I am new to Airtable and created my first form a few days ago using the new Form Builder interface. After the fact, I realized there was a field I hadn't included that I'd like to prefill.
I read through all the various instructions on prefilling by altering the URL - all makes sense to me - but I can't figure or WHERE to do the URL edit in the Form Builder interface? I can copy the form URL to the clipboard, but WHERE to I put it where the alteration to the URL will be pulished and saved?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Solved
Prefilling a Field in Form Builder?
+3Best answer by Sho
Welcome Airtable Community.
The information in a prefilled URL cannot be saved in the form.
If default values are needed, there is a setting in a field on the Edit Form screen.
Prefill URL is used to share the link.
Welcome Airtable Community.
The information in a prefilled URL cannot be saved in the form.
If default values are needed, there is a setting in a field on the Edit Form screen.
Prefill URL is used to share the link.
Hello,
My colleagues have just encountered a new issue induced by the UI, which strongly encourages the use of the new form creation solution in the "interface" section rather than as a classic "view".
- The old method generated public sharing links in this format: https://airtable.com/appyyy/shrxxx
This format ending in shr accepts prefilling using "prefill". - The new method generates public (or private) sharing links in this format: https://airtable.com/appyyy/pagxxx/form
Apparently, this format does not allow the use of "prefill".
I find it regrettable under these conditions that the interface does not warn about the differences and/or impossibilities induced by this new way of creating forms. Airtable's official documentation on forms is also not up to date since it only deals with forms in "view" mode and not with forms created in "interface". A warning in this article would avoid misunderstandings: https://support.airtable.com/docs/prefilling-a-form-via-encoded-url#:~:text=Start%20by%20adding%20a%20%3F%20to,the%20correct%20field%20to%20prefill.
Hello,
My colleagues have just encountered a new issue induced by the UI, which strongly encourages the use of the new form creation solution in the "interface" section rather than as a classic "view".
- The old method generated public sharing links in this format: https://airtable.com/appyyy/shrxxx
This format ending in shr accepts prefilling using "prefill". - The new method generates public (or private) sharing links in this format: https://airtable.com/appyyy/pagxxx/form
Apparently, this format does not allow the use of "prefill".
I find it regrettable under these conditions that the interface does not warn about the differences and/or impossibilities induced by this new way of creating forms. Airtable's official documentation on forms is also not up to date since it only deals with forms in "view" mode and not with forms created in "interface". A warning in this article would avoid misunderstandings: https://support.airtable.com/docs/prefilling-a-form-via-encoded-url#:~:text=Start%20by%20adding%20a%20%3F%20to,the%20correct%20field%20to%20prefill.
I have checked that pre-fill is available on the new form of interface as well.
This reference is new recently.
Building and sharing forms in Airtable
However, the new form now saves the contents of the form as it is being filled out, so if the form is still recorded, the prefill will be overwritten. For this reason there is a Clear Form button.
I recently migrated to the new form on a trial basis, and I still don't know if this specification is good or bad.
+3Welcome Airtable Community.
The information in a prefilled URL cannot be saved in the form.
If default values are needed, there is a setting in a field on the Edit Form screen.
Prefill URL is used to share the link.
Hi Sho,
Thanks for this response! My one remaining issue: this allows for a prefill, but does not seem to allow for the prefilled field to be hidden. I can delete the prefilled field, but not hide it.
Hi Sho,
Thanks for this response! My one remaining issue: this allows for a prefill, but does not seem to allow for the prefilled field to be hidden. I can delete the prefilled field, but not hide it.
Is it hide by URL option?
If the value contains a string that affects the URL, it may fail to be interpreted.
( space, &, etc.).
To avoid this, there is a way to encode to UTF-8.
For formula fields, Airtable can encode them with ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("Value").
"https://airtable.com/app~/pag~/form?" &
"prefill_Name="&ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("value & value") &
"&hide_Name=true"
+5Is it hide by URL option?
If the value contains a string that affects the URL, it may fail to be interpreted.
( space, &, etc.).
To avoid this, there is a way to encode to UTF-8.
For formula fields, Airtable can encode them with ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("Value").
"https://airtable.com/app~/pag~/form?" &
"prefill_Name="&ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("value & value") &
"&hide_Name=true"
thats ninja
+13Hey everybody, I just wanted to add that our miniExtensions form has some more advanced prefill functionality, that goes well beyond what Airtable's form can do! So in addition to just prefilling fields and hiding them, you could also hide the prefill from the URL itself, so users don't see the prefill happening (and can therefore not mess with it!). This can be used in countless scenarios and can greatly improve the security of your prefills!
+35
You can also learn more about prefilling a form in Airtable in this Airtable support article.
However, instead of creating prefilled links, I would recommend using Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable, because no prefilled links are required.
Fillout is 100% free, and it offers hundreds of features that Airtable’s native forms don’t offer, including the ability to update Airtable records using a form, create custom PDF files from a form submission, accept payments on forms, pre-fetch dynamic data from an Airtable record, display Airtable lookup fields on forms, create new linked records on a form, add a login page to your form, perform math or other live calculations on your forms, collect signatures on a form, create multi-page forms with conditional paths, connect a single form to dozens of external apps simultaneously, add CAPTCHAs to your form, and much more.
I show how to use a few of the advanced features of Fillout on these 2 Airtable podcast episodes:
- Using Fillout to create an eSignature approval process with PDF file creation.
- Using Fillout to create an order entry form with line items.
I do not typically recommend using prefilled links, because Airtable’s prefilled links come with serious downsides that you will want to be aware of:
- You will have to continually send out updated prefilled links to your users that always contain the newest data. If the user accidentally clicks on an outdated link, they will be taken to old data in the form. So they would never be able to re-use a link or bookmark a link as an “Update My Account Profile” link.
- Airtable does not allow prefilled fields to be LOCKED, meaning that a user can always override a prefilled field (even if it’s hidden). If you need a prefilled field to be locked & hidden, then you can always use Fillout to hide and lock defaults.
- Airtable’s prefilled links do not work with all field types… particularly attachment fields or lengthy long text fields that exceed URL limits.
- If you need the data to remain private or secure, Airtable’s prefilled links reveal all the data within the link. With Fillout’s links, you get one simple, non-changing link per user that doesn’t reveal any data, and you can even add multiple different layers of security to the form if necessary, including SSO login or email login.
- Airtable’s prefilled links still won’t update old records… they always create new records, and then you will need to write an automation that handles the overwriting of the old data.
- You lose all the advanced features of Fillout’s forms.
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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