Update request vs trying to merge a second form's responses into the same row

sschreiner

I have a sheet that adds a new row for every submission from a manager, and then the idea is that I want that submission to trigger an update response that goes to their worker. So each row in the sheet has both hiring manager and worker responses, as their responses are related.

I'm running into an issue that I've seen a few other posts about, where I can't type out the full question for each field in the update request, because it only allows me to use the field name. Ideally I need to include a full label AND help text in the update request form. At a minimum, I need to be able to fill in the full question.

What is the best way to proceed? Should I instead have a second form that goes to a different sheet, and then try to index match the worker responses into the manager row?

Paul Newcome

If you need to be able to include more text then I would suggest creating a second form and using INDEX/MATCH.

I also suggest that you Submit a Product Enhancement Request when you are able detailing the additional features you would like to see relating to Update Requests as they do sound like they could most certainly make life a little easier.

The only other thing that I can think of would be to insert additional columns on the sheet, enter your text in the cells, lock the columns then include them in the Update Request.

For example:

If you wanted to include additional text/instruction for the [Free Text] field in your sheet, you could add another column immediately to the left (or right depending on where you want it in the Update Request) and call it "Instructions for Free Text Field". Then use a default value of the instructions and hide the field on the original form so that it is always populated as new forms are submitted.

Does all of that make sense?

Jeff Hoelzel

@sschreiner

Have you already tried using {{Dynamic Text}} in the body of your update request for labels followed by your typed out questions? There is only one subject line and a limited amount of space in the body of the message section , but it is substantial.

Send me an example and I'll see if I can help you make it work.

Paul Newcome

@Jeff Hoelzel's solution would actually be building off of mine. Using {{Dynamic Text}} in the body of the message would require that the text be in a column already.

Andrée Starå

Hi @sschreiner

To add to previous answers.

Here's some more information about the Placeholder Feature.

More info: 

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2477796-dynamically-add-cell-data-in-the-subject-and-body-of-request-messages

Would that work?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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sschreiner

Thanks everyone for the responses. If I use the dynamic text option, could the dynamic text route to the description of the column? Otherwise I'm not sure where I would place the question.

Also, there are about 47 questions that need to get asked to the 'worker' user in my example. It seems like if I use dynamic text, that each question would go out as a separate notification? If so that wouldn't be feasible.

Paul Newcome

The dynamic text option would be in the body of the email and not in the update request itself. You can use multiple sets of dynamic texts in a single message.

The message could end up looking something like this...

"While filling out the Update Request, please refer to the below instructions:

Question 1: {{Question 1 Helper Column}}

Question 2: {{Question 2 Helper Column}}

Question 3: {{Question 3 Helper Column}}"

sschreiner

Ah I see. That would probably be fine if the number of questions was smaller. I think that would be very confusing for a long list of questions like in my scenario. These responses were helpful and I'll keep them in mind, but unfortunately this might be a blocker for me with using this tool.

Paul Newcome

Instead of using dynamic text, just include these columns (make sure they are locked) in the Update Request.

Jeff Hoelzel

@sschreiner

Using @Paul Newcome 's suggestion, Create answer columns in your data sheet and list your questions with helper text in the body section of the update notification. For example, label your data sheet columns, question 1 answer:, question 2 answer:, question 3 answer: and so on...Adding the question as the column header may not work if it's too long. Be sure to include only the columns where you need an answer updated.

sschreiner

@Paul Newcome, I'm not sure I follow. Would your solution allow the user who is filling out the update request to have all the information they need in the form? Or would they have to reference the notification content from the update request with the form to understand what each question is asking?

Andrée Starå

@sschreiner

Here’s an example of how it would work/look.

Make sense?

Paul Newcome

My solution would have all of the information within the form itself so there would be no need to reference the email while filling out the update request. It would be very similar to @Andrée Starå's screenshot.

sschreiner

This makes sense. While this is a bit better, I ended up going with index match so I could have full help text on each question. And just now hope to see improvements to the update request functionality in the future so I can simplify my workflows.

Paul Newcome

Could you explain how you used the INDEX/MATCH to display help text on an Update Request?

sschreiner

Oh sorry, no I just created a separate form and sheet for the secondary questionnaire, and then pulled the responses back into the original sheet via index/ match to have the manager/ worker responses on a single row in a single sheet. Basically the brute force method :)