Auto Functions w/ Update Requests

Hello,

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to 1) automatically add a new child row once someone has completed an update and 2) send out a "report" of updates (children rows) with the update requests so the person who the task is assigned to can see their previous updates.

As of right now I add a new child row (updates) under each parent row (project) and enter the due date for the updates. The automations to collect project updates get sent out based on these due dates which are monthly.

Maybe there is a better way to do this as well. I am open to suggestions. The sheet purpose is to collect project updates monthly from different teams. The columns that can't be seen in the below image are fields for the team leads to update on.


Best Answer

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee Admin
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Andrew Moore

    Hierarchy in sheets is currently unable to be automated; this means that no, there's no way to automatically add a new child row to a sheet. (Please let our Product team know about your request by filling in this form, here!)

    For your second question, yes, you can configure a workflow to send out a list of rows in an email on a specific time frame, such as once a week or once a month (see: Create a Time-Based Automated Workflow). You would want to send it out to Contacts in a Contact Column, so each person only sees their own rows (see: Select your Recipients), and you could use a Condition to filter the rows so they only see ones that say "Update Completed" in your status column (see: Condition Blocks: Filter What Your Automated Workflows Send).

    Another way to do this might be to set up a Dashboard:

    This Dashboard could house a Form that they can use to submit their weekly updates.

    Then you could use a Report Widget to display rows that are assigned to the Current User, so they each see their own version of the Report when accessing the Dashboard. Newly submitted rows/updates would automatically appear in the Report.

    Let me know if you'd like to see a screen capture of the process above!

    Cheers,

    Genevieve

Answers

  • Genevieve P.
    Genevieve P. Employee Admin
    Answer ✓

    Hi @Andrew Moore

    Hierarchy in sheets is currently unable to be automated; this means that no, there's no way to automatically add a new child row to a sheet. (Please let our Product team know about your request by filling in this form, here!)

    For your second question, yes, you can configure a workflow to send out a list of rows in an email on a specific time frame, such as once a week or once a month (see: Create a Time-Based Automated Workflow). You would want to send it out to Contacts in a Contact Column, so each person only sees their own rows (see: Select your Recipients), and you could use a Condition to filter the rows so they only see ones that say "Update Completed" in your status column (see: Condition Blocks: Filter What Your Automated Workflows Send).

    Another way to do this might be to set up a Dashboard:

    This Dashboard could house a Form that they can use to submit their weekly updates.

    Then you could use a Report Widget to display rows that are assigned to the Current User, so they each see their own version of the Report when accessing the Dashboard. Newly submitted rows/updates would automatically appear in the Report.

    Let me know if you'd like to see a screen capture of the process above!

    Cheers,

    Genevieve