"Send" row function now requires paid license - no advanced warning

JLC
JLC ✭✭✭✭✭✭
edited 12/09/19 in Smartsheet Basics

Why were we not informed about this? Copied below is the exact email I received from Smartsheet Product Info on September 17th. This is very frustrating to have a functionality stripped with no warning. We ran through this list with our teams to determine whether or not any of our free users would require an upgrade. This is not the user experience we would have preferred from our core system and using the send row functionality is an integral part of the way so many of our users work.

Over the past two weeks we have communicated to you upcoming changes we are making to the capabilities available to unlicensed users in Smartsheet. This email is to update you on one alteration to the list of features affected. Upon further review, we have decided that at this time we will maintain access to the View Cell History feature for all users. Please find the updated list below.

Effective September 19, the following actions will only be available to licensed users:

Sheets

  • Create and manage shared filters
  • Create conditional formatting
  • Lock rows and columns
  • Publish sheets
  • Edit project settings
  • Save sheets as templates

Reports and dashboards

  • Create or alter report definition (updates remain possible by any user, licensed or free)
  • Remove columns from a report
  • Publish reports and dashboards

Alerts, reminders, and requests

  • Create and manage manual reminders for other people
  • Create and manage manual update requests
  • Create and manage automated alerts and reminders

Home screen

  • Create workspaces

 

Comments

  • Andrée Starå
    Andrée Starå ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi Jaye,

    Another user got an answer.

    I called customer support today.  This is part of the Sept 19 changes for unlicensed users.  The rep I spoke to did not know why it was left out of the announcement email.  But he did send me a list of the new changes and the removal of send row for free users was on it.  

    We are implementing a work around using a contact list column and a workflow that emails rows based on input there.  But it's really no the same.  

    More info here: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=258f80b10559472490a602df64fb3fa6

    Hope that helps!

    Have a fantastic day!

    Best,

    Andrée Starå

    Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    work-bold

    SMARTSHEET EXPERT CONSULTANT & PARTNER

    Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

    W: www.workbold.com | E:andree@workbold.com | P: +46 (0) - 72 - 510 99 35

    Feel free to contact me for help with Smartsheet, integrations, general workflow advice, or anything else.

  • Gwyneth C
    Gwyneth C ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi Jaye,

    I am sorry that this change came as a surprise to you. On September 3rd, an email was sent to System Administrators notifying them of upcoming changes to free user capabilities. In that email we grouped features by category—not all capabilities were called out explicitly.

    We continue to believe free users play an important role in collaborating on the work you manage in Smartsheet and these changes will not impact their ability to participate by viewing, editing, and updating sheets and reports. However, we also believe that creating, owning, administering, or driving a process, program, or project in Smartsheet should require a paid license. The majority of unlicensed users will not be impacted by this change, less than 1% of the active unlicensed users in the last 90 days accessed one of these features.

    If you’d like more information about what capabilities now require a license, please see the following resources:

    • Customer Dashboard here (that's the dashboard that Andrée links to in his response here as well).
    • Help Center article on User Types here.

    Gwyneth Casazza

    Community Administrator

  • Nick Burrus
    Nick Burrus ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    We did not receive any such emails about these changes...

    Dr. St Nicholas Burrus DHA, PMP

    I build Smartsheets for the US Government, State Government, and about a dozen of the US Fortune 100s.

  • The removal of the send row functionality by unlicensed users is infuriating!!!  Instead of working on work, spent days scrambling to find a work around for this change. This change will force me to look look at solutions other than smartsheet.  

  • This is nothing more than trying to rack up the $.

    Cant send a row without license?


    Smart sheet is so focused on new "apps" and "advanced features" to charge for.

    And now this.


    Its getting out of hand. And i agree there is a problem with the system all the time now.