Subitems "Child Tickets" Automations

Bethany Johnson

Hello,

I recently started a new intake system within Smartsheet for our Training team. The way they structure tickets is unique. They have Parent tickets and Child Tickets. The individual requesting assistance from the training team can submit a ticket, but that ticket could have several deliverables . Each deliverable is broken out into a child ticket. To help structure this correctly in Smartsheet, we have the original ticket (Parent Ticket) as the main row, and all subitems (child tickets) indented underneath. The issues I'm having are around automation. Is there a way for Smartsheet to view all subitems as a child ticket?

A few examples:

1. When a Parent ticket is complete, it moves with the subitems to our Archive Sheet. We do not want the subitems moved without the parent row.
2. When reporting, can we separate out the child tickets from the parent tickets if they are listed as subitems?
3. When a new ticket is submitted, we want to have an automation to send an email so the requestor has a copy of the ticket, but we don't want every single deliverable to be emailed, only the parent row.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

Andrée Starå

Hi @Bethany Johnson

I hope you're well and safe!

All you describe is solvable and, of course, in multiple ways. Here are some ideas.

1. When a Parent ticket is complete, it moves with the subitems to our Archive Sheet. We do not want the subitems moved without the parent row. [Andrée Starå] We could add a so-called helper column to indicate that it's only parent rows that should move.
2. When reporting, can we separate out the child tickets from the parent tickets if they are listed as subitems? [Andrée Starå] Yes, in a similar way as the previous answer.
3. When a new ticket is submitted, we want to have an automation to send an email so the requestor has a copy of the ticket, but we don't want every single deliverable to be emailed, only the parent row. [Andrée Starå] We could use the Placeholder feature and include exactly what's needed in an alert.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Bethany Johnson

Thank you for the response! I've been out of office so just getting to this.

Can you help me with item 1? I'm familiar with helper columns, I'm just not sure what that setup would look like to help indicate the parent rows shouldn't move without the children.