Any recommendations for third party form builders with advanced date field functionality?

Margaret Griffin · 07/26/21

I'm looking for a third party form builder that integrates well with Smartsheet, and provides additional functionality around date fields. We need to be able to easily restrict dates based on pre-set deadlines (i.e. report requests cannot be made for any date less than 12 business days in the future). Ideally we'd like report requesters to be able to view a calendar and only see the dates that meet certain criteria (i.e. more than 'x' days in the future and less than 'x' # of requests assigned to each analyst). Any suggestions?

Paul Newcome · 07/28/21

I am not sure if Google forms has the functionality you are looking for, but it does integrate very easily with Smartsheet.

Andrée Starå · 07/28/21

Hi @mgriffin

I hope you're well and safe!

To add to Paul's excellent advice/answer.

There are some workarounds that maybe could work in Smartsheet without any 3rd party service. I'd recommend starting to explore if it could be structured to work in that way.

Can you describe your process in more detail and maybe share the sheet(s)/copies of the sheet(s) or some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help. (share too, andree@workbold.com)

What do you think?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Brett Wyrick · 08/02/21

I think there's not many Form services out there that integrate with Smartsheet because, well, Smartsheet also does forms, so that's competition! I did a little searching and it looks like a few Form services can do this.

Formstack can handle Date Field logic based on today's date, and it looks like Formstack has a direct integration with Smartsheet. If you're looking for something direct to work with Smartsheet, I think this is your winner.

Google Forms can do it, but it appears it'll require someone tech-savvy working with the Google Forms API and some coding/scripting. It directly integrates with Smartsheet too.

JotForm also does date limiting, including a "dynamic" way of doing it with a simple "today+7" to add a week, but does not allow for a direct integration with Smartsheet. However, a third-party connector service could be used (details below).

You're may be best off setting something up with an app-to-app connector to do something like, "When the form is completed, insert a row in Smartsheet". You can do this with third-party tools like Microsoft's underrated Power Automate (formerly known as Flow), Integrately, or the stable service of Zapier.

In fact, if your organization has a Microsoft E3 license, you likely already have access to Power Automate.

Keep in mind, however, that most of the app-to-app automation services allow fairly generic updates to Smartsheet - that is, simple things like "When the form is completed, insert a row" which then inserts to the top or bottom of the sheet of your choice. If you're looking for something more specific, I do offer some services that can do things like inserting a row under particular headers (i.e., an item with a title of "Phase" goes under another row with the name "Project Plan"), adding form responses as comments based on dynamic text found in particular columns, etc. Contact info below.

I hope this gives your organization a better overview of what's available, and helps you to make a decision on a Form service! Wish you the best!

Paul Newcome · 08/02/21

@Brett Wyrick Thanks for the details on the different form functionalities! A lot of good info there.

Margaret Griffin · 08/02/21

Yes, thanks @Brett Wyrick! I will definitely look into Formstack, and will reach out if we need a more customized solution.

Joachim Mund · 08/02/21

@Margaret Griffin I believe https://www.appsheet.com/ will do the job and works perfekt with smartsheet. Costs are depending on your google workspace plan. It seems to be free for testing, we have google workspace enterprise and it is included.

Hope this helps!

Andrée Starå · 08/02/21

@Brett Wyrick

Yes, I agree. Great info! Thanks!

I'm actually a Formstack Partner, and it's really powerful, and the integration with Smartsheet is excellent.

Brett Wyrick · 08/02/21

@Margaret Griffin I just found an announcement made like 30 minutes ago from Smartsheet: New! Add real-time validation to fields on your form — Smartsheet Community

But sadly, the available validations are only for the following:

You can now add real-time validation to Text/Number fields to help collect error-free numbers, percentages, email addresses, and phone numbers. Email validation is also available for Contact fields.

I commented that this was great, but now we need MORE! And then added in that I was involved in this discussion. Anyone who wants dynamic date validation should also comment!

Kim M. · 06/22/22

I am creating a Training Request Intake Form to book / schedule live training sessions - the user will fill out the form with the pertinent details, including the date (that field works) they are requesting the training to be booked, and the start time/end time for the training session. What do I need to do to allow the user to select the start time / end time and timezone for the training session?

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Any recommendations for third party form builders with advanced date field functionality?

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