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Editors Unable to add new Multi-Select Options

chloe-elizabeth
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Hello!

Our organisation has basically a large ‘to-do’ list table which includes a ‘Tag’ multi-select field which I’ve just found out our Editor users can’t add new options to – either directly in the table, or through an interface list/record view.

We are on a Team/Pro plan so I can edit the field permissions, which I’ve set to Editors and up and it still doesn’t work.


As I am the Owner, I assumed anyone could add new options to this field because I always thought the common issue was trying to stop users from doing that! I really am racking my brain because it feels so simple but I can’t test it without sitting next to an Editor, and also wild that I can’t find others in the community with a similar issue.

Best answer by ScottWorld

1. Only creators and above are allowed to add new values to multi-select fields and single select fields, so you could change those users to creators instead of editors.

2. Alternatively, you could keep them as editors and change the multi-select field to a linked record field. As long as they have permissions to add new records to the linked table, then they would be able to add new values to the linked record field.

3. Otherwise, if you want to keep them as editors and also keep the field as a multi-select field, you could use interfaces which gives you the option to let editors add new options.

4. Another option if you want to keep them as editors and keep the field as a multi-select field: You can create an automation to add new values to the list by updating the record with the new tag. There are dozens of different ways of doing this, but one way of doing this would be to give them a text field on each record where they can type in a new tag, and then give them a checkbox to check when they’re done typing the new tag. The checkbox would trigger the automation to update the record’s “tag” field with the new tag, but this can be a little tricky because you need to make sure you don’t wipe out any existing tags that have already been selected for that record. IN YOUR AUTOMATION’S UPDATE RECORD STEP: When you update the tags field, you need to start by re-inserting the tag field into itself, then typing a comma, then inserting the new value.

Hope this helps! If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld

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ScottWorld
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1. Only creators and above are allowed to add new values to multi-select fields and single select fields, so you could change those users to creators instead of editors.

2. Alternatively, you could keep them as editors and change the multi-select field to a linked record field. As long as they have permissions to add new records to the linked table, then they would be able to add new values to the linked record field.

3. Otherwise, if you want to keep them as editors and also keep the field as a multi-select field, you could use interfaces which gives you the option to let editors add new options.

4. Another option if you want to keep them as editors and keep the field as a multi-select field: You can create an automation to add new values to the list by updating the record with the new tag. There are dozens of different ways of doing this, but one way of doing this would be to give them a text field on each record where they can type in a new tag, and then give them a checkbox to check when they’re done typing the new tag. The checkbox would trigger the automation to update the record’s “tag” field with the new tag, but this can be a little tricky because you need to make sure you don’t wipe out any existing tags that have already been selected for that record. IN YOUR AUTOMATION’S UPDATE RECORD STEP: When you update the tags field, you need to start by re-inserting the tag field into itself, then typing a comma, then inserting the new value.

Hope this helps! If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld

chloe-elizabeth
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  • chloe-elizabeth
    chloe-elizabeth
TheTimeSavingCo
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Ah yeah, the field permission thing is about modifying the contents of the field itself I’m afraid

Editors can add options via an Interface once you toggle on the ‘Allow users to add new options’ thing, so if you can force everyone to use Interfaces then you’re good to go!

If not, my go to for this is to just make a form that people can submit with the new value they want, and then I’ll have an automation that then:

  1. Creates a new record in the main table and pastes the submitted value into the select field
  2. Deletes that newly created record
  3. Deletes the submitted record
Adam, Consultant @ thetimesaving.company
chloe-elizabeth
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  • chloe-elizabeth
    chloe-elizabeth
ScottWorld
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I was going to mention the form approach — either using Airtable’s basic forms or Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable.

But the problem with that approach is that it requires the deletion of a record, which can only be done in Airtable’s automations by writing a script, or it requires using an external automation tool like Make’s advanced automations for Airtable.

Writing a script adds complexity to the task, since most people are hoping to avoid JavaScript in their Airtable automations.

However, below is a script that I wrote to delete a record in Airtable. This requires setting the input variable of myRecord in the left margin to the Record ID of the record, as shown in my sample screenshot below.

Hope this helps! If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld 

let inputConfig = input.config();
let recordId = inputConfig.myRecord;
let table = base.getTable("Table Name Here");
await table.deleteRecordAsync(recordId);

- ScottWorld, Expert Airtable Consultant

chloe-elizabeth
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  • chloe-elizabeth
    chloe-elizabeth
Mike_AutomaticN
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Hey ​@chloe-elizabeth,

As mentioned above you will not be able to toggle that option on the form itself, but only on interfaces.
What I usually do is create super lean Airtable forms (e.g. one basic field on them), and then have the users just work out of the detailed view of the record on the interface (I usually handle this by using Record Review pages). Having said that, the big issues with this approach are: (i) Record Review is desktop only (no mobile), and (ii) whilst you can set “required fields” on forms, you obviously cannot do that on interfaces themselves.

Hope this helps! Feel free to schedule a call if you need further help. I’d be happy to help/show you around.

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

chloe-elizabeth
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Ah yes I was confusing just editing with creating new options *facepalm*.

I’m slowly transitioning most operations onto interfaces so that’s great! It’s hard to get everyone on board as it is, so I think forms and the automation option is a bit out of reach for now, but great to know.

Tested on one of our record viewer interfaces and that all worked smoothly! I’ll direct them to that from now on.

Cheers and thank you all for a quick response!

S
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  • scott
  • New Participant
  • April 4, 2025
TheTimeSavingCo wrote:

Ah yeah, the field permission thing is about modifying the contents of the field itself I’m afraid

Editors can add options via an Interface once you toggle on the ‘Allow users to add new options’ thing, so if you can force everyone to use Interfaces then you’re good to go!

 

Hi, where do we find this “Allow users to add new options” setting? Is that available on only certain types of interfaces? Thanks!

​@TheTimeSavingCo 

TheTimeSavingCo
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Yeap that’s right!  Off the top of my head I think you can find it in Record Review, Blank, Sidesheets and Record Details, then you’ll just need to click on the field itself to see it:

 

Adam, Consultant @ thetimesaving.company

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