Whenever I drive into unfamiliar territory, I take a GPS device with me. New roads, new highways – it really helps to have some guidance when you’re someplace new. With maps, it all starts to make sense.
You can set up the same type of guidance in Smartsheet by putting together a
Navigational Sheet. This can serve as index of certain sheets, to help you and your team stay organized with a resource of direct sheet links for various processes. How cool is that?
A useful Navigational Sheet contains hyperlinks to other sheets, plus descriptions, and acts as a compass pointing direction in your Smartsheet account. This is particularly helpful for new collaborators as they’re getting familiar with Smartsheet (kind of like new drivers in an unfamiliar city).
Let’s take a look at a Workspace that could benefit from a Navigational Sheet:
Check out all of those folders! The team is separated into four divisions based on geographical locations. Some of the folders (Planning, Leads, New Sales, and Renewals) contain reports that are relevant to all divisions. Other information is relevant only to the specific division – for example, the quarterly sales numbers.
Let’s say a new member joined this team and needs access to the Workspace.
A Navigational Sheet is a simple starting point to explain the workflow of these sheets and folders.
Here are some tips and ideas for creating a Navigational Sheet:
- Create a new blank sheet in the workspace that is not organized into a folder.
If all your other sheets are in folders, this new sheet will be the only sheet in the top level of the workspace. Name the sheet "Start Here" or "For New Team Members" to draw their attention to the sheet. You can do this by clicking on the Workspace's name (in this case, "Sales") from the Home tab, clicking on the blue Create New button, and selecting New Blank Sheet.
- Add hyperlinks to this new sheet to lay out quick, easy pathways to other sheets.
To create a hyperlink, Windows users can right-click on a cell and select Hyperlink. Mac users can control+click on a cell to find this option. The Hyperlink form will pop up, enabling you to create a Link to Other Smartsheet.
Click <select sheet> to find a list of sheets available to you. Select one and you've got a link straight from the cell.
Anyone who is shared to the linked sheet will be able to click the link to open it up in a new tab.
- Use the second column for the description of each sheet. The hyperlinks you add to the Primary Column of your sheet will automatically include that sheet’s name.
To add more context to your guide, enter a description for each sheet that will be helpful to new users.
- Use the third column to indicate which team members use each sheet.
- Use Hierarchy to separate the rows into logical sections.
First, create the parent rows, applying formatting if desired (I've applied bold text and a light blue background color in this example).
Then, move the rows containing the sheet links underneath the appropriate heading by clicking on the row number, and dragging it to the new location. To indent the row underneath the header, click the Indent icon in the left toolbar.
- Save and Share
Click the Sharing tab at the bottom to find the secure sheet link for your Navigational Sheet. Anyone who is shared to the sheet can visit the sheet's URL to open it up.
Rockstar Tip: Include this URL in the message body when you share your Workspace so that new users head straight to your Navigational Sheet.
Now, everyone knows where to go! No GPS necessary.
Til next week, dig in and explore!
- Support Team