Automations: include attachments

Sebastien

When selecting attachments for an Automation Workflow, we should have the option to include all the attachments in the notification email instead of sending only the last attachment if it was attached after the last save of the sheet.

Christine Adams

Hello, I have run into issues repeatedly with our users when I send them an automated email letting them know a PDF attachment is ready for them they click the link then get lost on the sheet, they forget how to find and download the correct attachment. I would be really helpful if they could just get the automated email with the attachments from that row included as attachments to the email.

Also, I find that they cannot access the attachments without having a user ID and password and the forms we created were unrestricted to avoid having them need a user ID and password. So now I have to get them all set up just to access the attachment and download their itinerary.

Stella Marie Espedido

I've noticed that only attachments added real-time were being added to the email alerts as automated emails.

However, if the attachments are being added or changed, days before the automation workflow trigger happens, it's not gonna get included on the email alert.

This feature should have no restrictions in the first place as attachments are an essential part of a documentation.

Sending it manually defeats the purpose of setting your automation workflow to alert someone when a criterion is met.

Hope you can consider this idea for future enhancement, thank you.

bialkow

Hello,

I could repeat the same request as the colleagues in this post did to enable sending attachments when an automated workflow is executed regardless when attachment appeared there. Currently this function is not present that is a true pity. As as a workaround, Smartsheet could enable including in the workflow message at least a direct link to the attachment. How does it sound?

Regards!

Susan L.

I'm having a similar issue. I'd like to include an attachment in an automated workflow when a particular status is changed, BUT, Smartsheet doesn't include attachments unless they are the triggering event (see screenshot below). I'd simply like to attach a file to a row and have that same attachment included as part of my automation message without having to make the physical act of attaching the file be the trigger. Note that the "Include attachments" options does not work in this scenario.

What happens now:

What I want to happen (sensitive information redacted):

MPound

I agree, the ability to include attachments to automated emails is vital. I'm also finding colleagues are getting lost in the sheet when they click the link in the email. Its really slowing down one of our internal processes too as we need to forward on the detail collected in a form to another department that won't use the smartsheet to download the attachments so we then need to have the automated email sent to the requestor for them to add the attachments to send.

Marlana K.

We use the Generate documents feature to generate a PDF that needs to be sent to another department to load into an application they use for tracking. The only way I have found that I can send this PDF is through an update request which requires them to open the request and download the PDF then upload into their system, creating additional steps for that department. What we are looking for is a way to just send the PDF attachment no links to the sheet.

Any suggestions or work arounds that anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

Donna Kesterson

I have the exact same need. I need to send the attachment, nothing else. I also need to be able to send a single row at a time. We receive multiple requests at the same time, but need the requests to flow into our case queue for proper tracking and disbursement one at a time. Also looking for work arounds. If we could send just the attachment, we would send it directly to the requestor, instead of flowing through our case queue.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Donna Kesterson and others,

I hope you're well and safe!

As a workaround, you can trigger an Update Request and include attachments, and it will always include the attachments.

I used this method recently in a client solution to include instructions for EV charging, and at the same time, we asked the customer for feedback on the work.

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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