying. If you aren't familiar with reports in Smartsheet, they are filtered views of a sheet. The work bi-directionally and if you enter data in a row report, it updates the sheet automatically because when looking at the report, it's really just looking at the sheet in a different view. So if this is new to the team, they would really only be looking at the report view vs. the grid view of unsorted data. BUT first and foremost, I would do a few things to your data. In the rows where the Order ID is not listed, I would ensure that you drag the Order ID down from the parent to ensure you make sure all items from the same order stay together. Secondly, I would then group by Order # and then Original Project. This would make the view much better for the team and easy to maneuver without anyone having to use multiple sheets.