Setting up Multiple Select Automation

[Duck-Lorange]

I could use some help correctly setting up a multiple select field that monitors changes in other fields. For context, this'll be setup for internal use mostly for billing purposes. Once the tagged change(s) in the multiple select field have been resolved, they'll be manually cleared. 

Scenario: I have a multiple select field called Changelog that monitors changes in other fields in the same table- Contribution Status, Contribution Amount, and Current Donation. Any change in a record associated in a specified group should have their respected outputs reflected in the Changelog field. 

Issue: I want the Changelog field to populate any and all changes. Sometimes the output looks accurate, other times it does not. In the example screenshots, I changed a record's Contribution Status which resulted in changes to both the Contribution Status and Contribution Amount- correctly reflected in the changelog. However, when making this change, it affects the other records in the group, but only one output is reflected in the changelog. Ex. where Current Donation is present, it should reflect Current Donation & Contribution Amount as both would have been changed. 

 I don't quite understand the changelog field name in the update record portion of the automation. How do I make the correct changes to the automation so that the Changelog field accurately reflects all the changes being monitored? If a small, filled color tag has to populate where the field was blank prior, I can get over that. If y'all have ways of getting rid of this, that is extra helpful. Thank you! 

[TheTimeSavingCo · Accepted solution]

Hmm...I wonder if it's because the automations are triggering at nearly the same time.  Could you have a look at the revision history of one of the records where you expect it to show both "Current Donation" and "Contribution Amount" to see whether that's the case?  It should look like "Contribution Amount" got added and then quickly replaced by "Current Donation"

If that's what's happening, I think you could try having one field per change you want to monitor and then use a formula field to combine everything together?  Do you clear the multiselect field after you've reviewed the change log? 

[Duck-Lorange]

@TheTimeSavingCo We do clear the change log after review. The overlapping timing of the automations wasn't something I had thought of, but it makes sense. Is there a way to delay the triggers/automations to run in succession? 

That said, your suggestion sounds good. I'm going to try it out. I'll report back. Thanks!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hmm, you could try using a Last Modified Time field and make it monitor all the fields in question, and have a formula field that checks whether it's been 2 minutes since that time and get the automation to trigger off of that?

[Duck-Lorange]

Ended up going a slightly different route, setting up more generic catch all fields with corresponding automations to populate based on changes. Considering the change log is being reviewed and cleared internally, we're pretty well versed in what each "flag" may be that I was looking to monitor in my initial ask. Thanks @TheTimeSavingCo for the responses!