2 pet peeves - Printing and Filters for columns

Jonah B @ Job Shop

Not really a question. More of constructive criticism/asking for better developed features.

I use Smartsheet as a scheduling tool at our company, We use master project sheets and a series of project reports and company reports. We generally use Gantt Charts so mostly these comments pertain to that view.

For the most part, I love the program, it's easy to collaborate and dynamic enough to get all the information we need. However two things have always really bugged me.

#1 Printing is a pain, there is no print preview, columns seem to change widths somewhat randomly. More robust printing options would be a win here. i.e. an option to not print dependency lines, print preview, maintain column widths and stretch gantt view if necessary, or choosing date ranges based on formulas like 'next two weeks' or 'this month'. I haven't looked into automatic routines for printing or publishing sheets/reports, but that would be awesome as well. I could set up all the reports that i need to print weekly/monthly with rules on what to print then maybe just get a pdf sent to an e-mail when those reports are needed, it would save a ton of paperwork time publishing or printing any repeatedly necessary report.

#2 Why can I set up filters on rows, but not columns? I have a lot of information contained on each row. Throughout our project timeline, this information gets updated. However, usually we only need to see 10 columns at a time instead of 50. If I could set up filters on columns I would be able to easily switch between filters so that each step in the process the sheet can quickly be set up to show only the relevant columns. For example when we first set up our project I use the 'set-up' filter and only see the columns I'm working on at the time, then when we go back to write our budgets and assign tasks I use the 'Budget and Assign tasks' filter and only see the columns I need, etc.

Guess I'm just wondering if I'm missing some features that might address these issues, if other people have these same issues, or if anything is being done to improve this already?

Andrée Starå

Hi Jonah,

1.

Excellent ideas! They would be great additions to Smartsheet features.

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment

2.

I don't know why we don't have the possibility today, but I agree that filtered or saved views would be a fantastic feature to have. The solution as it is now would be multiple reports or the Premium add-on, Dynamic View, and that is what I mostly use in my client solutions at the moment.

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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