How can I display the most recent entry from a grid sheet in a dashboard widget?

David Regan

I have a grid sheet which captures status date and status narrative text as columns. For each new status date, a new row is added to the grid sheet. How can I display the most recent status narrative text in a dashboard widget?

Andrée Starå

@David Regan, I'd be happy to help you further.

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Andrée Starå

Hi David,

You could use the MAX and COLLECT function.

https://help.smartsheet.com/function/max

Would that work?

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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David Regan

Hello Andree -

I have reviewed the article, but it is not clear to me where I would place this formula. I don't believe that I can enter it within a widget on the dashboard, can I? Also, does the formula return the status narrative text or the most recent status date?

Regards,

David

Andrée Starå

Ok.

There are several ways to structure it.

The easiest if you just need one metric would be to add it to the Sheet Summary section.

https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/sheet-summary

Would that work?

David Regan

Hello Andree -

I'm sorry. I am really quite new to using Smartsheet, so I will need to explore other forums that can provide a step-by-step instruction for doing this. Thank you for your tips.

Andrée Starå

@David Regan, I'd be happy to help you further.

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@getdone.se)

Alan Meshaw

I believe you are asking about using the "Metric Widget". Setup a helper column (on the source grid sheet) that finds the most recent date, for me it was "=Max([Date]:[Date])". Setup an adjacent helper column that returns the text that matches the most recent date (lookup match or just start typing "=match(" and the prompts should guide you, then add to the beginning of that formula "=index(", again prompts will guide you. Since you said you were new to smartsheets, I have found it is easiest to setup a formula like this in two steps, where your match becomes your row reference). If you have multiple entries on the same date, you may need to first sort ascending or descending according to your preference. Setup on the dashboard, a metric widget that is linked to that last helper cell created.--that's what worked for me.