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Technically yes, but there are a few ways to work around this as well.
For a row that will have an update request sent out, is that the only change that will be made to that particular row after the task is started and until the task is completed?
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You could probably generate a date column and have an update request be made based on that date. So like create a date column that uses the creation date to add a certain number of days to the creation date. Then on that date, or x number of days before, send out that request.
Paul, would you set it up that way? Does a date generated update request prevent them from seeing the sheet?
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EDIT:
Mike,
I just realized that my long winded response skipped over one of your questions. Sorry about that.
Would I set it up to send on a date column? Honestly probably not. Sending on a date column would only send on that one date. If the % Complete update was anything less than 100%, eventually another update request would have to be sent out.
Because of the lack of timestamps for specific actions, you would need multiple date columns and multiple workflows for each column whereas you can just build the workflow and set it to recurring on a regular time frame on all rows that are less than 100%.
Original Response:
Any update request can be sent to anyone including those that don't have access to the sheet or even Smartsheet at all regardless of how it is generated.
To limit what they see, you would simply go into the advanced settings when building the workflow to designate which columns are sent.
Designating the rows that are sent is a matter of setting up the workflow properly using the desired conditions and rules.
There are (at a high level) basically three ways to have an update request sent.
1. Manually: Works well if not too many are needed, but overall not typically ideal.
2. Recurring - Right Away: This will basically send out an email to the recipient that is very similar to sending a form. It is filled out in the same manner, but you can set which columns are editable and which columns are only viewable by locking the columns in the sheet.
3. Recurring - Hourly/Daily/Weekly/etc: The recipient would receive only one email (if any rows met the conditions of the workflow). This one email will have a "Click Here" button that will bring up what looks like a form. The standard update request. Here's the difference with this one though vs the Recurring - Right Away...
When a person enters their update and clicks "Submit", another form will pop up. This will be the next row that met the conditions in your workflow. It will have the same columns as viewable/editable. They make their update and click "Submit", and the next row pops up in a form type view.
The thing I like about this is that even if there is no update, they have to click on the "Submit" button to move on to the next row that was sent to them. This way they are at least acknowledging that there is no update to be made. It's simply a way of checking in on the progress on a regular basis.
I personally have regular update requests sent out to some people on a weekly basis. They know that if there is no update to just go ahead and "submit" without changing anything for that particular row. It's my way of keeping an eye on progress without having to manually send a bunch of emails to a bunch of people.
The fact that it is automated has many benefits. My two favorite are the fact that I don't have to manually type up a bunch of emails, and...
Since it is automated, people feel much less micromanaged.
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Stephanie,
My apologies. I just saw this question. TECHNICALLY... Yes. You can hide children rows by collapsing the parent, but anyone that has any kind of access to the sheet will be able to easily expand those rows, so I don't think that would be ideal for your situation.
Other than collapsing child rows into parent rows, there is no other way to hide a row. Feel free to submit a product enhancement request HERE though, because that would be a nice thing to have.
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Need to ask a related question. I have created a report as a way to share specific information from a sheet to an external party. I have provided them with access to the report but it is blank for them.
Is it not possible to see the data in a shared report if you do not have access to the underlying sheet?
