External Collaboration & Communication (Outside Company Contacts)

cmoser23286

If I send a written proposal through Smartsheet, as an attachment to an Update Request, and the client responds, I know that I will have an email verification, showing me any changes to the worksheet.  However, at a future date, if our client wishes to send an approval verification through Smartsheet, they cannot use the same mechanism, unless I give them ‘Editor’ privileges.

Setting them up as ‘Viewers’ only provides to limited Smartsheet applications, but it seems the ‘Editor’ mode gives them TOO much access.  While we recognize that we must trust our partners, we don’t want them to be able to delete rows or columns, and the Help Center says that locking a column or row doesn’t prevent the Editors from deleting the row, it only prevents editing, (which I have confirmed).  What is the value of locking a row if it can still be deleted??  Do you know of any other options except giving ‘Editor’ privileges, and hoping nothing is deleted in error?  Do you have any other recommendations for our external collaborators to communicate within Smartsheet, that will allow them to communicate with us through Smartsheet, and not allow them to delete information?

As always, thanks for your help,

Chris Moser

 

 

 

 

Shaine Greenwood

Hi Chris,

You're correct, external collaborators can't send update requests unless they're shared to the sheet as Editors.

You might consider scheduling recurring update requests for your external collaborators. Details on this are available in the help article: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/504779-using-update-requests