Automation for more than 1 Row

Hello,

I really like the automation that Smartsheet brings, especially now you can use place holders for the Column Headings and send messages now.

However, with the tasks that we do, sometimes an automation will be for a number of rows, not just for a single row. When the automation is sent, it seems to collaborate the automation into 1 message and the place holders in the Subject dont work. It just seems a bit messy. (I have included a screenshot of the Automation i created today)

automation issue.JPG

Is there a way of changing a setting so that Smartsheet will send a single message per row for its Automation. Im not bothered that i may get 10-20 individual messages, as i can work through them one at a time.

Many Thanks - Andy Mott

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Genevieve P.

Hi Andy,

How is your automation set up?

Here is some of the placeholder functionality explained (see the bottom of this Help Center article):

When using placeholders with Approval Requests, a separate notification will be generated for every row.
When using placeholders with Alert or Update Request actions in change-based workflows, placeholders will generate separate notifications if six or fewer rows are triggered simultaneously. If seven or more rows are triggered at once, the custom subject and body will be removed.
Placeholders will not apply to the subject of time-based Alert actions.
Placeholders will not apply to time-based Update Request actions.

It would be helpful to know a bit more about your process and what your currently workflow set-up looks like. If you could post a screen capture of the workflow open to edit (but remove any sensitive data) I'd be happy to help you think of alternate set-up ideas so you can use placeholders in the email message.

Cheers,

Genevieve

Andy.Mott

Hi,

Thanks for replying. The Automation is a simple Alert back to me to act as a reminder that i need to contact someone outside of our Company. I have attached the Workflow on this.

Workflow.JPG

My issue occurred when the automation picked up on 3 Entries that triggered the Automation to work. Are you saying that i should change the Automation to an Approval Request as this would come across as a single notification per row?

Many Thanks - Andy Mott

Genevieve P.

Hi Andy,

Actually, in this scenario an Alert running "When Triggered" should have sent out 3 separate notifications as you'd want (according to the behaviour listed above). I'll have to do some testing to see if this behaviour has changed and get back to you!

Andrée Starå

@Genevieve P

I've seen another user with a similar issue.

Let me know what you find out!

Genevieve P.

Hi Andy,

So I've just tested with the exact same alert on my own sheet. If you include the sheet link with the email then it will send multiple, separate emails per-trigger. However, when I changed my alert to only send the message, then it pulled the data from all three rows into one email.

Screen Shot 2020-10-08 at 11.56.17 AM.png

If this alert is just going to yourself, I would suggest changing the message to include some of the row data and the sheet link, which will then send separate emails per-row.

In all honesty, since it's a new feature to exclude the sheet link, I don't know if this way of combining emails is expected or not. You may want to reach out to Smartsheet Support if you are still encountering issues.

Thanks!

Genevieve

Andy.Mott

Hi,

Thanks for testing. I wanted to send the Data as a message, but i will change this to a Link to Sheet and Specific Fields and see how this works

Many Thanks - Andy Mott

KevinL

@Andy.Mott @Genevieve P @Andrée Starå

Hi folks, seems like many are experiencing this. I tried what @Genevieve P suggested by including the sheet link and it still grouped the changes. My use case was checking a box. Despite me having a {{cell}} placeholder in the text and the subject, it still groups the alerts. Even if I save after every trigger (ex: check box, save, next row check box save, etc.) it still groups the rows to 1 alert with all the rows referenced in the body What's even weirder is it didn't include my message at all.

Another thread with same issue...https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/57611/automation-how-to-send-one-email-notification-for-each-changed-row.

KevinL

Quick Update: The only solution workaround I found was changing the alert action to request update request. Although we won't use the Open Update Form functionality, we are still able to send an alert per row that includes applicable {{cell}} info with our instructions linking to consolidated report in the message. I guess that's better than nothing.

Andrée Starå

Hi everyone,

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Below is some clarification from Constantine.

Constantine Chou Employee 12/31/20

Hello there,

I noticed this thread has recently become active again, and hopefully I can provide some clarification on the issues you are experiencing!

When using placeholders with Alert or Update Request actions in change-based workflows, placeholders will generate separate notifications if six or fewer rows are triggered simultaneously. If seven or more rows are triggered at once, the custom subject and body will be removed.

For reference, you may read more about placeholders here:

Felicia Wilson

Hi, just testing this functionality now and it is not working as described above. I get one email that indicates "2 entries" instead of separate emails for each row that was triggered. I would prefer to have separate emails for each row. Is there a way to force this behavior?

Andrée Starå

Hi @Felicia Wilson

You'll have to have it trigger immediately and also add at least one placeholder.

Did 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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