Can I send an update with the Full Form with Field Labels and Help Text

Kevin J Viator

Good Morning,

I have a Smartsheet set up with some pre-populated fields (i.e. Group Name, Ground Contact, etc.). I created a form to capture additional details for this group.

I have an automation to send an Update Request to the Contact, with the pre-populated fields and requests for additional fields to be updated. However, when the Update Request is sent, it only sends the Field Name and not the other information.

Is there a way to send the Full Form and request updates?

Thank you,

Kevin Viator

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kevin J Viator

Update Requests send purely the row information (column names + details in the cell) as you've found.
If you need to add helper text, you could have hidden, locked columns in your sheet that are arranged right before each field, with text in the cell as your helper text.

I would personally do this with a column formula, like so:

=IF([Column Name]@row <> "", "add your text here")

Making it a column formula will ensure it appears for each of your rows. (Again, you can hide this column). It also means that field will not be editable in an Update Request:

More information:

https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/update-requests

Cheers,
Genevieve

SteyJ

In the fields, make sure the specific fields you want to see are selected:

Kevin J Viator

Jacob,

Thank you for the response. I've tried this approach but the fields come over with just the Field Name and none of the help text, which I need to be there for the client to properly fill out the remaining fields. I will try to see if I can just add the Field Helpers to the actual email.

Again,

Thank you,

Kevin

Kevin J Viator

Good Morning,

I am still struggling with trying to find a solution to my following scenario:

I have a Smartsheet that has fields pre-populated with data I don't want the client to change or update. It includes the contact's name and email.

1. When I change a field on the Smartsheet labeled to "Send Application", I would like to send the form to the client's email requesting additional field data.
2. IF I use the Update Workflow, the linked form receives only the field names, without any header or instructions (Help Test), etc. This does not work because:
   1. I want the pre-populated fields to be view only or locked
   2. The client will not know how to fill out the additional fields based on just the Field Name. I need to send the actual Form Title, Description (which introduces them to the reason for the form), the Field Label, and the Help Text.

Does anyone have and feedback or suggestion on how accomplish this? Or should I eliminate Smartsheet and look into other options?

Thank you,

Kevin

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kevin J Viator

Update Requests send purely the row information (column names + details in the cell) as you've found.
If you need to add helper text, you could have hidden, locked columns in your sheet that are arranged right before each field, with text in the cell as your helper text.

I would personally do this with a column formula, like so:

=IF([Column Name]@row <> "", "add your text here")

Making it a column formula will ensure it appears for each of your rows. (Again, you can hide this column). It also means that field will not be editable in an Update Request:

More information:

https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/update-requests

Cheers,
Genevieve

Kevin J Viator

Genevieve,

This is great. I updated using the help text for one of my fields and it was a complete success. THANK YOU :)

Genevieve P.

Wonderful! I'm glad I could help.