Automatic sorting

lisa.nichols43261 · 04/03/18

i have a sheet that has data with dates added from a form. it always adds a new request from the form to the top and i have to manually sort it by date in descending. is there not a way to have it automatically add the data by the date in descending order?

Mike Wilday · 04/03/18

You can either set the form options to add the row to the bottom of the sheet, or you can create a report to sort the data automatically.

See screenshot for setting where your form entries appear.

https://help.smartsheet.com/node/522221#manageform

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/522214-creating-reports

lisa.nichols43261 · 04/03/18

Thank you but i need it to sort on the sheet itself and not a report.

we use this for our employees to request PTO. We need it to sort by the day they are requesting off. right now it just can either put the request on top or bottom with no matter of the date it is for.

Mike Wilday · 04/03/18

Hi Lisa,

Auto-sorting is not possible in the original smartsheet. Is there a specific reason why a report that includes every column in the main sheet, sorted by the request date wouldn't work? If you have access to all the data in the report, and can make changes to any of those rows, why wouldn't a report work?

lisa.nichols43261 · 04/05/18

the report aspect is not what we are looking for because our employees are already complaining about all the different sites, systems, and sheets they have to use. if we add another place they have to go other than the sheet they have been using for 2 years now and finally use to, they will lose their minds lol.

i will just manually keep doing it i guess

Mike Wilday · 04/05/18

Hi Lisa, I totally understand.

Chris_R · 10/04/18

Smartsheet people:

I want the auto sort functionality as well. I don't want extra reports and workarounds, I want my main sheet to keep itself sorted on several levels according to criteria I can set.

Don't tell me that your product can't do this: that only means it is an inferior and weak tool that doesn't work well for me.

Make this a MAJOR priority for the team programming new capabilities and features and MAKE it happen.

Andrée Starå · 10/04/18

Hi Chris,

It seems like something like this is coming later in the year. I'm not 100% sure that it will do exactly what you want. It will automatically move rows or cells it seems.

We will know the details later this year.

Can you tell me more about how you would want to use it?

I hope this helps you!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

@chrisjameson · 10/14/18

Hi Andree

I too have found issue with Smartsheet not having an automatic sorting function and i highly recommend that users are given this option.

My team needs to filter through a lot of rows and more often than not the user struggles to find the row they are looking for. Sorting the rows consistantly is a way of making this easy.

For example my team uses the sheet as a league table of projects with the best at the top. Its keeps it recognisable. However this requires manually sorting the sheet, and that can only be done by the admin user.

Automatic sort function would be a game changer! I can imagine all businesses would benefit from this function.

Please implement asap!

Thanks

Chris

Andrée Starå · 10/15/18

Best option at the moment is filters or reports.

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment.

Best,

Andrée

Chris_R · 10/26/18

I'll be very pleased to see it happen.

I track projects in a sheet and I keep it organized by delivery due date. I usually have a filter applied that hides all completed projects so I am only looking at the ones we are currently working on. Any time I add a project or change a due date. I have to disable the filter, re-sort the sheet ascending on the Delivery Date column, and then turn the filter back on. It is a clunky and cumbersome process... if I change that date on a project, I want it to simply jump up or down in the order accordingly the moment I enter the new date. (Perhaps this should default to a 'confirm re-sort' dialogue - that I could turn off).

Even having to turn the filter off to sort the sheet grinds my gears every time - I should be able to sort without disabling the filter.

Also - right now I don't bother with multiple tiers of sort, since i have to redo manually every time. I should be able to set up a Sort as a named preset much the way that Filters operate.

Chris

artaylor · 12/26/18

I work as a service coordinator and our entire region is considering switching over to Smartsheet so I'm looking into functionality setbacks. Not having an autosort is one of them. We are continually adding data (we schedule up to 100 appointments a day) and then having to resort when working in the main sheet because the data does not populate by sort criteria and I cannot save sort criteria to simply click a button and resort either. This is extremely ineffective from a time management standpoint and from a resource management standpoint. I cannot work off a report because I need to see the current active data for any given tech (or more than one) in any given time slot and area, by date and then be able to add an appointment and see that appointment in order so that I can schedule further appointments around existing ones.

Is there a solution upcoming for the lack of expanded sort functionality?

Mike Wilday · 12/26/18

Hi Art,

Based on your needs I don't see a huge issue with using a report. You could set up a quick form for creating new appointments. And then just refresh your report to see the sorted information including the new appointments. The only drawback to the reports is that you can't enter new rows on a report. But if you have a simple link to add a new appointment via a form, you could then just refresh the report to include the new sorted row.

Reports are always "live" views of all the data from the original sheet(s). So if data gets updates in Smartsheet and you refresh your report it will be the most current. And you can include all the users OR limit it to particular users so there won't be any issue there.

Let us (the community) know if you have any questions or concerns and we'd be glad to give you feedback or input.

Andrée Starå · 12/27/18

Hi Art,

Please submit an Enhancement Request when you have a moment.

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

agp · 01/04/19

I agree! I've added an enhancement request, but wanted to cast my vote here as well.

I very much need a solution that creates the correct sort *in the sheet* so my team has the information easily accessible and sorted when they enter new data. A report can also be resorted by users, so it doesn't solve the problem - even if it wasn't problematic in other ways.

A big "please make this happen" from me!

aduh95 · 02/08/19

Hello,

I would much love to have a way to auto-sort a smartsheet; I am using it to share the backlog with my managers, and I need to sort it by priorities and date; I can use the sort algorithm, but it does not memorize the only choice I always make, and that's driving me crazy.

I think you should really consider having a "Re-sort" button that memorizes the last sorting settings requested and re-do it; a truly automatic would be even nicer of course, but I can understand it's harder to implement.

Automatic sorting

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