Sorting tasks then go back to original layour

Dave Fyke

I have several projects i keep on one sheet.  I would like to sort them by due date, update items in the most pressing and return to my original nice layout that has all of the projects with headers and then the items to work on under each heading.  Whenever I save a change after sorting by due date, I cannot get the original layout.

Zack S

Hello Dave, 

 

Once you save the sheet, the sort order of the rows as they are at the time of the save will be set and there wouldn't be a way to revert back to the old sort order, but I'll be sure to include this idea for a functionality in our enhancement request list. 

 

An alternitive option may be to create a report that is referencing the sheet you are working on. The report can have it's own sort order which can be set by Due Date, which will allow you to make changes to the tasks based off priority, while leaving the actual sheet in it's original sort order. Here is our help article on creating reports for more information: http://help.smartsheet.com/customer/portal/articles/522214

 

-Zack 

Dave Fyke

I was hoping to use the software to keep me organized easily.  The ability to sort tasks, update them and then back to original layout all in the same window would be a lot easier than saving and going to a report and then transferring data.  Surprised that there arent more users looking for this functionality.  

Will look at other software to accomplish this.  Thank you

Susan Alexander

That's the beauty of using a report - you don't have to transfer anything, it happens automatically. You'd get the best of both worlds...make changes in the format you prefer for changes & maintain the original layout. Also very simple to setup. Check out the video tutorial.

Tim McCarthy

Susan, I agree. And I love reports!

Ron M

Hello,

When you have multiple editors on a project that are updating their progress on tasks assigned to them, you can not use reports.  These individuals like to sort the tasks so that their own tasks are grouped together. Unfortunately, that means the original order of tasks is lost and there is no way to go back to it since there is no WBS auto-numbering system.  That leaves only sorting by dates, but when using parent/child tasks, the may no longer be in the correct order.

Creating a report of the individuals doesn't work as they cannot make progress updates to tasks then.  Using sequential auto-numbering doesn't work either in cases where tasks are added in-between other tasks.

That means, having an Outline or WBS auto-numbering column is really the best solution, assuming the sorting system correctly sorts, and added/deleted tasks are properly numbered.

Ron