Does Smartsheet have a capability to send a task to Gmail or Google Calendar?

Deanna Vandermeer

I have not come across this before, but we have a user who is asking whether or not Smartsheet has the capability to send a task or calendar invite to their Gmail or to their Google Calendar. I was not aware of this being something they could do but I have set it up so they receive their automated alerts when a task is ready for them to work on. But they are wondering if this could go a step further because they are not wanting the alert to be sent when triggered but rather they want it sent daily, which it is now doing. However, the daily email gets sent at midnight and they are not liking that as by the time they report to work it is already buried in their inbox. I looked in to see if there was a way for me to set up a custom time of delivery for the alert but for this particular task I am not finding a work around. Setting it up as a recurring email is also not going to work because a condition must be met first before the alert can be sent. So I just thought I would reach out to see if anyone in Smartsheet Community knows of a way or has other ideas. Thanks.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Deanna Vandermeer

What about setting up a Time-Based automation where the trigger is based on a date (daily), and having a Condition Block set for if it meets certain criteria? (See: Create a Time-Based Automated Workflow.) This would allow you to set the time that the workflow runs each day.

Otherwise, you can Publish a Calendar View of a sheet to a Google Calendar (see: Use a Smartsheet Calendar with Google Calendar).

If you didn't want all tasks to appear in the Calendar at once, what if you set up a copy row workflow as the trigger, which copies the row into a secondary sheet that is used for its Calendar View? Then the new row will appear in this other, Calendar sheet, which will then cause it to appear in their synced Google Calendar, as well.

Let me know either of these options will work for you!

Cheers,

Genevieve

Deanna Vandermeer

We already have an automation in place but she isn't liking it because she wants to be alerted on the actual date that it "comes due" and at a certain time. But the dates vary so the time-based automated workflow option does not work, we tried it already. So instead I created her an automation that will alert her daily based off another criteria that I set up in a helper column with a formula and it works but she didn't want it to alert her when triggered but instead just alert her once a day and that daily occurs at midnight (but I think I have some other ideas for workarounds). I also told her to check out the Publish to Google Calendar option to see if she might like that.

I like reaching out to the Community because sometimes I find great ideas from like-minded "out of the box" thinkers such as myself, so I appreciate you replying, thank you so much. Looks like your thinking and mine are in alignment.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Deanna Vandermeer

Yes, it does look like we have the same ideas!

Although, and my apologies if I'm still misunderstanding the situation, but what about setting up a time-based automation that's based on that Due Date column? It can run on the date in that column and at a specific time:

Happy to help think of other ways as well, but it sounds like you've run through most of the available options.

Cheers!

Genevieve

Kplan

@Genevieve P. somewhat related but not precisely, I am able to export the Calendar view to the Google calendar, but I can't get the duration of the task to the calendar, so Smartsheet just sends the start date but doesn't calendar it for the duration of the task.

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kplan

Is it possible that the Calendar View set-up you have in Smartsheet is only using one of your Date Columns?

The first thing I'd check is to ensure that your View in Smartsheet has a date range selected as your display option.

Let me know if this helped or not!

Cheers,

Genevieve

Kplan

Hi Genevieve,

I will try this, to see if will export and calendar the dates to the google calendar, but I think your product team advised me that Smartsheet cannot export date ranges for each task to the Google calendar. Thanks so much for responding!.

Kplan

Where do you find the calendar settings in Smartsheet to change the date ranges?

Kplan

Actually,

I found the settings in Smartsheet and was able to change the calendar view, however when I try to publish it to my Google calendar, it doesn't calendar the date ranges in the google calendar. This is where there needs to be a product enhancement (I think). I may be able to export an image of the calendar view and use that.

Thanks,

Karen

Genevieve P.

Hi @Kplan

Would you be able to post screen captures of what you're seeing? (But block out sensitive data.)

Here's an example of my Calendar View in Smartsheet where I have tasks spanning multiple days:

Then when I publish the Calendar to my Google Calendar, these tasks appear as all-day tasks at the top:

Let me know if I'm misunderstanding what it is you're looking to do!

Thanks,

Genevieve