Applies to
Smartsheet
- Pro
- Business
- Enterprise
Blocks and Paths: Anatomy of an Automated Workflow
Building an automated workflow is similar to building a flowchart. You’ll place triggers, conditions, and actions together from a start block to one or more end blocks.
In the workflow builder:
- Select theAdd button
- Choose what you want to add (condition, condition path, action).
To conceptualize automation, think about workflows through the following framework: when a change triggers the workflow, if the row meets the conditions you set, then do the action specified.
See the table below for details on what these elements do.
| Element | Use for |
|---|---|
| Trigger block | 指定的日期和时间,configurat复发ion, or activities in the sheet that set the automated workflow into motion. |
| Condition block | Used to filter which rows are included in workflow actions on the same path |
| Action block | The type of automation (alert, approval, request, and more) that you want to take place as a result of the trigger and preceding conditions. Details on the different types of automation available can be foundhere. |
| Condition path | A line that connects blocks to depict different routes that your workflow may take depending on the conditions you set. Your workflow may have a single path from trigger to action or it may have several paths to indicate different actions based on preceding conditions. |
Automated Workflow Best Practices
Keep the following in mind as you set up your workflow:
- Type a name for your workflow in the upper-left corner of the workflow builder
- Make sure to Save your workflow (click save in the lower-right corner) after set up or after any changes. You can come back and make further changes to your workflow at any time.
- Each sheet can have up to 150 workflows.
- Each workflow can have up to 100 blocks. This includes the Trigger, Condition, and Action blocks.
- Each workflow can have up to 30 Action blocks.
- Condition blocks can have up to 20 condition statements (20 lines within the block).
- Attachment links included in Automated Workflow emails expire after 14 days.
- Set your trigger to take place an hour before the action should take place. This will ensure that technical issues don't prevent the action from taking place on time.
- To prevent infinite approval loops, cells containing cross-sheet formulas or cell links will not trigger automation which automatically changes the sheet (Move Row, Copy Row, Lock Row, Unlock Row, Approval Request, Record a Date, Assign People, Change Cell, Clear Cell). To work around this, consider using time-based automation or recurrence workflows.
- The more active workflows you have on a sheet, the slower the workflows will be. To improve performance, combine workflows that should be triggered together and deactivate older workflows that are no longer needed.
- Unlike formulas, workflows take a few seconds to process. Emails, update/approval requests, move row automations on large sheets, and older workflows that haven't been recently modified may take a few minutes to complete.