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Re: Using Automations to Check a Box When Record Matches Conditions

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Lia_Marley
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Hi Community! I need some help.

Trigger Conditions:
When Date Field (“Date Last Used”) is after 12/31/2019

Action Conditions:
Update existing checkbox field (“Reviewed 2020”) to Checked

Trigger seems to work fine, I just can’t get the action to go. I think it’s because I’m not exactly sure what to input for Record ID.

Thanks in advance!

19 Replies 19
Brendan_York
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I have the same question, but in reverse: trying to reset to “To do” or unchecked daily.
It seems like one has to specify each record by ID, which makes no sense. What if I had 5000 records to list in the Automation setup window?

Welcome to the community, @Lia_Marley and @Brendan_York!

You don’t need to literally specify a Record ID (although you could, if you wanted to).

You just choose the step from which you want to pull the Record ID from, and then choose “Record ID” from that step. Airtable will then substitute the appropriate Record ID when the automation is run.

Check out the screenshot below.

Screen Shot 2020-09-23 at 12.59.42 PM

Brendan_York
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Thanks for the welcome and the quick reply, @ScottWorld!

I was able to get it to work for 1 record when I tried that and clicked “Test”, but then it stops even though I turn on the automation:
image

Since Temp is before today for every record, it seems like the automation should keep being triggered.
Any idea how to make it uncheck all records when any one record is past the due date/time?

Two things:

  1. Once you turn on the automation, it will only run on records that NEWLY match your trigger from that point forward. It won’t go back and trigger on older records that matched your criteria in the past. So, to re-trigger on those records, you could just clear out their date fields & then repopulate them again with the exact same information.

  2. If it’s still not triggering on those records, then it’s likely a time zone mismatch error. You’ll notice that in your automation, your time zone is set to CEST. But your “Temp” field might be set to GMT time zone, if you’ve enabled the option that says “Use the same time zone (GMT) for all collaborators”.

For more information on working with multiple time zones in Airtable, check out my sample time zones base & time zones training video here:

Brendan_York
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I checked the time zone issue and that GMT option wasn’t selected. But temp was a testing field which will be “last modified date”. I’m hoping the automation will trigger itself as soon as last modified date becomes yesterday. I’m testing now, but have to wait a day to see if it works. Thanks again for your help!

Sheryn_Dache1
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Hi there,
my problem is similar.
I’d like to update the checkbox to Checked when I update a field.
I’m using Automations and I’m almost there, I just don’t know what to input in Fields.
At the moment it’s doing the opposite of what I want it to do: unchecking an already checked box :confused:
Can anyone help?
Thanks!

Type the number 1 to check a checkbox.

Sheryn_Dache1
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Wow, thank you @ScottWorld for replying so fast.
It finally works :grinning_face_with_sweat:

Haha, glad I could help! :slightly_smiling_face:

Hey @ScottWorld you seem to be so helpful with this! I’m trying to create an automation that when the Type multiple select option is “Expense” the Paid column adds a tick… I didn’t understand what you said above about type one number 1 to check a checkbox… can you explain further? Thanks!!

Yes, in the “Update Record” action step, choose your checkbox field and then type the number 1 in the blank box that appears. (1 is checked, 0 is unchecked.)

hmm… what should the Record ID be? somethings still not working

In most cases, you’ll probably choose the Record ID of the triggering record. So you’ll choose “Record from Step 1: Airtable Record ID”.

Hi Scott, I typed the number 1 in the black box but it encounter an error. Please see the attached screenshot if you could. Any advice?
Thanks a lot!

image

Your Record ID is wrong, not the number 1. Watch the animated GIFs on this page to learn what to do:

eXo
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Hey @ScottWorld I’m pretty new to automations, but I was able to get the checkbox working with a different trigger. However, what I would really like to accomplish is for the checkbox to be updated at a specific time. It fails however.

Any suggestions?

Screen Shot 2022-04-24 at 1.09.49 AM

eXo
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Found a way around this by using a different trigger to check when the record was last updated. Not ideal, but it will do for now. Hope someone can point to a better solution. Thanks

eXo
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Sooooooooo… Make is a life saver. I can perform an update record call on all the records found in a particular view that meets a certain criteria. This is done with a timed event, so every day at a certain time, it will update the records that meets the requirement. Love it.

AUTORRARI_MAIN
7 - App Architect
7 - App Architect

Hello all,

It’s possible that we may have strayed off topic a little…

I believe the topic is “Using Automations to Check a Box When Record Matches Conditions”.

And while “Update Record” IS a condition, it seems like a much more advanced answer then would be for, say “When a Record is Created”. And sadly it doesn’t look like the answers would be the same either. So one doesn’t necessarily help the other.

So, WITH SCREENSHOTS (please), can someone please explain how to use an automation to check a box? I’m putting one’s and zero’s everywhere and nothing is working!

Also, am I doing something different here? Why does my “Automation” area look so different than everyone else’s???

MINE:
Capture12
ONE FROM THIS THREAD:
image

Thanks!

DG