Selective Dropdowns

Peelercm · 06/26/24

I know that we can set up logic in Smartsheet forms to show certain columns/fields based on a previous selection. But what I'd like to do is have certain dropdown options show instead. Is this a possibility? I know I can do something similar in Excel with Data Validation, but I'm not seeing how to do it in Smartsheet.

For example, if I select "Quality Control" in my Area dropdown, I would only want certain dropdown options available in the Primary Issue dropdown.

Paul Newcome · 06/27/24

We can't do that in Smartsheet forms unfortunately. You would need to set up separate dropdown columns for each option within the first dropdown and use the field logic to show the appropriate one.

Matt Johnson · 06/27/24

Hi @Peelercm

If you don't mind some hidden helper columns on your sheet, here's how you could do it. Depending on how many optional dropdowns you need, and the complexity of the overall process, this may or may not work.

For each question that needs its own dropdown options, create a helper column specific with just those options. For the example above, the Primary Issue column would be the QC Primary Issue column on the sheet. The actual Primary Issue column would be a column formula saying IF QC Primary Issue is not blank, return that value, IF it is blank, check the next dropdown Primary Issue column…etc. This works fine if you need a few dropdown option columns but its not for all situations.

I hope that helps.

Matt

Peelercm · 06/27/24

Hi @Matt Johnson,

I have my area dropdown options split up now, but I would still like the selections there to reflect in the Primary Issue column (once they're selected). I think that's what you were referring to with the QC Primary Issue and the actual Primary issue, not sure. What would the formula look like to have the Primary column look at the rows in the helper columns and return the value (example below showing Quality Gate selections).