There is a restriction on the standard Project sheet template currently: if using the provided "Start" and "Finish" fields, users are not allowed to add a value to a row that has children - instead, the values must be entered in the lowest grouping of children, which will then roll up.
My issue is that not all the rows I add to a project sheet are 'actionable' rows - some are 'informational' rows.
For example, I might add an 'actionable' row like "Meet with team to discuss goals". This is a row that would make use of the Project sheets planning columns, like Start, Finish, duration, etc.
But then say during that meeting I want to outline our discussion within the same project smartsheet. My current solution is to indent under the "Meet with team" row and write it out on separate rows, eg one row per goal discussed. While doing this nicely groups that all under the meeting row, these 'informational' rows have no relevant use of the Project planning columns, like Start and Finish.
Current solutions (and downsides) for storing information relevant to actionable rows
1. Use the comment column with word wrap
Instead of storing the meeting info as different rows with an indentation structure, just write out everything in the Comment cell of the parent row.
Downsides:
- Formatting a cell changes ALL text in that cell (eg can't bold just a single line)
- Uncollapsible structure, row height will grow as more text is added to comment cell
- Limitations/annoyances with organizing text within a single cell (handling indentations and outline structure, for example)
2. Use the discussion tool
Store the meeting info within a comment on the parent row
Downsides:
- Not the intended purpose of discussion: we want to keep discussion of meeting notes here, not the meeting notes themselves
- No rich text/formatting options available
3. Use a separate SmartSheet
Rather than include the 'informational' rows on the project smartsheet, start a new smartsheet for the meeting notes and link to the Meeting task on the project sheet.
Downsides:
- Costly! I'm only getting 10 sheets for my $16/month, and they are all very precious to me. I can't afford to create a separate sheet for each set of information related to one of the tasks on a project sheet
-Impractical for non-licensed users: if I create a sheet and I'm having another user without a paid license editing the sheet for me, they can't create separate smartsheets as needed.
Preferred Solution
Unless there's another option I'm missing, my ideal solution for this would be the ability to override the requirement that parent tasks' planning values be based off of children values. This would allow me specify a start/finish date for my actionable rows, without needing to provide meaningless dates for the informational rows grouped under them.
Is there a way to modify a Project Smartsheet template to get the desired setup, while still being able to use the other Project features (Gantt chart, dependencies, etc)?
