Form Automation - linked to another sheet

MariaFG

Hello,

We run a few weekly programs at our non profit where there are different volunteers in each of them. We currently have a form on Smartsheet called a Communication Log that the Supervisors have to fill out every week. In their Comm Log, there is a dropdown list that they can select which program they are submitting the form for:

So we were wondering if we could create a sheet with the name of each program and assign the volunteers to that program, and when the Supervisor selects that program, the list of volunteers would show up in the below section of the form (it could be just a heading/description/title), we just need them to be able to see the name of the volunteers)

I know I could manually do something similar and add in a description for each of them and automate that description to appear when they select the program. But we would like for that to be linked to a sheet, so that it's easier to add/remove people.

I appreciate any ideas!! Thanks everyone :)

Kerry St. Thomas

Dynamic dropdowns on Forms has been something that a lot of people have asked for. The specific structure you're asking about doesn't exist - but there is a workaround. (Think about it this way: a Form is designed to collect data - when one clicks "Submit" on a form, it creates a new row. So when the form is only partially filled out, that row of data doesn't exist yet, so Smartsheet has nothing to operate on - the form is just a container to organize the data, and not the data itself.)

The workaround you suggest - having a conditional column of who is in each group's dropdown - is the solution. BUT… to allow others to update the dropdown (should additional people come on board, or others leave), you can create a separate sheet and use it for dropdown maintenance, if you have access to the Data Shuttle premium app. You could set up individual sheets by program, and then set up a regular flow (once a day or whatever) to offload that sheet as an attachment to either its own sheet or to this sheet with the form on it, and then use that attachment as a trigger to update the dropdown.

Good luck!