Date Stamp

DENVER DEWEES

Over the past couple of days, I have searched and read every article and even solicited help from SS and have worked myself in a circle.

I have a drop-down list (Submitted, Approved, Declined), I need to "auto-populate" a date column to capture the date stamp when something is selected from the drop-down list.

Is this possible and what formula would I use? All of my experimentation and research has failed at this point. Thank you in advance for any help / recommendations. 

Ben Dubai

Hi Denver,

I got part of the way with an IF function, i.e. =if(cell="Complete",TODAY(),"-")

But this will progress each day. If there's a way to 'lock' that date once inserted, which I can't figure out, then it will work. If not, we're both back as square 1 as I need the same functionality. 

Rgds, Ben.

Susan McCarthy

I would also like to know hi this is possible.

 

Shawn R

Is there a particular reason you want the date to be its own field? Are you referencing it later in a formula or trying to sort based on that date?

Susan McCarthy

I would like to send an alert based on the date

Paul Newcome

Unfortunately SS only supports time/date stamps for when a row is created and when a row was last modified. To maintain a set date based on a specific change in a cell, you would need the user who is making the change to also manually enter the date.

Andrée Starå

Hi everyone,

It could probably work with a third-party solution like Zapier or similar.

Have a fantastic week & Happy Holidays!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Tate Forgey

This seems like a serious oversight.  I'm new to Smartsheet, but I thought having a date stamp triggered by a field change would be easy. In fact, I'm really surprised that the automation capabilities in a sheet don't appear to include any ability to modify data.  Am I missing something there?

Andrée Starå

Hi Tate,

Can you describe your process and what you want to accomplish in more detail?

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

Tate Forgey

Imagine any situation where you want a date stamp, but for example, if the checkbox field "Task Completed" is checked, change the date field "Date Completed" to today's date and fire change only when condition changes from false to true.

Better yet, when ALL of the conditions are true change date completed to today's date and fire change only when condition changes from false to true;  "Sub-task A" is not blank, "Sub-task B" is not blank, and "Sub-task C" is not blank.

Again, I had kind of assumed there would be some ability to create an automation that modifies data, and I could do something along those lines, but as I look at the input now, that seems like it would be a significant addition of functionality.

Andrée Starå

Ok.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to automate at the moment without the Smartsheet API or third-party integration, but it's an excellent idea!

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment.

Smartsheet is working on it!

The third-party service, Zapier, is an excellent option for this scenario. Is that an option for you?

Depending on the specifics, it could also be possible to create a Workaround with the help of the Modified Date column.

I hope that helps!

Gina Adrien

Any updates on this functionality? I too would like to automatically times stamp a row when the "complete" box is checked. Considering SS already logs when a cell was last modified, it seems that there might be an easy work around without third party integration?

Andrée Starå

@Gina Adrien

Hi Gina,

There actually is a way to do it in Smartsheet now. We can use the automation to copy the row to another sheet and then collect the date from that sheet back to the main one.

Make sense?

Would that work?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Gina Adrien

Sort of. I can create the stamp on that separate sheet.

Would I have to manually cut and paste it into the original sheet?

I have it half built but I'm unclear how to get that date back into the original sheet on the right row.

Gina Adrien

Actually, I can't create the stamp on the other sheet because I'm using the "created date" on the orgiginal. I'll just add the date by hand. The juice isn't worth the squeeze on this one. You would think that logging complete dates would be a common automation...

Andrée Starå

@Gina Adrien

Yes, you should be able to have the date added to the other sheet, and then we would use cross-sheet formulas and VLOOKUP or an INDEX/MATCH combination to collect the date back to the main sheet.

Make sense?

Let me know if you want to continue exploring it further and continue squeezing the juice 😃