Control Center Global Updates: Reports

The Global Updates: Reports capability in Smartsheet Control Center allows you to make changes to your report templates and roll those changes out across all existing projects. 

Use Global Updates when you’ve made the following changes to a report template:

• Deleted or added new columns
• Changed column order or width
• Changed the show or hide setting on a column
• Changed report criteria
• Changed the sort order on a column
• Added or removed sheets from a report

You can also use Global Updates to update a report when you’ve changed column name or type, or added a new column to a sheet that’s used in that report. 

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How to Use Global Updates: Reports

Warning: Global Updates rebuilds your entire report every time you run an update. Changes are not reversible, so run the update on one project and check the results before you run it on all your projects.

Update the Report Template

In Smartsheet, go to the Blueprint Source Folder and make your changes directly to the report template.

You can:

• Add/Remove columns
• Hide/Show columns
• Reorder columns
• Change criteria
• Change sort order
• Update the sheets that are included in the report 

Create a Global Update in Control Center

1. In Control Center, select the program you want to work with.
2. At the top of the screen, click Manage Program, and then click Global Updates.
3. Click New Update and then select Update Reports.
   
    
4. Follow the instructions in the Update Reports wizard.

   TIPS:

   • Name the update after what it does, for example, Resize Budget Column.
   • Leave the Update report sources toggle off unless you made changes to sheets included in the report.
      
5. At the bottom of the screen, click Create & Run. (Click Close to save the Update without running it.) 

Apply the Global Update

When you run the update, Control Center looks at each project to find the report that matches your report template by either ID or name. It also shows you projects that don’t have a matching report—either because a match could not be found or because the report was not included when it was originally created. You can add the newly edited report to those projects when you run the update.   

1. Review the selected reports.
   
   
   
   Projects selected for the updates are sorted as follows:
   • Reports matched to current template ID: These projects contain reports created from the report template in the Blueprint Source Folder.
   • Reports matched to current template name: These projects contain reports that have the same name as the report template in the Blueprint Source Folder. 
   • No matching reports found: No matching reports were found. Click the “Choose Report” link to manually select a report to update or add the report to the project. 
      
2. Review the Source Mapping status on each report.
   
   If you turned on the Update report sources toggle, the Source Mapping Status displays to how many sheets included in the scope of the report template can be matched to sheets in the project. Scope is configured in the Report Builder.
    
   • Grey: The sheets included in the report will not be changed.
   • Green: All the sheets in scope were matched successfully.
   • Yellow: At least one sheet in scope item was matched.  
   • Red: None of the sheets in scope items were matched.  
   
   
   
   Optional: Click the status marker to see the source mapping details for each report. On items that aren’t a complete match, click Remap sheets to map the report to the correct sheets. 
    
3. Click Apply to update all the project reports.

Get the Most Out of Global Updates for Reports

When you need to make changes, make changes directly to the report template. This is the most reliable method for making sure the report will match your projects, even if you change the name of the report. The reports in the project are direct children of the report template in the Blueprint Source Folder. Control Center easily identifies them as such and makes the changes.

For more information about templates and the Blueprint Source Folder, see Smartsheet Control Center: Blueprint Source Folder Overview.

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Global Updates for Reports: Frequently Asked Questions

Some projects have manually changed their reports.  Will these changes be lost?

Yes.  Global updates overwrites those changes so the project report matches the report template. 

I renamed the report in my project.  Will Global Updates still find it and update it?

Yes.

I manually added a report and renamed it to match.  Will Global Updates recognize it?

No.  Global Updates only recognizes reports and sheets created through Control Center.

I deleted the report.  Will Global Updates add it back?

The project will appear in the “No matching reports found” section. Select the project in Global Updates, click Choose Report, and then select Add new report. Run the update to create the report. 

Will I see all my projects?

Yes.  Unlike earlier Global Updates, you will see all projects created from the Blueprint.

Can I run the Global Update again?

Yes.  You can run the update as many times as you want.

Can I "undo" a Global Update?

No. You can adjust the template report in the Blueprint Source Folder and run the Global Update again.