Reports - Hide the original sheets

Scott Medd

We have master sheets that contain information on all products across 6 factories. 

We want to create a report for each factory that they then update relevant information for their products. This then allows all data to be viewed in the master sheet. 

The problem is that the report will show only the products that they have access to, but we have to give them access to the sheet with all the data for them to be able to edit the report. 

The long and short of it is that we dont want each factory to be able to see the other factories information. We cant have a sheet for each factory as the factory is decided at a later date.

An ideal solution would be to have a password protect option on a sheet, so that the factory cant access the original sheet, and can only update their report. Can anyone offer any other ideas?

Thanks

Pam Alakai

Hello, 

To enable each factory viewer access to a report without sharing any source sheets, send it to them via email or publish the report to a public URL. Doing this will allow the factories to view the reports but they will not be able to edit them. 

To allow the factories to provide updates of information for their products, send them Update Requests. An update request allows you to request the latest information from people automatically. Once you send an update request, the factories will receive a form via email that they can use to update their information. Once they fill and submit the form, the updated information will be automatically inserted in both the source sheet and the reports. 

Learn how to send Update Requests here: https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/504779-using-update-requests

Kind Regards, 

Pam 

Smartsheet Technical Support Specialist 

Scott Medd

Hi Pam, 

Thanks for this fast response. 

If we publish the report, who can access this information if it is a public URL? Can anyone see it? 

This could be the best solution depending on how public this information is.

The other options do not work i dont think because the factories need to constantly update this information based on other information in the sheet changing. 

Thanks

Pam Alakai

Hello, 

When publishing the report, you will have the option to use the Access Control field to control whether the link will be accessible by anyone or only by users in the sheet owner's account. The screenshot below shows how the publish form will appear allowing you to choose the publish settings for your report.