Automation spanning multiple sheets

Current organization: within a single folder, there are about 10 sheets, each for a different project. The same Assignee will be present in multiple sheets.

I want an automation that will send a daily email to each Assignee listing all of their open tasks (i.e. start date has been met). I can do this for each individual sheet, but then the Assignee receives multiple emails when they are in multiple sheets. That's cumbersome; I want just one email.

I believe what I am needing is the ability to create an Automation at the Folder level (rather than sheet level).

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KPH

You can only create automations at sheet level but you could have a two-step automation.

Step 1 in the individual sheets use the automation you have to copy the rows to another central sheet rather than send the alert.

Step 2 create the alert automation in the second sheet (where you will have all the rows to alert on). If you record a date as the final step in this automation, you can use that to ensure those rows are not included in subsequent emails.

Lane F

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/422997#Comment_422997

this may answer a lot of my issues! I have many separate project sheets which have action items with due dates (all owned by me). Currently, each sheet is set up to send me a reminder when a due date is approaching or overdue, but that results in many separate emails from Smartsheet.

If I set up a new central sheet with the copied action items from all of my separate sheets, I can set up automation from the new sheet (named "Due Date Automation") to send a single email with all of the rows with due date approaching or passed. When I complete the project action item, won't I have to update the same item in both the project sheet AND the Due Date Automation sheet? Is there any way to keep the Due Date Automation sheet current?

I have a report of action items that pulls the incomplete action items from all of my project sheets into one central view, but unfortunately I can't set up automation in a report. That's ultimately what I'm trying to create.

Thanks for any ideas!

Andrée Starå

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/489521#Comment_489521

Hi,

I hope you're well and safe!

You can set up a recurring send-out of the report instead, and that could include all the sheets.

Would that work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Smartsheet Expert Consultant & Partner / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅ Did I help answer your question/solve the problem? Please support with💡 ⬆️ ❤️, and/or ✅ Answer. This will make it easier for others to find a solution or help answer! I appreciate it, thank you! 🙏

KPH

Hi @Lane F

I would just maintain the original project sheets and consider the Due Date Automation sheet as a temporary sheet used only to trigger the emails and never referred back to.

You would set up the automation on the main sheets to send rows to the Due Date Automation sheet when they need to be included in an email. Have an automation on the Due Date Automation sheet trigger the email and add a date to those rows to say the message has been sent and they should not be included again. Next day, new rows will be added to the Due Date Automation, new emails sent. You just work on the original sheet and forget the other one exists.

Would that work?

Lane F

Thanks for your ideas @KPH! That's a very interesting thought and I will see if I can get it to work for me.

All the best,

Lane

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