How do I assign a default value to fields in my Sheet/Form?

Lisa Evans

For example, in my daily standup kanban board the card format has 2 fields that I'd like to default to a static value, and 1 field that I'd like to default to the [start date]=today's date, but allow it to be changed if the user choses to do so (i.e. chose a later start date if the task isn't intended to be started today). The 2 static fields would be: forum="daily standup" and % complete = 0%.

I haven't been able to figure this out on my own, and I can't find anything in the help section to show that this can be done. TIA for any help you can give!

Paul Newcome

For the static default values, you would click on the field in the form builder and enter the default value in the section near the bottom right corner as seen below.

Getting today's date as a default value can be tricky and requires daily updates if you are keeping it strictly within Smartsheet.

Paul Newcome

For the static default values, you would click on the field in the form builder and enter the default value in the section near the bottom right corner as seen below.

Getting today's date as a default value can be tricky and requires daily updates if you are keeping it strictly within Smartsheet.

Lisa Evans

I went into forms, checked your suggestion, and I had already done that in the past (just didn't remember doing it). I thought these defaults would carry over to card view, when I hit the "+" to add a new card, I don't get these same defaults in fields.

Any idea on how to make these defaults in forms active for new cards in card view?

Paul Newcome

When you are adding a new card you are adding a new row and not actually filling out a form. You would need to use a helper column that would pull the value from the appropriate field or (if no value is present) then output the "default". Adding a new card is the same as inserting a new row in Grid View.

David Barski

Similar Questions - I am using a single sheet and leveraging several forms to add more detailed information over time. I was hoping to use the Default Value field to populate from previous fields already populated with an earlier form. Is there a way to read the field in the sheet and pull into the form?

David Barski

@Paul Newcome - How may I engage you or one of your peers regarding the details of the question above? Our use case is to have a single sheet which collects addition information over time, not all at once. Our preferred solution is to have 2 forms: 1 captures high level information for project intakes, and the other later captures more detail about what was captured before. I would like to have the 2nd form capture previous information into the form so that it is more complete with information and does not require "re-entry".

Question: Is there a way for Smartsheet to program the 2nd form to "Pull in" data in the sheet and allow the user to then focus on additional details?

Andrée Starå

Hi @David Barski

I hope you're well and safe!

This might help.

I developed a solution using two forms (or the same form by using conditional logic) that can be used to submit the main information and then the other information on a new row for each submission after the first.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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David Barski

@Andrée Starå - thank you for your quick response. Our architecture dictates that we have one project entry per row with information types across columns. I invested some time Friday looking at forum inputs and did not see a solution. Any other thoughts?

David Barski

In addition to question - I have designed another solution where 2 forms pointing to the same sheet only have one field duplicated - Project Name. This mitigates duplicate entry. I was anticipating that using the 2nd form - with more details, would simply populate the additional columns which it asks for. However, the submission of the 2nd form creates a new row in the Sheet with the new detailed information. Is there a way to have the 2nd form populate the same row with more details?

David Barski

Hi guys - any other inputs on my questions? Thanks in advance.

Helen

@David Barski I know it's been a while since you posted this question, so perhaps you've found a solution that works for you. On the off-chance that you or others are still looking, though, using the Request an Update could work for you. You could either manually send out the request or automate it based on a trigger (date, etc.). The update request could go to the email in a contact column on that row and you could specify which fields they need to update with additional information. https://help.smartsheet.com/learning-track/smartsheet-intermediate/update-requests