Formatting Qualtrics data in Zapier to upload to Airtable

[ICM]

Hi all -

I am working to update an Airtable table using responses to a Qualtrics survey via Zapier. I have many multiple choice questions, some up to 17 options, and the column these feed to in Airtable is itself a multiselect field column (so I want each item to show up separately). At first, I had the issue that when I listed all multiple choice fields from qualtrics one next to the other, it put it in as one giant option, as shown in the right of the attached Airtable screenshot (early stage growth stage as one item). I resolved this partially by putting commas between the fields, as shown in the zapier screenshot. That turned into the left example in airtable - now they are separate items, but if an item is not selected, it still includes a blank entry. Is there a trick to resolve this? Open to all ideas - thank you!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hmm, if you've got automations to spare, the simpler option may be to just format it within Airtable? 

I did this by using a formula field to remove the extra commas with a SUBSTITUTE, and then you could use an automation and paste it back into the multiple select field, thus removing the blank

Link to base

You could also do it within Zapier with the text formatter tool I think!

[ScottWorld]

@ICM 

In my personal opinion, the best solution that I can recommend for you would be to switch to Make’s integrations and automations instead of using Zapier for your Qualtrics integrations.

Make has built-in array functions that let you remove the empty strings from an array before passing them onto Airtable.

And Make also has about 1,000 other advanced features that Zapier doesn’t offer. 

Make is INFINITELY more powerful & customizable than Zapier, yet it is SIGNIFICANTLY CHEAPER than Zapier.

I wrote an entire post here comparing Make vs. Zapier.

There is a small learning curve with Make, which is why I’ve assembled a bunch of Make training resources in this thread: https://air.tableforums.com/t/make-com-basic-navigation-tips/277

I also give live demonstrations of how to use Make in many of my Airtable podcast appearances here:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbH9iE5ncCk&list=PLqssva4liHRwHhQIpTXekG8WObEoyC2F1

p.s. If you have a budget for your project and you’d like to hire an expert Airtable consultant to help you with any of this, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consulting — ScottWorld