Creating a default message for a field if it's left empty

[cbg]

Hello! I'm creating an Airtable form, and I want to enable a default text to fill in a field if the field is left empty by whoever is filling the form. Example if name is not filled in, then it will default to anonymous instead of being blank. How do I go about doing this? I tried to use the blank formula myself but I failed :')

Thank you so much!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

If you're alright with the person filling out the form seeing "Anonymous" there, then you can use prefills

If not, you could make an automation that would trigger on if the Name field is not filled in and use an "Update record" action to put the text "Anonymous" in there?

[kuovonne]

A formula field cannot change the value of a different field by itself. A formula in Airtable can only set the value of its own field. 

For example, you could have a formula

IF( {Name}, {Name}, "anonymous")

However, this formula will not change the original {Name} field. On the other hand, if you only want to see the results, this formula may do what you need and save you automation runs. 

[cbg]

Ohh omg ok! I will try the prefills! Thank you so much

[cbg]

Ahh no wonder it wasn't working :') Thanks so much for letting me know!!