Why does my Automation not show checkboxes as cells allowed to be changed?
Hello,
Trying to set up an automation for PTO requests where once they have final approval it will check a checkbox column. This allows it to be automatically put into our employee scheduler.
When I go to the automation and do the change cells one, I only have option for my primary column, and some dropdown columns. In the description for the change cell values it includes checkboxes, not sure what I'm doing wrong on my end.
Couldn't find anything on the forums, thanks in advance for the help!
Answers
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Do you currently have a formula in the checkbox column?
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I don't, its marked as restricted to checkbox only being checked or unchecked.
There was nothing in the sheet so the checkbox wasn't even populating with the option to check it.
Thought that might have been the issue but when I put in some data as a test and had the checkbox showing but not checked, I am still running into this issue.
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Try unrestricting it to see if that frees it up.
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So, even though "yellow stars" and "red flags" ARE checkboxes, smartsheets ONLY recognizes the blue checkbox STYLE for this function.
Just another limitation to functionality for no good reason…
edit:
To the creepy guy, Paul Newcome, who is stalking me around the community forum,
You're not even talking about what this thread is about. What is your deal? Nobody said you couldn't make star or flag checkbox columns, obviously we can. I said that having one of those two styles of checkbox was a hinderance to using that column in automations, which is still 100% accurate, and still 100% a limitation to functionality.
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@CAS the CSA I just tested this, and it does allow restriction for the red flags and yellow stars that can be selected when creating a checkbox type column. Did you test this yourself before commenting, or are you just complaining on old posts for the sake of complaining?
This is what popped up when I tried to type a string of random letters into a flag column with the restriction turned on:
And again with the star…
As is true with all other column restrictions, Admin and Owner can override this, but they have to "Allow" for each instance as data is entered or turn off the restriction setting completely. Editors and lower permissions will only be able to enter data based on the column restriction.
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Yes, I know you can use stars and flags, this discussion is about using those columns in automation, which you cannot do.
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@CAS the CSA No one is stalking you. I had already commented on this thread which means I got a notification when another comment was made. This is true for anyone that comments on a thread that I have already commented on or bookmarked. The same goes for any other time I have commented on the same thread as you. I have been on this forum for 6 years now and have commented on a lot of threads. There are a lot of people that have seen my comments on more than one of their threads. It is not because I am stalking anyone. It is because I regularly answer questions and go through my notifications to try to give back to the Community that has helped me get where I am today.
As for me being wrong, it was a simple misunderstanding. I saw the comment regarding the restriction settings and didn't scroll up further. It was not whether or not you could make the star or flag columns. I thought you were complaining about the column restrictions not working based on them being set as stars or flags which is what I provided screenshots for. That was my misunderstanding. My apologies.
Now that I have read back through the thread and the original post, I see that the original post is specifically in regards to checkboxes which can now be updated using a Change Cell automation.
The flags and stars not being available in a change cell automation may be because they were previously part of the Symbols type column which cannot be updated via change cell automation. When they switched stars and flags over to the checkbox column type, the lack of functionality most likely carried over sticking with the flag and star "symbols".
If you are unhappy with the functionality of Smartsheet, feel free to browse the Product Ideas tab to see if anyone has already submitted an enhancement request for this functionality. If the idea has already been submitted, you can add your vote to it. If no one has, you can submit the idea yourself. Either way, please feel free to provide a link to the idea so that others searching for the same functionality can add their votes. This will let Smartsheet know that the functionality you are looking for is in fact wanted.
I am not sure exactly how often (I believe it is monthly or quarterly), but I do know that the Smartsheet dev team regularly looks through the submitted product ideas and selects some to be put onto the roadmap (based on votes) for implementation.
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@CAS the CSA The screenshots and edits you made to your original comment do help clarify exactly what you were looking for.
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Hi @CAS the CSA
I just wanted to hop in here to clarify - when you comment on a post it notifies people who were previously on that thread (depending on their notification settings).Since Paul had responded back in 2022, when you created a comment here it notified him, which is what alerted him to create a response.
In regards to your specific question, it sounds like you're looking to use Checkbox and Flag columns in Change Cell Value workflows. This is a request the Product team is looking for feedback on, so please add your vote and voice to this Product Idea: Automation to allow Cell Change for Checkbox "Flag" or "Star"
Older Question/Answer threads are not reviewed by the Product Team, but Ideas posted in the Product Ideas area are! If you have feedback, that's the best location to comment / add those notes (while still keeping within our Community Guidelines of being respectful).
Thank you,
Genevieve -
I wasn't offering feedback, I was answered a seemingly unanswered question with our findings.
That doesn't justify posting completely irrelevant remarks in an abusive and accusatory manner.
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@CAS the CSA Your multiple edits to your original comment after I had already responded provided more clarity into your intent. None of my comments were abusive or accusatory, and the only "irrelevant remark" was a mistake that I admitted to and corrected.
I believe it would be a great enhancement to the product if we could change star and flag based checkbox type columns in change cell automations. I added my vote to the idea that Genevieve provided to let Smartsheet know that I would be interested in a change. Offering feedback is a great way to let the dev team know what it is we are unhappy with in regards to the product. If you have not done so already, I invite you to add your vote to the idea as well.
The same goes for any other enhancements to the product you would like to suggest. General complaints such as requiring infinite helper columns for nearly every basic thing don't help the dev team make improvements. If more specific examples of an issue are provided along with suggestions on how it could work in the UI, the dev team can have something to work towards. Voting on existing ideas and providing new ones in the appropriate manner is the only way we can work towards enhancement of the product.
Posting actual questions is another great way to get help with various challenges. There may be some idea or way of making things work that you may not have thought of or even some potential feature that you may have missed. The worst thing that could happen then would be that the Community is unable to find a solution, in which case now you have a pretty solid enhancement idea.
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STOP!
