What is the best way to learn SmartSheet?
Answers
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THANK YOU! for taking the time to write and helping me not freak out about getting started in SS. I think my questions are even more basic... I'm trying to figure out the "meta" nature of the data... the more abstract aspects that I never really have to consider when I work with complex systems in Excel. Data in Excel just IS. I don't have to decide ahead of time (fingers crossed that I don't screw it up and design it wrong because now I'm committed to the error) in the same way you have to structure a database.
So here's a REALLY basic question that for some reason perplexes the stuffing out of me: I'm making my first "grid" and it's just a very simple, basic "Contacts List." I'm going to have First and Last names, emails and then a multi-select "Role" for each person. then, I THINK... I will have 10 different list-serv columns each will be a formula that will return a 1 or 0 depending on which role is entered for that person. I'm ok with ALL of that... what perplexes me... I do not have a "primary" column. What in the world do I use for that? I THINK I want to create a "full name" field and then make the firstName, lastName columns formulas that parse out the beginning or ending of the string... but then... what if i have two people with the same name? or one person with 3 names to where the parsing isn't standard...
How do I know what to use for the Primary field? And why is this such a challenging concept for me to wrap my head around?
Thanks!
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The Primary Column actually plays a relatively minor role in the grand scheme of things. There are only a few instances where you NEED to see/use the Primary Column.
Hierarchy: The + and - buttons to expand and collapse rows as well as the visual indentation are housed in the Primary Column.
Calendar View: The calendar view only shows what is in the Primary Column.
Auto-fill: Auto-fill can be a little buggy if you are adding rows into the middle of a sheet (instead of at the top or bottom) where you are not entering data into the Primary Column.
Other than that it is restricted to text/number type and is always left justified (other text/number columns have text left justified and numbers right justified).
You also cannot delete the Primary Column but it can be "hidden".
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As a general rule I rename my primary column to "P" and hide it on every sheet that I don't have a specific use for it. I generally describe it as a title holder column, it is where you put descriptors of your rows, or your hierarchy. The most used example I know of would be a project name.
It is also the only column you can rename inside of reports, but that is getting a little finicky on the details.
As for why it is so perplexing to new users, it is the first thing you see, it is named differently and acts somewhat differently than everything else. So that makes you think it is important, and something you need to know about in order to utilize the sheet, when in fact it isn't even used in 80% or more sheets.
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Long story short:
The Primary Column can be very useful or just another text/number column depending on your exact needs.
Long story not so short:
I use the hierarchy quite frequently even in my metrics sheets. I work with a lot of YTD metrics, so I will have a parent row for each month on my 2020 sheet. I'll have 2020 in row 1 then row 2 is my first "parent" for January so I can easily use the PARENT function to reference the month number and of course the parent row leverages CHILDREN functions as a summary. Once I build out January I can easily copy/paste 11 more times and only have to change the month number to have all of that particular metrics for the year stored on one sheet.
I do the same thing if I want a breakdown by individual where each person has their own parent row.
Even that isn't really necessary though. It just helps me personally to visually organize my metrics for future dashboard charts and whatnot, but it can all be done without leveraging hierarchy.
Plus I generate a lot of project plans with sub-tasks and everything using Smartsheet as more of a collaborative project management tool, but then I have other coworkers that use it simply as a database of sorts where they don't need/use hierarchy at all.
For @L@123 it isn't used in 80% or more of his sheets, but for me it is used in probably closer to 95% of mine.
It can certainly be a very useful tool depending on your exact needs, but it is definitely not anything to stress too much over. The column doesn't affect how data is read in any way other than a standard text/number column when you are referencing it in formulas.
And last but not least:
Based on what you described above... I personally would probably end up using it as the first name column so that I have one less column to create as you expand your sheet with the checkboxes and whatnot, but really you could probably get away with completely ignoring it if you wanted to in this instance.
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Yeah it is definitely dependent on what you are using the program for. I try to automate everything I can, as I use smartsheet mostly as a workflow and data analysis/communication tool. Hierarchies being inside of a program means someone has to touch every row to put them in the correct hierarchy, so I tend to avoid them unless it is something I want someone to track manually. But I can definitely see where Paul is coming from.
As to the last point, I hide them in case I decide to build a hierarchy in the future on the sheet in a future redesign, I almost never end up using them, but I think it is a good habit to do.
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"Hierarchies being inside of a program means someone has to touch every row to put them in the correct hierarchy"
Yes, but one of the advantages with how my team generally uses SS is that we use templates (of sorts). This means row hierarchy is only touched one time during the initial build and then no one needs to worry with it again (aside from the occasional tweak here and there which is usually verbiage an not hierarchy related).
I have 15 different project plans that I built into one giant monster template. The very first thing my team does is run through a series of checkboxes to determine exactly which project plan(s) they need. Once they do that all they have to do is apply a filter to hide the rows that aren't applicable and then enter the appropriate actual start and actual end dates.
Basically we offer different services, but all services have a 10 week setup time, and if the same milestone is used for multiple services, it is due at the same time. So setting up banking is done at the same time within the overall project regardless of which service(s) we are implementing and will always have the same sub-tasks.
I only had to touch my hierarchies one time for the initial template and now only need to account for the rare tweak.
This makes it so that the hierarchy is already established and the users don't need to mess with anything other than a few checkboxes, a filter, and then two date columns.
The actual setup is much more complex than that, but that's the general idea.
I use the same concept for my YTD tracking. I spent extra time setting up the 1st year making sure it was perfect and everything was linked together so that for the following years all I have to do is save a folder as new then go into a single sheet and update the year (cell links carry the update to the rest of the metrics sheets).
So I don't have to adjust those hierarchies anymore either.
@Catherine Hall Look at you stirring the pot with your very first post. Hahaha. Just kidding. 😜
As you can see there are a lot of different ways to approach things in Smartsheet depending on your needs. The "best" solution for you may be something very different than what works for me or anyone else.
One of the things I like about this Community is that different opinions and additional options for solutions are definitely not frowned upon or considered "stealing someone's thunder".
The Smartsheet Community (in my experience) has been one of open knowledge sharing where even "simple" questions aren't "judged" or "looked down upon" and are answered without a condescending attitude.
Compared to other "communities", the Smartsheet Community has been one of my personal favorites to interact with.
So... Welcome and best of luck (and don't forget the coffee and bubble wrap 🤣)!
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Thank you for this consideration of putting this project together... so... i know this defeats the whole purpose... but I feel like what I would need to see is a VIDEO of HOW IT WAS done... with talking through of ... this is what a form is, why i chose this to be put here... and all that... like beginning to end how is ONE "project thingy" created... I think once I see one it will make more sense... but first... i think there was a link to another video someone posted ... so maybe that's in there an i just haven't gotten there yet... but THANK YOU for posting this!
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So many very valuable perspectives here! Thank you to everyone who posted/contributed, esp with the dialogue on the use/non-use of the primary column... YAY on there not being "one answer" that my brain just cannot conceive of. I think I shall leave it blank for now until maybe some "gollee I wish this grid could... x" jumps out at me. Right now I have a Contacts sheet with Fname, Lname, Email (which can change), a multi-select "Role" field and then a set of listservs that are built off the Role(s) column via formulas (basically flags for which users get to be on which listservs based on their roles). The FIND function is different than Excel in that it returns 0 instead of ERR when not found.... this is one minor aspect of the overall project management, but is the first ask, so I'm starting here... and beginning to feel almost a little ... confident to start building... fingers crossed....!
again, THANK YOU everyone!
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Happy to help! 👍️
And yes... Good ol' FIND. The only function that can be used to search for something that does not throw an error when there is no result. Haha. Were you able to figure something out for that?
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oh, yeah, thanks - i rock formulas. probably i did an if find (greater than) 0 to create the flag. i'm not scared of the formula part, it's the system part... but I'm REALLY stoked about this onboarding video - i think this is JUST the beginning I needed! :)
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np on the training catherine, it probably isn't the best thing to solo when you don't have an experienced user at your side if you have questions. If you do attempt it and have issues please feel free to PM me on here and I'll help the best I can.
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LOL... i think i'm supposed to be "patient zero"... ;)
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Thank you - just signed up for conference and i'm taking your suggestion to read every post and click every button to see what everything does. I will NOT go down without a fight! LOL
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@Catherine Hall Hahaha. Not without a fight. ✊
Also... I'd like to echo L's offer to help except I don't think my PM's are turned on here in the Community. You can however start a new post and "@mention" me the same way I "@mention"ed you in the beginning of this comment, and I will be happy to help as much as I can.
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Thank you, @Paul Newcome and @L@123! All your help has gotten me off to a decent start.... I've built my first grid with formulas and ... well... now I'm off to check on how to find data that I "copy/pasted" (for lack of knowing a better way to import from excel to an existing grid)... only problem... i apparently had a filter on when i imported and now that I've deleted the filter... the data is both there and not accessible. SO i think I will need to re-import.. .or maybe I should just start from scratch and rebuild the whole grid fresh since apparently I've already corrupted something... ?
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