Editable Approval Request

Nicole Hodges

Is there a way to allow the approver to edit a field (column) in an approval request? As it stands now, it seems to only be "locked" or "grayed out."

Andrée Starå

Hi,

Unfortunately, it's not possible at the moment to edit anything in an approval request, but it's an excellent idea!

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post help answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

Andrée Starå

Hi,

Unfortunately, it's not possible at the moment to edit anything in an approval request, but it's an excellent idea!

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post help answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

Genevieve P.

Hi @NBudd

You might want to look into sending an Update Request instead (see here). One of the fields of the Update Request could be an "Approved?" column.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Gordon

Is it possible for an approver who receives an approval request to provide feedback that would end up in the conversation/comments for that row? Or any other mechanism to allow the approver to provide their feedback why the approval request is denied, ideally in the same window as the original approval request?

Genevieve P.

Hi @Gordon

Yes! Approval Requests have this capability built in, you just need to ensure that the Comment field is sent with the request. (Check your "Advanced Options" in the Approval Workflow box - the three dots on the right, and ensure that "A Comment" is selected under Column Visibility).

This is what it will look like for the approver:

This is how it will appear in the sheet, after:

I would suggest testing how it looks like to your own email address, first, so you can adjust the customization of the fields shown in the form. You can find out more information in our Help Center article:

https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/approval-requests

Andrée Starå

@Gordon, Yes, they can add a comment that gets added to the Conversation section of the row.

Genevieve P.

Haha Andrée your answer was much more to-the-point - love it!

I have a hard time pairing down my explanations.

Andrée Starå

@Genevieve P,

Haha!

https://media.giphy.com/media/lszAB3TzFtRaU/giphy.gif

Silvia Rangel

Piggy backing on this thread; l am having the same issue. I have an Approval Request workflow and even though l added a notes field the request is coming up as read-only for the recipient and is unable to enter notes.

What would be a good process to request an approval while giving the ability to enter a date and notes??

my workflow below.

Thanks!

Genevieve P.

Hi @Silvia Rangel

In your third image with Column Visibility open, I can see that you haven't chosen the "A Comment" column. Other than the approval itself, this is the only field that can be edited in an Approval Request.

If you add in the "A Comment" column then whoever approves the post can leave a note (as in my screen capture earlier in this thread), but it will appear in the Conversations for that row (the little comment box on the very far left of the sheet) versus being input within your grid... does that make sense? HERE's an article on Conversations for clarification.

As for adding a date, you will be able to see the date that an approval is made by checking the Cell History of that approval column. You could also create a Modified By system column if you'd like, but that would update the date whenever any modifications are made (not just this one time).

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Silvia Rangel

@Genevieve P hello!

Yes, I used the customized notes fields (SDGE Notes) because that is where l need the notes to be entered in. Regarding the date, l would like the process to be as automatized as possible so checking the cell and then updating the field wouldn't work as l have about 24 sheets with the same configuration that l'd need to do this for :-(

Maybe setting it up as a Request Update would work better??

Thanks!

Genevieve P.

Ah, yes I agree, an Update Request in this scenario seems to be a better option. You can lock any columns that you don't want to be edited, or simply not include those columns in the update.

Here's the link to the Help Article that goes through what fields can/can't be edited in an Update Request: https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/update-requests