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Hi,

Is it possible to somehow filter users away from interface dropdowns relying on a "User" field?

We currently see both admin users, Airtable support users and some user's older user names in the dropdowns, which confuses people who should choose e.g. next handler for a topic.

Rgds,

Björn

PS. Related to this topic, would be nice to see user groups in Airtable. That would solve the need above.

Hey @0800-grizzly!

Yup. You can create a new table called Users. Within it, you’ll have a User field (user field type) but you’ll also have a set of additional field for each. Eg. First Name, Last Name, Emal, and most importantly Status. 

Status can be a single select such as Active or Inactive (or other set of criteria). Now, on your original table you could link the User field as a linked field to the Users table (rather than just having it as a user field type). Additionaly you can now set a condition on such linked field to only show Users where field Status is Active!! For last, you can now being the User field from the Users table as a lookup to your original table. 

That should do the trick! Let me know if it solves your issue or whether you have any additional questions. 

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation


@0800-grizzly 

Mike’s approach is what I was going to recommend as the best long-term solution. (And you can even still add a User field into that Users table that can become a LOOKUP field in other tables, whenever you choose the employee from a linked record field.)

Additionally, if you want to permanently remove inactive people from the Users field altogether, then you would need to remove those people from everywhere in your entire base where they are referenced.

- You would need to remove them from the “Share -> Manage Access” screen at: (1) the Workspace level, (2) the Base level, and (3) the Interface level.
- You would also need to remove them from any records that they have already been assigned to in a User field.

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


Hey @0800-grizzly!

Yup. You can create a new table called Users. Within it, you’ll have a User field (user field type) but you’ll also have a set of additional field for each. Eg. First Name, Last Name, Emal, and most importantly Status. 

Status can be a single select such as Active or Inactive (or other set of criteria). Now, on your original table you could link the User field as a linked field to the Users table (rather than just having it as a user field type). Additionaly you can now set a condition on such linked field to only show Users where field Status is Active!! For last, you can now being the User field from the Users table as a lookup to your original table. 

That should do the trick! Let me know if it solves your issue or whether you have any additional questions. 

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation


Thanks @Mike_AutomaticN and sorry for the delayed reply. Yes, that will do the trick.

Rgds,

Björn


@0800-grizzly 

Mike’s approach is what I was going to recommend as the best long-term solution. (And you can even still add a User field into that Users table that can become a LOOKUP field in other tables, whenever you choose the employee from a linked record field.)

Additionally, if you want to permanently remove inactive people from the Users field altogether, then you would need to remove those people from everywhere in your entire base where they are referenced.

- You would need to remove them from the “Share -> Manage Access” screen at: (1) the Workspace level, (2) the Base level, and (3) the Interface level.
- You would also need to remove them from any records that they have already been assigned to in a User field.

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


Thanks @ScottWorld and sorry for the delay in replying. A further detail, what do you mean with "add a User field into that Users table that can become a LOOKUP field in other tables, whenever you choose the employee from a linked record field"? 

Rgds,

Björn


Hey @0800-grizzly! What Scott means is to have a User field type which references the actual Airtable user. You can then create a lookup for this field on any other table which is linked to the Users table!


Just jumping on this with a follow on question, sorry! I’m coming across a similar issue wanting to limit the users selectable in the user field.

The example is for staff through an interface to select a user at exec-level for approvals.
I then have an interface for those execs to see what’s been assigned to them to approve, filtered using the ‘{Approver} is Current User’.

If I adopted the above solution, would the Current User filter work on the lookup field, or would that lookup essentially be a text field with a name in it (not linked to the user itself)?

Thanks! Chloe :)


Hm I think you may need to create an ‘Email’ type field in your ‘Users’ table and populate it for that to work I’m afraid:

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Then you’d create a lookup field to display that email:

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Which would then let you filter by the email field with ‘Current user’:

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