Automatic Children Indenting

Julie_Boss85141

Hello,

 

Is it possible to set up a formula for information (if it is the exact same as the parent/child row above) that you have underneath a child/parent row to automatically attach itself inside the Parent/Child Hierarchy? I would rather not have to manually go in and Indent new info from information dumps, as there will consistently be a lot of new data.

 

For example, I am trying to set up a payroll system where I can dump information onto said sheet, sort the info via the "Sort Rows", and when, for example, "Benny" goes under "Benny's" last payroll week, his new payroll week will automatically attach itself to Benny's Parent/Children Hierarchy so his pay hours will automatically update. (using a =sum(Children()) ) formula in order to total his monthly hours.

 

Thank you in advance!

Paul Newcome

Unfortunately there is no way to automatically indent using a formula or some kind of conditional formatting. Feel free to submit a product enhancement request as it is a good idea.

 

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/739aa75f30ca43a8a22eb53e4da7d409?_ga=2.164788735.1717656072.1557144026-2072984282.1556800642

Julie_Boss85141

Thank you Paul, I will submit the request.

Paul Newcome

Happy to help. 

Andrée Starå

Hi Julie,

If you have the hierarchy set up, you can drag and drop the rows between the parent and the children and then it would indent automatically as a child.

You probably already know it, but I thought I'd share just in case you didn't.

Hope that helps! 

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Paul Newcome

Drag drop does work, but it would be nice to include some kind of formula/formatting/something that will automatically indent based off of like data.

 

What would be REALLY nice is some kind of automatic sorting/indentation based on common fields in a form entry where we wouldn't have to do anything after the initial setup. Maybe a dropdown column with a specific data list. The selection would automatically put it under a parent row of the same selection in a dropdown. You know... Something like that... 

 

And yes... I have already submitted enhancement requests. 

Andrée Starå

Yes, I agree!

And 

Julie_Boss85141

@Paul Newcome  Sounds like you've been around Smartsheet for a minute or two!  

Your suggestion is a way good idea though! That might make it even more simple, if you could simply columnize everything under the same info and have it automate. That would be something amazing!

Julie_Boss85141

Andrée Starå, thanks! I did know that, but I am still learning on Smartsheet so I will take all the tips I can get 

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

I'll get back to you if I think of something else!

Best,

Andrée

Paul Newcome

Haha. Only about a year, but it has been a very busy year to say the least.

 

I currently have a few sheets where I use an idea very similar to this but without the automation.

 

I will build out my "Section column" first. After that I sort by that column and can then select groups of rows to indent all at once. It's pretty quick and effective, but having it fully automated would be great.

Having form entries go into a sheet in a nice clean format without having to manually change anything at all would be ideal, but my current setup isn't too much of a hassle.

Paul Newcome

"...I will take all the tips I can get..."

 

If it is raining, an umbrella could help keep you dry. 

jg124

@Paul Newcome @Andrée Starå has there been any update on this since?

I'm looking to automate indentation when a row is marked as complete. Due to calculations being linked to this sheet I need to keep the completed items on the sheet (indented)

Just wondering, thanks! :)

Paul Newcome

@jg124 No changes yet. It is still not possible to automate indenting or outdenting rows yet. Feel free to submit a product enhancement request when you are able to let Smartsheet know that you are interested in the feature.

jg124

No worries @Paul Newcome thanks for getting back to me!

Andrée Starå

@jg124

I think the only option at the moment is the Smartsheet API.