You can change ID numbers to names in reports

[#1]

Did you know? You can change ID numbers to names in reports.

Have you ever created a report only to find that one of the columns is displaying what appears to be nonsense information instead of the data you expected? Perhaps, as you look at your project report, you realize that it’s displaying the ID number instead of the names for the project owner and the project owner’s manager.

Just a few edits will get both of those columns switched so they display names instead. This week's Workfront Wednesday walks you through these steps, in the context of a project report.

Let's walk through this together in a Project Report:

1. Starting from the report itself, go to Report Actions and select Edit.
2. Click the Columns (Views) tab.
3. Start with the project owner’s column in the bottom of the window. You see that the report is using Owner ID. This is why the ID number is displaying in the report instead of the name. Click the column in the preview area to select it. This displays the field information for this column on the left side of the window.
4. You know you don’t want the ID number, so click the X next to Owner>>ID to remove it.
5. You want the Owner Name column instead. In the search bar type “owner” and then “name.” This narrows down the list of selections. Be sure to choose the “name” field that appears under the “owner” section.
6. Before you switch the other column, test this one out. Click Save and Close, and then look at the report again.
7. Perfect! The project owner field now displays the name, instead of the ID number.
8. Now edit the report again to switch the project owner’s manager column from ID number to name.
9. Select Report Actions and then Edit.
10. Select the “Owner Manager ID” column at the bottom. As you start typing “owner manager” in the search bar, you see that the only option is “ID” and not “name.”
11. To display the name, you’ll need to make an easy edit in the Text Mode area of the column.
12. Click the “Switch to Text Mode” link in the top-right corner, then click in the main part of the window so you can edit the text.
13. You need to replace the letters “I” and “D” at the end of three lines with a colon then the word “name” in lowercase letters.
14. After these three quick edits, click Save and Close and take a look at the project report again.
15. Now, instead of the ID numbers for the project owner and their manager, we’re seeing the names of the people!

For more information about reporting in Workfront, review the Reporting documentation or watch the Basic Reporting and Intermediate Reporting training videos on Adobe Experience League (found under the Reporting dropdown).

We hope this week's Workfront Wednesday tip has been helpful!

[#2]

This is probably my most used textmode edit. Thank you!