Dynamic dropdowns - Waterfall request

Mattisphere

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/341977#Comment_341977

@Olen Ronning This has been a common feature request for Smartsheet since at least 2015 when I first started using Smartsheet. Data Shuttle was Smartsheet's answer to that way back when, but forced a team with a few licenses to pay thousands of dollars per year for the one feature of centrally updated dropdowns and you have to setup workflows for every sheet (i.e. not useful at scale). A simple UX implementation would be allowing cross-sheet references for the "Values" of a Dropdown list column type. That would solve for central dropdowns, but not cascading dropdowns. What would flexibly solve for cascading dropdowns is being able to use the COLLECT function with a cross-sheet reference for the Values of a Dropdown list column type. You'd need to setup a column in Smartsheet for each "cascade" but I think that's preferable from a data structure anyways (so one could reference each category/sub-category of the cascading list discretely in reporting).

All of the stuff in the EAP is interesting, but the lack of development on CORE feature requests that have been around since the beginning of using Smartsheet hurts. There are a ton of examples of these types of requests - copying and pasting multiple formulas, folder permissions, unhide individual columns (aka list of hidden columns), pasting rows at their original nested level, using dates/structured data as column headers, automatic refresh of calculations in reports when changing a value (instead of having to press save and then press refresh with every change), multiple contact names with the same email address, users being able to filter reports and dashboards on their own, filter panes to include rows, custom color themes, color choices beyond shades of 8 colors, pivot tables that aren't a premium add-on, being able to collapse and expand selections/by level rather than only expand/collapse ALL, populate baseline Start/Baseline Finish when adding new rows, conditional formatting using relative references/ranges so you don't have to copy rules for EVERY column, formulas in conditional formatting, "Created" doesn't get overwritten every time an automation runs (created/ created by column has no meaning), and ability to overwrite column formula in individual cells. I am absolutely sure I'm missing really big, obvious ones, but these are what came to mind.

Marlei

We were able to do something similar using Data Shuttle. Not sure if this is helpful for what you are doing, but here is more information: Create dynamic dropdowns with Data Shuttle | Smartsheet Learning Center

Warren Labuschagne

@Marlei thanks for this. We have used this, however it won't help in forms. It would be great if you select an item and based on your selection in that column it filters results on another column.

Sherry Fox

Unfortunately for me, Data Shuttle is not an option, as it is a premium upgrade. And we don't have it. I miss features like this from excel that I could create without any extra required paid upgrades.

Juan Panzardo

Hello everyone, I hope you have started off a great 2024.

I'm one of those who eagerly awaits this, but I would like to mention that a few days ago, I found a video on YouTube with an alternative solution that you might find interesting.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I haven't been able to try it out, but it seems interesting.

I think there's a fee to see all the details, but I believe you have nothing to lose by watching the video and giving it a try.

I hope you find it useful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HaNxyfCAcw

Dayna

We shouldn't have to come up with these complicated workarounds to do what should be a basic function.

We want to implement SmartSheet across our department, but to do that, we need to ensure it is user-friendly. One way to make it user-friendly is to have drop-downs that have options based on a separate sheet, so that users don't have to go to the separate sheet on their own to see what wording is used - wording would have to be exact or specific when using VLookup to ensure information is standard across sheets. Having one master sheet where the correct language is stored and updated and added to as new projects are added is useful, but ultimately adds extra work for our users if they have to check that master list manually.

RAllen

Seen this above- agree- if we could consolidate lists in a column, the point the dropdown columns to use that column.

DLove

I would love to be able to limit the drop-down list based on the results of other cells. So we have a column called Status with dropdown options of Pending, Scheduled, Complete, and Cancelled. I want to eliminate the Pending, Scheduled, and Complete options unless other cells contain needed information. Currently, we have to do a lot of babysitting when someone marks something pending but does not have the appropriate columns filled out.

Gia Thinh

Hello,

I am pleased to introduce a solution for automatically updating dropdowns. Please take a look at the link below for our SmartDropdown solution, which is officially listed in the Smartsheet marketplace.

SmartDropdown for Smartsheet

For those who are interested, I would love learn more about your specific needs and how this solution could work best for you. Connect with me at :

Contact - Gia Thinh Co.

Melinda_eMS

We would love to have dynamic/conditional drop down lists also. My partner and I work with and in government departments that can have literally hundreds of teams and sections. We've been trying to sort a solution so a person can select a Directorate, then a Business Unit, then a Team - possibly even down to a fourth level. At this point we're just extremely frustrated by this as the error rate in people selecting an incorrect choice is huge.

Melinda_eMS

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/424365#Comment_424365

@Gia Thinh does SmartDropdown do cascading/conditional dropdown lists or just auto update of single drop down lists? It looks interesting, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for

Gia Thinh

Hello @Melinda_eMS,

I'd like to support you for this use case. Some questions:

1. Which Smartsheet item does that person work with : a Sheet that includes columns (Directorate, Business Unit, Team) with dropdown properties or a Form that includes dropdown fields (Directorate, Business Unit, Team)?
2. In case of a Form : Do you want a dependency relationship between Directorate, Business Unit, Team field? If you do, then we have a SmartForm for Smartsheet solution for you. Take a look at this Youtube video for more details (remember to enable English caption auto-translate).
3. In case of a Sheet : we have a SmartDropdown for Smartsheet solution for you. Take a look at this Youtube video for more details.

Ban

We need dynamic dropdowns

Gia Thinh

Hi @Ban ,

Could you please submit your request for SmartDropdown then we can support you?

Or you can contact me at thinh.huynh@giathinh.tech

Shannon Heward

When I attended the Smartsheet Conference in 2022 I heard dynamic dropdowns were coming very soon as they were one of the most requested items. I'm really surprised this item is not even listed as "On the Roadmap."