Notify which column was changed when a change is made

Hello!

I might be over thinking, but I'm trying to find a way to set up an automated notification when a change is made on a sheet, but also include which column was changed and what the change was.

I have two sheets set up, one that is a big log of information, that will be changed over time by one team, the other being a consolidation of this sheet that will be monitored by another team. I cannot make significant changes to the former and have full control over the latter.

Attached is a picture to help explain. The list column will be on the first sheet changed by another team, which is then reflected into the the right three columns on the second sheet. In reality there will be 100+ columns like this, so a brute force solution will not be sufficient.

Here is the formula that is in the right three columns.

=IFERROR(INDEX(COLLECT([Tree List]:[Tree List], [Tree List]:[Tree List], CONTAINS("Tree", @cell)), Index@row), "")

My goal is to be able to be notified when a change is made; which column was changed, and ideally what the change was.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts about how to make this work!

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Isaac A.

Hi @Spencer_W!

You can set up a workflow to notify you when changes are made to a sheet, including details about what was changed and where. Here's a simple test scenario I created to demonstrate:

For your specific scenario, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating your workflow:

Where the workflow will be created:
Decide whether the workflow should be set up in the source sheet (where changes are made) or the consolidated sheet (where updates are reflected). This will determine how the workflow is triggered.
Automation limitations with linked data:
Smartsheet doesn’t trigger actions based on changes made through inbound cell-links or cross-sheet formulas. For example, if a cell value is populated by a formula referencing another sheet, changes to that value won’t trigger the workflow.
Workarounds for automation:
To address these limitations, you can use time-based automations or recurring workflows. These workflows can run at set intervals and notify you if changes were made during that time frame.

For more details on workflow triggers, take a look at this article:
Trigger blocks: When your workflow is executed.

I hope this helps you get started!

Cheers,
Isaac.

Spencer_W

Thank you Isaac!

Turns out I was over thinking it!

Another issue it seems that I run into (when trying to set it up) is that due to my use of the index function, when something is added, that leads to every row following to also update and notifying.

The first row in the notification email is in reality the row that was added, but with how big this file is, it seems a little overkill.

Is there anyway to limit the notification email to only the first row that changes?

Thank you again!

Spencer

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