Saving Sort criteria for later use

It would be very, very useful if the users could save the sort criteria as a preset. That way, they could choose from a list of previously used Sort criteria. We have a Smartsheet with a lot of different columns that we contstantly need to change the sorting view, so this would speed up the process.

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Enhancement Request

Comments

Kit Unger

I’m researching how Smartsheet users would use saved views, e.g., sorting, filtering, ability to choose columns, grouping, etc.. Would love to hear more about your specific use cases either in this discussion or using a web form I’ve created to gather feedback about Smartsheet.

John Sauber

We were pushing very hard to get saved sorts and filters as selectable views in a sheet we maintain that is very large. The inclusion of Gantt charts in reports has essentially eliminated this need.

John Sauber

Chris79, are you using reports? A report is essentially a saved filter and sort, with the added bonus of being able to choose exactly what columns to display.

Kit Unger

Keep the feedback coming, Chris! It's very helpful as we're thinking through the Saved Views feature. Thanks.

Chris79

John, I don't use reports. It looks like we will be getting a Basic plan, which I believe doesn't have them. Thanks for the idea, I will still look into them. Thanks for the responses, Kit.

Chris79

It would also be great if a Smartsheet could be set to automatically sort itself whenever a new row is added, a cell's contents are changed, etc. An example would be a sheet where there is a Priority column, and I have various tasks assigned in the rows. When I change the priority of a task, it would be great if the rows would automatically sort themselves by the Priority criteria.

Troy G. Biv

I would love to see this implemented.

I just started using Smartsheet this week, and already I'm getting frustrated by the need to reenter a sort each time I want to refresh my task list or add new items to it.

I have three criteria I use to sort my task list:

1. Done - All rows marked "done" to the bottom of the list

2. Due Date - Show items due today at the top of the list

3. Due Time - (custom select list: Morning, Midday, Afternoon, EOD) Show items due today in the order they are due

It would be a huge deal to just click a button and have this sort happen. Or have it happen on a regular interval (that I can toggle on or off, for example).

Morgan Stewart

im experiencing the same issue with a drafting task sheet . The issue would be that if we created the drafting tasks in each project sheet independently then we would have to go through each project to add /modify task.

Typically we have up to 30 projects going and a project manager will sit down with our drafting manager and go through each one. Im thinking we would want to build it from the

macro(overall drafting tasks specific to each job) > pushing data to the micro(project specific gant plan).

Im not super knowledgable on spreadsheets but am looking for a work around so we can have a sort function as an active formula in our macro sheet.

please advise if there is a workaround for this

thanks

Travis

Morgan, have you used the reporting tool before? A report can pull in data from sheets based on criteria you specify and will keep the report sorted based on which column you select.

You could create a macro report and sort by a certain column. Whenever changes are made to the report to underlying sheet, the report will update and auto-sort itself.

Check out this article for information on creating reports: http://help.smartsheet.com/customer/en/portal/articles/522214-creating-reports

Cory R

I would also find it extremely useful to be able to save search criteria. Every time I update my To Do list, it's an unfortunate 5-click process to sort it again.

I'm seeing a theme in this thread that using reports is the solution, but I'd rather not create bloat by adding another sheet with exactly the same information as my source sheet. I think "Saved Sort criteria" would be a very useful feature for the Smartsheet team to add!

Thanks

Kennedy Stomps

Hi Cory-- I've added your vote for this to our enhancement request list. Thanks for this input and the note on how it would impact your workflow!

Lynnette Batt

Totally agree with these posts. Smartsheets leans on their Reports for a ton of functions, but that requires unnecessary re-creation of sheets (and shuffling columns to get the original view). Would love to see the option to save sort and filter criteria, have them automatically applied to a sheet, and ideally even be able to save several sort/filter bundles for one-click sorting.

Lynnette Batt

Related, it would also be very helpful if you had the option of saving your sorted view for anyone who views the sheet. Again, I know this is possible through Reports, but would really be helpful if you could just save your sort/filter view on the Sheet and have that show up for whomever you share the sheet to, or send the URL link. I could see where you don't always want that, so it would have to be an option to toggle on/off when you share a sheet or send the URL.

Kennedy Stomps

Hi Lynn-- I've added your votes for these features. Thanks for your input!

Brice Evans

Same here.

We have a few different users who need data from different columns. One team needs it all sorted by a date column, others alphabetically, with different columns visible. We are currently using two sheets linked and filtered, but this is awkward and easily scrambled.