Multiple forms on the same sheet?

I'm working on a Sheet that needs to be completed by 4 separate departments in sequence.

The way I've designed it so far is that department 1 completes a form.

Using the update form function and some automation, I've then linked all the the answers completed by the 1st department with department 2 completing the hidden columns and so on for department 3+4.

Is there another way of doing this? It was a right pain linking all the previous answers completed.

I was thinking some automation to request a new form be completed? Form 1 completed by Department 1, Form 2 completed by Department 2. However Department 2 need to see the answers from Department 1 before they can complete their form.

I'm not sure how I would get the information from form 1 to department 2.

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Accepted answers

Jeff Reisman

@Jack Parry

As long as you include the column in the list of specified fields, it will show up in the Update request email and on the update request online form. If the column has data in it already, the data will be there. If it's a formula field, the value of the formula will show up also, but on the update form it will be read only.

Here are 3 fields that were populated already when the update request was sent, displayed in the email:

And here they are in the update Request form:

All comments

Jeff Reisman

@Jack Parry

When creating the Update Request automation, you can select which fields the recipient sees in the online Update form.

In the automation for the Dept 2 update request, click on Customize message:

Here you can set it to only include specific fields. These are the only fields that will appear in both the email and on the online update form.

So Dept 2's update request will show Dept 1's initial entries, Dept 3's update request can show Dept 1 and Dept 2's entries if desired, etc.

Jack Parry

@Jeff Reisman

So that is exactly the way I did, but I had to add all the department 1 fields that I wanted to be shown to Department 2 by adding the {} for each column:

Hopefully in the future their will be an option to select the fields in the Message rather than have to type them!

Thanks,

Jack

Jeff Reisman

Aha, so you want the Department 2 people to see Department 1's data but ONLY in the email message itself, and NOT on the Update form, correct? So the Department 2 folks have to look at the email itself while filling in the online update request form. You can submit an Enhancement Request, asking to add the ability to select columns in the custom message field instead of typing the {{ColumnName}} manually.

One thing to be aware of with that kind of setup: If the Department 1 people enter 7 new form submissions nearly simultaneously, all within a minute, then the Department 2 people will not receive 7 separate Update Request emails, one for each row. They will only receive 1 single update request, with none of the custom field info in the subject line nor in the message body, and the update form will have 7 pages to it, one for each row. Here's why:

This is because Smartsheet is designed to group alerts together when it can. When automation triggers an alert or update request, the system waits about a minute to see if there are any others being triggered under the same automation. Without any field information in the message subject or body, Smartsheet will send multiples as a single alert or update request. However, when there is field information in the subject or body, Smartsheet will keep them as separate messages or update requests... But there is a 6 row limit on this. Any more than that, the system strips out the field info from the subject and body, and sends them all as one message or request. It's a system resource preservation measure.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Jack Parry

I hope you're well and safe!

To add to Jeff's excellent advice/answer.

Here's a possible workaround or workarounds

You could add all of the previous information in a so-called helper column and only reference that column in the message.
Another option that might help could be the Premium App, Dynamic View.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Jeff Reisman

@Andrée Starå That's a good idea, which triggered me to come up with another that eliminates the need to even list any fields in the message body.

You could utilize a helper column with a formula that concatenates the field values you want Department 2 to see. Include that helper field in the list of fields you want on the update request, and it shows up in the update request email. It's also present on the update request online form, but since it's a formula field, it appears as a READ ONLY field.

(probably not a big time saver if you have a lot of fields, but it would solve the multiple update requests issue, and eliminate the need to rely on the email message to get the Dept 1 field info. )

Andrée Starå

@Jeff Reisman

Thanks! Excellent!

I was thinking the same thing, but op mentioned that they wanted to have it added to the message, or a least that's how I understood it.

Jack Parry

@Jeff Reisman @Andrée Starå

I was under the impression that I had to list the fields in the message, otherwise department 2 couldn't see the previous fields completed on the update form?

Without the fields in the message, this is what populates on the update form:

The helper column, would it just be a case of =[Column1]+[Column2]?

Thanks,

Jack

Jeff Reisman

@Jack Parry

Here are 3 fields that were populated already when the update request was sent, displayed in the email:

And here they are in the update Request form:

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