Applies to

Smartsheet Advance Package

Capabilities

Who can use this capability

You must have Project Lead access to Smartsheet Control Center to make global updates. For information about Lead access, see the Access Smartsheet Control Center.

Smartsheet Control Center: Make Global Updates to your projects

Global Updates enables business users to easily update project templates and cascade those changes automatically to existing and new projects. 

PLANS

  • Smartsheet Advance Package

Permissions

You must have Project Lead access to Smartsheet Control Center to make global updates. For information about Lead access, see the Access Smartsheet Control Center.

As your project progresses, you may need additional information to keep the project running smoothly. For example, you might want to add an At Risk column so users can flag tasks that may miss a deadline. Global updates allows you to make this change and roll it out across your entire project portfolio.

This article provides an overview of available Global Update Types, including how to create and test Global Updates in your Control Center portfolio.

Global Update Types

Before you create and run Global Updates, familiarize yourself with the available Global Update types and their capabilities. Global Updates offers the following options:

  • Add New Column:  Add a new column to your project sheets and templates.
  • Modify Existing Column:  Adjust an existing column in project sheets and templates.
  • Add Profile Data: Add new Profile Data rows to the summary section of one or more templates in projects.
  • Find / Replace:  Find and replace values in projects and templates.
  • Update Reports:  Change provisioned project Reports and Report templates.
  • Update Dashboards:  Change provisioned project Dashboards and Dashboard templates.

 

Global updates do not apply to title widgets that link to Smartsheet items. You will need to edit the individual dashboard to implement this change.

 


Create a New Global Update

Get Started and Specify Your Update

  1. To log in, select Control Center from the App Launcher in Smartsheet or visit https://smartsheet.controlcenter.smartsheetapps.com.
  2. Click the menu and then click the name of the program that you want to update.
    SCC Menu
  3. In the top left corner, click Manage Program
  4. Select Global Updates and then click New Update.
  5. Select an update. When you select an update, the plus sign on the tile changes to a checkmark.

  6. Click Next and enter your update details.
  7. In the bottom right corner, click Create & Run.

Test and Validate Your Changes

Testing is required. 

Click Create & Run, to test and validate the proposed update against active projects and sheets.  The test creates a temporary copy of a project, ensuring you don’t commit changes until you’re certain you want those changes.

  1. On the Test Global Update page, select a project and then click Apply Test at the bottom of the page.


    When the test copy is ready, the Status column on the Test Global Update page changes from New to Success.

    TIP: Hover over the Success message to see an update summary.

    Success Message
  2. Click Open Test to review the test sheet, report, or dashboard and confirm that the test updates are as expected. 
    NOTE: To edit the update, click Close to close the test, make  your changes, and run the test again. For more information, see Edit a Global Update. 
    TIP: To test the update on additional projects, click Close to return to the Update Summary page. Click Test Update, and select the project to test. Do this as many times as you like until you are confident about your changes.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed your update works as desired, close the test and return to the Test Global Update page.
  4. Click Confirm to go to the Update Summary page.

Confirm the Results and Apply the Update

You’ll have one last chance to review and confirm the proposed changes and select where you want updates applied.

 

  1. Review the Update Summary page and verify your updates are as intended.
  2. Click Apply Update.
  3. On the Apply Update page, select the projects you want to update.
    NOTE: If you want to update your templates, check Apply update to the base project template(s). 
  4. Click Apply. You will see notice telling you the changes are permanent, click Yes to complete the update.

Global Updates remain on the Global Updates page. You can run them whenever you want. Select the update and run it as above.  

Edit an Existing Global Update

To update an existing Global Update: 

 

  1. To log in, select Control Center from the App Launcher in Smartsheet or visit https://smartsheet.controlcenter.smartsheetapps.com.
  2. Click the menu and then click the name of the program that you want to update.
  3. In the top left corner, click Manage Program
  4. Select Global Updates and then click New Update.
  5. Locate the Global Update you want to change, then hover over the three dot icon (to the left of the update name) and select Edit.
  6. Make your changes, then select Update & Run to test and validate your changes. See Test and Validate Your Changes for more information.


For answers to common questions related to Global Updates and Smartsheet Control Center generally, see Smartsheet Control Center FAQ

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