Basic Text Mode Groupings for Beginners

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Did you know that you can rename a grouping within a report so that it makes more sense to your organization’s terminology? Or that you can group the results by a field not listed in the grouping field source list? 

This week, we continue our focus on basic text mode. Why text mode? Workfront reports can be customized to meet your organization’s needs, sometimes going beyond what is available through the report builder by using text mode. Text mode unleashes the full power of Workfront’s reporting capabilities, unlocking your data in ways that make business sense to your organization. With text mode, you can combine columns or access a wider variety of fields, including your custom fields.

A few weeks ago, the Workfront Wednesday: Did You Know? blog detailed basic text mode filters within a report. To build on that and expand your knowledge of basic text mode tips, this week we’re sharing two examples of basic text mode groupings for beginners. It may be helpful to pair today’s post with the basic text mode filters blog, found here. 

Example #1: Your organization equates the field “Project Sponsor” with the name of the applicable department director. 

To rename Sponsor Name to Director, text mode must be used. Follow these steps:

1. In your project report, select the Groupings tab.
2. Click Add Grouping in the bottom-right corner and search the field list for Sponsor Name. Click to select. 
3. Switch into text mode in the top-right corner.
4. Add the following line to the bottom of the text mode code: 
   1. group.0.displayname=Director
5. Your new text mode code should look like this:
6. Hit the Done button, then Save + Close

Now, when the results are displayed within your report, instead of seeing Sponsor: Name in the grouping bar, you will see Director.  

PRO TIP: Follow this same process if there is a different field you would like to rename. Within the text mode code, group.0.displayname=Name of Grouping Here, simply replace “Name of Grouping Here” with your grouping label and paste it underneath the existing text mode code within your grouping. 

NOTE: When you set the displayname it will appear in both the Details and Summary tabs, but it will not appear in the Chart tab. The Chart tab will use the actual field name, Sponsor: Name in this case. If you want Director to appear in the Chart tab, a calculated custom field with a calculation of Sponsor.Name would need to be used. You could then group your report by this new calculated field using the report builder, as text mode is not needed.

Example #2: In a task report, you want to group the results by portfolio name, rather than by project name.

In the report builder, if you search the field source list for project portfolio name, you will notice it is not listed as an option for a grouping. Instead, you can create the portfolio name grouping with text mode. Follow these steps:

1. In a task report, select the Groupings tab.
2. Click the Add Grouping button in the bottom-right corner.
3. Switch to text mode.
4. Paste in the following text mode code:

group.0.displayname=Portfolio

group.0.valuefield=project:portfolio:name

group.0.valueformat=HTML

textmode=true

5. Click Done, then Save and Close. 

Now, results will be grouped by portfolio name when viewed in the Details tab of the report.

PRO TIP: Charts are generated based on the groupings applied to your report, only if added via the report builder. Charts cannot read text mode, so if you do create a grouping using text mode code, a chart will not be available. However, if you send the report or schedule a repeating delivery, the text mode grouping will be visible to the recipient.

If you found this post helpful, make sure to “Like” it below. To ask questions or to share additional ways to use text mode in groupings, please post the details in the comments section below!