Use of Sheet Summary in SCC
Has anyone ever thought it would be helpful, if, when building an SCC solution, you could use the sheet summary section to connect data rather than needing a summary section on the actual sheet?
I'd like to see the summary section move off of the sheet itself.
Answers
-
Hi @Smar Czar
The best practice in Smartsheet Control Center (SCC) is to use a separate .Meta (Metadata) sheet rather than linking Intake Sheet data directly to the Project Sheet. Instead of linking from the Intake Sheet to each project sheet individually, it’s more scalable to first link Intake → .Meta Sheet, and then reference the .Meta Sheet in each project sheet. This approach centralizes project metadata.
That said, your idea of linking Intake Sheet data to Sheet Summary Fields in the project sheet is a great one! Having key project information in the Sheet Summary section would make referencing and maintaining across projects easier, as we can even use the Sheet Summary Report instead of the Summary rollup!
Limitation: No Direct Cell Linking to Summary Fields
Currently, Smartsheet does not allow direct cell linking to Sheet Summary fields from other sheets. This means that while you can link Intake → .Meta Sheet, you cannot create a cell link from .Meta to a Summary Field.
Workaround: Using Formulas Instead of Cell Linking
Even though cell linking isn’t possible, you can still reference .Meta data in Summary Fields using formulas. The workaround works as follows:
- Intake Sheet → .Meta Sheet (via cell linking or formulas).
- Project Sheet Summary Field → Reference the .Meta Sheet using a formula.
- Use Summary Fields in the Project Sheet Grid
- =[Summary Field Name]#
- This allows the project sheet to display key project metadata without requiring direct Intake Sheet links.
While Smartsheet does not support direct cell linking to Summary Fields, storing Intake Sheet data in Summary Fields is still a great idea for easy reference. Using a formula-based approach through the . Meta Sheet ensures project metadata remains structured, scalable, and accessible in SCC solutions.
I would love to hear if Smartsheet has any plans to expand Summary Field linking capabilities!
-
Thank you @jmyzk_cloudsmart_jp ! I am using a Metadata sheet and agree with your recommendations. I am also thinking of global updates. It would be nice if you could run a global update in SCC and add the field to the sheet summary section and then automatically link it to the metadata sheet.
-
I agree! A global update in SCC that automatically adds the field to the sheet summary and links it to the metadata sheet would be a great enhancement. That would streamline the process and improve consistency across sheets.
Categories
- All Categories
- 14 Welcome to the Community
- Customer Resources
- 66.5K Get Help
- 432 Global Discussions
- 152 Industry Talk
- 494 Announcements
- 5.3K Ideas & Feature Requests
- 85 Brandfolder
- 155 Just for fun
- 76 Community Job Board
- 504 Show & Tell
- 33 Member Spotlight
- 2 SmartStories
- 307 Events
- 37 Webinars
- 7.3K Forum Archives