Separate notifications for added rows

Andres Riera

Hi,

I want to create a separate notifications for each row that is added when certain conditions apply. I'm sharing a screenshot of how the notification is set up.

The issue that I have is that if more than one row is added before saving the document, then the email will contain all the rows that where added/updated. What we need is a separate email for each row.

Is there a work around this situation?

Thanks,

Andres

Shaine Greenwood

Hello,

There currently isn't a way to force separate alerts; Smartsheet automatically aggregates them into a single alert whenever it can.

With that being said, our Product team is developing a feature that may help you in the future to get what you want. With this feature, you can add placeholders in the subject/body of an alert (in the delivery settings) and dynamically populate cell data. This will produce separate alerts as long as each cell has different information.

Although I don't have an ETA on when this feature will release, I'd recommend checking our release notes toward the end of each month to know what features we've added to Smartsheet: https://www.smartsheet.com/release-notes

ker9

@Shaine Greenwood - Hi - if by "placeholders" you mean insert fields into the body of the message, I have that setup but it is still grouping notifications if they go to the same email address. Is there a method to send them as separate notifications instead of grouped? To get around this I am waiting until I receive a copy of the notifications prior to setting up the next one, which is a major waste of time. The reason for this is the notifications are going to a group email box and different people need to handle the tasks. TIA

ETA: At least one field (cell) in each row contains different information.

Genevieve P.

Hi @ker9

How many rows are you triggering at one time?

When using placeholders with Alert or Update Request actions in change-based workflows, placeholders will generate separate notifications, but only if six or fewer rows are triggered simultaneously, otherwise it will group them. This Help Center article defines the placeholder behaviour: Dynamically Add Cell Data in the Subject and Body of Request Messages

Would you be able to adjust the trigger or conditions in order to ensure there are less than 6 rows being triggered? What about setting up two identical workflows that have different conditions to break out your rows?

Cheers,

Genevieve

ker9

@Genevieve P -

A single notification was sent with only four rows being updated (on 5/7/21).

The notifications are set to run when rows are added or changed. The trigger is a checked checkbox. Two conditions must also be met.

The notification is setup to have a unique subject line that includes {{Client Name}} (I understand from the article you provided that the subject does not count).

The message body also contains the unique {{Client Name}}. Those particular four rows also had one other unique field in the message body. The other placeholder fields are not always unique but Client Name is.

Thank you.

Genevieve P.

Hi @ker9

Are you including any row information in the alert along with the custom message?

If you're only sending a Message from the alert then the workflow will group this notification together, even if you have placeholders.

You would want to select the option that says "Links to sheet and specific fields" instead. I've quickly tested on my own sheet and I can confirm that selecting this setting would send individual emails per-row if you have placeholders.

ker9

@Genevieve P - I'm not including links to the sheet on purpose. Using the placeholders provides information and eliminates the need to send links to a sheet that people do not have access to.

ETA: FYI-In the picture in the article there seems to be a closing bracket missing from {{Assigned To}

I submitted an enhancement request.

Genevieve P.

Hi @ker9

Thanks for clarifying, for submitting the request, and for identifying that the Help Center image is missing a bracket! I've passed along this information to our content team, good catch.

ker9

Hi @Genevieve P

Thank you for your assistance and pointing out the help article!

Nate F

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/291697#Comment_291697

Groups more than 6 is not the current observed behavior of this function. It consistently groups two, three, four new rows, for example when rows are added by a form.

Individual emails are very highly desirable for both manual and automated workflow in so many business use cases that the mind boggles in attempt to understand how keeping things separated is not available in Smartsheet automation. Whether we get 2 or 20 requests in a span of a few minutes, they are all individual requests which need to be processed separately.