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Automating single select fields

  • September 6, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 109 views
A

I’m designing a CRM using a series of Airtable Automations

when I change the status of a record in company table (or contact table) to “in progress” (a single select field) a new record in the Opportunity table gets created. This is working fine.

my problem is that I can’t figure out to do it in reverse:
so when the opportunity resolves as “sale” or “no sale” I want the single select fields in the Company/Contact tables to automatically update accordingly (“sale” → “client” / “no sale” - > “not a client”)

I first create a “when a record matches conditions” trigger (when stage is “no sale”) I then go on to create an “Update Record” Action but then I can’t find the correct fields. I chose the table where the action should happen but when I hit the “plus” sign I am shown fields in a different table.

Best answer by Justin_Barrett

Thank you, @Justin_Barrett ! I’m very excited about airtable. But I’m new to this and a bit confused.

I did what you suggested, ran another trigger step and it was a success. But after hitting the “plus” sign again, it still only showed me fields from the table the trigger is in and not the table I want the action to happen in. I’m not sure what I’m missing.


That’s correct. The trigger step only makes its own field data available to insert into later steps, so if the triggering record is in [Opportunity], you’ll have [Opportunity] fields to choose from in later steps. You can still update records in other tables, but not in the way that you’re thinking.

First off, I’m guessing that each record in [Opportunity] is linked to a company and/or contact from the [Company] and [Contact] tables. If so, you can use those links to specify which record to update. For example, say you’re updating a company linked to an opportunity. In the “Update record” action, you’ll choose the [Company] table, then in the Record ID field, you can use the company record link from the trigger step to insert its ID. As for the single select field in that company record, you won’t be able to see a list of available options in a list, but you can type the text matching the option that you want to choose, and Airtable will set that option when the record is updated. Just make sure that what you type is an exact match: capitalization, spaces, etc.

4 replies

Justin_Barrett
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Welcome to the community, @Adalsteinn_Jorundsso! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: If you happened to run your initial trigger step test on a different table, that would explain the difference. Re-run the trigger step test to get a record from its currently-assigned table, and the later steps should show you the correct field choices.

A
  • Adalsteinn_Joru
  • Author
  • New Participant
  • September 7, 2021

Welcome to the community, @Adalsteinn_Jorundsso! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: If you happened to run your initial trigger step test on a different table, that would explain the difference. Re-run the trigger step test to get a record from its currently-assigned table, and the later steps should show you the correct field choices.


Thank you, @Justin_Barrett ! I’m very excited about airtable. But I’m new to this and a bit confused.

I did what you suggested, ran another trigger step and it was a success. But after hitting the “plus” sign again, it still only showed me fields from the table the trigger is in and not the table I want the action to happen in. I’m not sure what I’m missing.

Justin_Barrett
Forum|alt.badge.img+21
  • Justin_Barrett
  • Inspiring
  • Answer
  • September 7, 2021

Thank you, @Justin_Barrett ! I’m very excited about airtable. But I’m new to this and a bit confused.

I did what you suggested, ran another trigger step and it was a success. But after hitting the “plus” sign again, it still only showed me fields from the table the trigger is in and not the table I want the action to happen in. I’m not sure what I’m missing.


That’s correct. The trigger step only makes its own field data available to insert into later steps, so if the triggering record is in [Opportunity], you’ll have [Opportunity] fields to choose from in later steps. You can still update records in other tables, but not in the way that you’re thinking.

First off, I’m guessing that each record in [Opportunity] is linked to a company and/or contact from the [Company] and [Contact] tables. If so, you can use those links to specify which record to update. For example, say you’re updating a company linked to an opportunity. In the “Update record” action, you’ll choose the [Company] table, then in the Record ID field, you can use the company record link from the trigger step to insert its ID. As for the single select field in that company record, you won’t be able to see a list of available options in a list, but you can type the text matching the option that you want to choose, and Airtable will set that option when the record is updated. Just make sure that what you type is an exact match: capitalization, spaces, etc.

A
  • Adalsteinn_Joru
  • Author
  • New Participant
  • September 7, 2021

It worked! :slightly_smiling_face:

Thank you so much

Justin_Barrett
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