Simple Workflow Not Triggering

Hi,

I have a very simple workflow set up using "TODAY()" date as a formula.

Basically it's a tracker with due dates, and if a particular task is not "Complete" by the due date, the status will change to "Overdue". Let me emphasis that there are no external links on this sheet and the formulas work fine.

The workflow is as follows:

The Trigger is not working, and what I'm finding from testing, is when I set a deadline to go "Overdue" overnight and come back, the status has correctly changed to Overdue but when I log in to the sheet, it's basically asking me to save this change.

It's only when I click on the save button that it triggers the automated email. I don't want to have to log in every day and "Save" especially when it's all formulate to change the status automatically.

Don't recall having this problem previously on other sheets, can anyone help please? I can't change the workflow to run daily, it won't allow me to for this particular workflow.

Kind regards,

Mark

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Accepted answers

Gia Thinh

The solution I suggest will replace the formula to update the Overdue status that helps overcome the TODAY() issue. Then this Overdue change will trigger your existing workflow run .

The TODAY() function requires you to open the sheet everyday and save it to update the Status. This problem is a very common case for everyone.

Gia Thinh

I am happy that it works for you.

You can duplicate the workflow to change the Status at different time daily, example 7AM, 12PM, .. to make it update faster.

All comments

Gia Thinh

HI @Mark_Gibbons_1 ,

I got an idea. You can create a new workflow that runs daily to set the Status = "Overdue" as the screenshot below

Then this Overdue change will trigger your existing workflow run .

Hope it works for you.

Mark_Gibbons_1

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/433177#Comment_433177

Thank you for response. The status already changes to "Overdue" based on the formula's I've rolled out, the problem is triggering the workflow to send automated email when the status changes to "Overdue".

What you are suggesting is a different methodology to achieve the status change to "Overdue" so rather than a cell formula we use a workflow, but would this fix the underlying issue which is the trigger to automatically notify team members when the status changes to "overdue"?

Gia Thinh

The solution I suggest will replace the formula to update the Overdue status that helps overcome the TODAY() issue. Then this Overdue change will trigger your existing workflow run .

The TODAY() function requires you to open the sheet everyday and save it to update the Status. This problem is a very common case for everyone.

Mark_Gibbons_1

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/433190#Comment_433190

Hi Gia, I've now tested this, and tweaked the workflow to take into account other scenariors.

This is great, I was not aware of this issue previously, and I think it's because all the other sheets that are in use get updated on a daily basis, as such the "Overdue" messages do get prompted, but this one will be different as I think the team will only interact with it monthly, so setting up the workflow to change the status to "Overdue" is perfect, this does come with two small drawbacks though:

The Status will no longer updates instantly based on changes to "Tracking" or "Due Date", but will only update once daily
I have to set up numerous different workflows for column Status to change to other things driven by Tracking column, haven't tested this yet, but hopefully it works.

It's strange because I did google the problem and couldn't find anything that gave me the "Workflow" solution, thank you for taking the time, much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Mark

Gia Thinh

I am happy that it works for you.

You can duplicate the workflow to change the Status at different time daily, example 7AM, 12PM, .. to make it update faster.

Rbeier

This was really helpful for me! I have been going in circles for months trying to find a solution to having an email sent to our ticketing system to generate more than one ticket based on expiration dates. This idea pointed me in the right direction!

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