conflict on workflow automations

Nero Naidoo

hi There,

need some help, please. I have two workflows.

1. when status changes to "submitted for review", a request for the update will trigger daily at a certain time based on 2 conditions and set to the reviewer. te reviewer will get one email with a list of items for review - this works the first time I set it, but when i change the time to test again, it sends one email per item.
2. The second workflow is supposed to follow the first after the requests have been reviewed where the condition is if "review staus" changes to Reviewed or Rejected, send a request for an update to the resolver - one email per request. this only seems to work when the reviewer request for the update is submitted as one email per review, however, if it is sent as a list, this workflow does not trigger.
3. I also tried to add both of them as one workflow rule, but I may not be doing it correctly as it doesn't work.

here are the workflow diagrams:

1. submit for review

Update resolver when the request has been reviewed

Genevieve P.

Hi @Nero

The reason you're seeing sporadic behaviour in your first workflow, either sending as a list or as one-email-per-row, is due to the placeholders you have in your text, {{these}}.

See the bullet points at the bottom of this Help Article: Dynamically Add Cell Data in the Subject and Body of Request Messages

"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."

Is it possible that for your first test you sent out more than 7 rows, and for the other tests there were less than 7 rows triggered?

You can either remove out your column reference placeholders to keep the Update Request as a batch request, or ensure that less than 7 rows are triggered per-person per-day if you prefer having it sent as individual emails.

Let me know if this has helped or if you still are seeing issues with the second workflow, too!

Cheers,

Genevieve

Nero Naidoo

Hi Genevieve,

thank you for your response, doesn't make sense as I'm not referencing a unique identifier, but understand that it may be a limitation. that however doesn't answer the second part of the workflow which is to notify the resolver once the ticket has been reviewed. this only works when the reviewer gets multiple emails and reviews individually but does not when the reviewer submits more than one review from a single mail. Any ideas on what would trigger that failure

Genevieve P.

Hi @Nero

The {{Column References}} will each be seen as unique since it's referencing a unique cell in the sheet, even though the value inside the cell may be duplicated in all the rows being sent. This is why it will split up the automation to send one-email-per-row if there are 6 or less.

In regards to your second automation, I haven't heard of the trigger only happening if the update is happening through individual forms versus a batch of forms. Are you completing all the forms at the same time when it comes through as a group? Do you receive the update requests inside Smartsheet (in the bell / notifications tab).

Is it possible that your Personal Notification settings are set to not send notifications if you are the user making the change? (Account > Personal Settings > Notifications > Include my changes in sheet notifications).

Could you post a screen capture of the underlying sheet set-up, but please block out sensitive data?

Cheers!

Genevieve

Nero Naidoo

Hi Genevieve,

It seems to ow work after removing the {{column refernces}}, but I've encountered another problem.

So here's the gist of my workflow"

when a ticket is completed, it triggers request update workflow to the requester. the requester has the option to reopen the ticket by checking the reopen box. once the reopen box is checked, the status will change from completed to reopened. if the resolver then updates and changes the ticket back to complete, the requester, if still not satisfied, can reopen the ticket again. when this happens, instead of changing the ticket status from competed to Reopened, it creates another row with the status as reopened

Sorry for all the questions, it seems as I fix one thing, something else breaks😓

Genevieve P.

Hi @Nero

Update Requests are associated with already created rows, they can't create new rows. Is it possible that you have a different workflow on the same sheet which is copying data? Or that the requester is submitting a regular form?

It would be helpful to see the workflow you have set up for the "re-opened" trigger.