Forms that link to categories and sorts them

[New_Page]

Hi! I am creating a database for my books and have included categories like genre, pace, mood, etc. In future, I would like to offer a subscription service for people to get a new book within their preferences. I know I can create a form in Airtable to get their information but is it possible to then have the form automatically generate a list of all the books that match their preferences? Or if not automatically, is there a way to do it quickly/easily without having to manually cross reference their preferences to the categories? I imagine an IF/THEN formula with IF referring to the users’ selection and THEN linking to the database column for that category. But I’m not sure if this will work or if there’s a better way or if I’ll have to hire someone to create something like this for me. Any info would be appreciated!

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hey New_Page, I’ve created something for you here that does what you’re looking for I believe. You can duplicate the base by clicking the title of the base at the top of the screen, then the three horizontal dots on the right, and then the “Duplicate Base” button. You’ll then be able to see all the formulas, how the fields are setup, etc

In the form, your users would select the categories via a linked record field

Each category record is linked to all the books that are categorized as such, and as a result we can just get a rollup of all the books of the user’s selected categories

Let me know if you have any questions!

[ScottWorld]

Welcome to the community, @New_Page!

No, there is no way to use the Airtable forms to generate a list of all the books that match their preferences for them to choose from.

However, the form offered by MiniExtensions.com allows you to filter options based on another selection, so you could probably pull off what you’re looking for with their form:

miniExtensions for Airtable

Conditional Filter for Linked Records in miniExtensions Form

Filter through linked records based on certain fields. e.g. instead of showing a list of all cities, select a county first to narrow down the options.

Also, for an even more advanced form experience that ALSO allows you to filter options based on another selection, you would want to turn to the combination of JotForm + On2Air Forms:

jotform.com

Free Online Form Builder & Form Creator | Jotform

We believe the right form makes all the difference. Go from busywork to less work with powerful forms that use conditional logic, accept payments, generate reports, and automate workflows.

On2Air | Airtable Apps for Your Business Operations – 3 Jun 20

On2Air: Forms | On2Air

On2Air: Forms allows you to create and configure advanced forms using your Airtable data completely integrated with the powerful features of third-party form builders. Enhance your Airtable forms with more options, such as prefilled data, custom...

[New_Page]

Wow thank you so much! I’ll have to spend some time analyzing what you’ve done and duplicating it. Much appreciated

[ScottWorld]

@New_Page

1. @Adam_TheTimeSavingCo’s solution shows YOU the related books.

2. In your original post, you made it seem like you want your CUSTOMERS to select from the related books. (At least, that’s how I personally interpreted what you wrote.)

Which one are you looking for? Adam’s solution will work for #1. My solution will work for #2.

[Kamille_Parks]

It depends on how you want to share the list of books with them. An Automation could have a Find Records step that looks for up to 100 records in the Books table that match a user’s categories selections. From there you can email the Customer a list of those matching books.

Much like @Adam_TheTimeSavingCo ‘s set up, you would have a table of form submissions where users select one or more categories. Each category is linked to Books. And each Book would have a lookup field to find the Form Submissions that match it by referencing the Categories’ form submissions field:

The Automation trigger would be “when new form response”. The Find Records step would have these conditions:

The email from the Automation could look like:

Its not a perfect solution. If you need to only select books that match all categories selected, verses any category selected, then this solution won’t work for you. It also necessitates that the primary field for the Form Responses table have unique values (so an email address or perhaps a full name, not just a first name)