"Unnamed" Records in URL Prefill for Linked Record Field

Based on some research, it seems that filling with the Record ID means that Airtable doesn’t have the information to display the names? To resolve the issue we changed the prefill to utilize the primary field, updating that primary field to include a unique identifier (to avoid issues that could occur if Employees have the same first and last name)

Hm, that’s strange because it works just fine for me when I attempt the same setup as you.

It sounds like you’ve resolved the issue, but you might want to open a support ticket with support@airtable.com to have them investigate why it wasn’t working for you.

You may also want to consider setting up your form with Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable.

Fillout is 100% free, and it offers hundreds of features that Airtable’s native forms don’t offer, including lots of advanced linked record features… and even the ability to update existing Airtable records from a form.

You don’t even need to use a special URL to prefill forms — although you can certainly use a special URL if you’d like to.

Check out the screenshot below for one way of autofilling multiple linked records in Fillout.

I also demonstrate some advanced Fillout tricks in the podcasts below:

• Using Fillout to create an eSignature approval process with PDF file creation.
• Using Fillout to create an order entry form with line items.

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

Hey ​@Adam_Rondeau, the value shown is always that of the primary field. Primary field is the first field on the left. What I would suggest doing is having a concatenation of the First and Last Name. If you want to make sure you are selecting the correct one (in case of employees with same full name) you can also include their email or phone number.

Example formula: 
 

{First Name}&”  “&{Last Name}&” | “&{Phone Number}

In this way, you should fully understand who is being linked!

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

Oh, I just get to see this: “definitely are not “unnamed” and have something in their primary field?”…..

Seems like a bug. As mentioned as scott above you’ll probably want to reach out to support@airtable.com

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

Thanks for the responses. We’ve used Fillout in other situations, but for this particular client they found it too slow on mobile. Not sure why switching to pre-filling with the primary field value resolved the issue, but it did. If it comes back, I’ll definitely reach out to Airtable Support.