The Count field counts the number of links between Tables that meet the conditions you set. When you create a Linked Record field, you're able to build connections between records in two Tables. Table A may have a record with 5 links to different records in Table B. For instance, a record in the User Stories table may have 5 links to records in the associated Bugs & Issues table (see visual below).
Take a moment to understand SmartSuite Table Relationships, and remember Linked Record fields create relationships between Tables.
Field Limit Note:
The limit for complex field types in Tables vary based on plan type & include:
Free / Team Plan
30 Linked Records
30 Lookups
30 Total Calculated fields, including: Formulas, Rollups, Counts
Professional Plan
50 Linked Records
50 Lookups
50 Total Calculated fields, including: Formulas, Rollups, Counts
Enterprise / Signature Plan
100 Linked Records
100 Lookups
100 Total Calculated fields, including: Formulas, Rollups, Counts
At least one Linked Record field must be present in an Tables to add a Count field.
For this article, let's consider how we use the Count field at SmartSuite in our software development processes. We use agile development methodology:
Defining larger chunks of functionality as Epics
Epics are then broken down into User Stories, or smaller pieces of functionality written from the end-user's point-of-view
Bugs & Issues identified in the testing (QA) process are associated to User Stories that roll up to Epics
We use Count fields to track the status of development and testing, for example:
Adding a Count field
From Grid View
From Grid View
Click the + menu icon after the last column header or open the Column Menu by clicking on a column header's dropdown icon and then select "Add Field to the Right."
Select "Count," and a window will open to configure the field. You can search the name for a quick find.
From Record View
From Record View
The fastest way to add a field from an open Record View to is simply click the + sign next to a current field to add a new field below.
See a Count field being added in Edit Record View below:
In the Linked Record Field section, you can specify the Linked record field in this Table that links in the records you want to summarize.
Customizing the field
Solution Managers have many convenient options when configuring Count fields.
Selecting a color is the primary display option for the Count field, which provides a visual cue to call out values in records. It's particularly useful when multiple Count fields are used in a single Table.
Check out quick articles on Adding Help Text to fields.
Include Filters & Labels
Solution Managers can apply filters to Count fields to easily summarize counts of related Linked Records with specific attributes.
For example, we track the number of User Stories with a Status = "Done" and display a Suffix of "Completed".
We can quickly see a visual summary of development in Grid View, understanding the number of Completed Stories in relation to Bugs.
If you click on any of these counts, a display will be opened that shows you all the linked records that are associated with it.
Counts in Chart View
Count fields are particularly helpful in Chart View, making it easy to visually summarize data. Continuing the example from above, we can visually review our Bug Queue.
Use Count Fields in Formula Fields
Count field values can be used in calculations within Formula fields.
Take an Account Management example, where the Accounts table links to three other Tables:
Action Items
Support Tickets
Renewals
Three Count fields can be used in the Accounts table to total the number of Action Items, Support Tickets and Renewals in an "Open" status. A Formula field named Total Open Activities can be used to add the values of the count fields together. Learn more about Formula fields and calculations here.