Possible to have a check-box to record the date it was cheked?

[Kim_Trager1]

I have a database where I have a check box that’ll indicate that a material has arrived.
Im trying to have a formular to automatically record the date the check box was checked.

Sofar I’ve tried with the following.
IF({Trim arrived}=1,TODAY(), BLANK())

The problem that the date follows todays date and dosen’t stay at the date the the check box was clicked. Is there a way record the date it was checked in in the formular field

[W_Vann_Hall]

Um, nope.

Currently, the only Airtable field with persistence — that is, not dynamically updated — is CREATED_TIME(). As a result, one way people timestamp a check box-like action is to use a linked-record field instead of a check box. Make the primary field of the linked-to record a formula returning CREATED_TIME(). Now, instead of selecting and then clicking a check box, the user will create a new linked record that will bear the date and time stamp. It takes essentially the same number of mouse clicks to complete either task.

[Elias_Gomez_Sai]

Just to note it, you could see it in the revision history.

I think you can do it also with Zapier:

• Create a View filtering to see only the Checked records.
• Create a new field Checked Time (for instance)
• Create a Zap for this New Record in view, with an action to fill the previous field

[Ivan_Carlson]

Why not do the opposite? Have a Date Arrived field and manually enter the date the material had arrived (especially since the date it is checked may not necessarily be the same date the material arrived). Then have an Arrived formula field that automatically checks (using an emoji) if there is a date entered in the Date Arrived field? That way you can group by the formula field with the check emoji in it.

IF(DateArrived=BLANK(),BLANK(),“ :white_check_mark: ”)

[W_Vann_Hall]

I think the idea is to require as little effort from the user as possible: Clicking a check box is optimal, in terms of level of effort required; the other solutions, less so.

[Kim_Trager1]

Thank you for all your replies.
@W_Vann_Hall you have a very valid point that want least effort from the user, and what I was hoping to achieve with this.
However @Ivan_Carlson you made me rethink the problem, and indeed materials do not always come in the day you check the button so your solution makes a lot of sense for what I’m doing.
@Elias_Gomez_Sainz getting Zapier involved is almost too much for what I’m doing, but thanks for your input.

[Matthew_Comer]

I have a new feature request in to Airtable for something very similar. @Ivan_Carlson’s method would work in my case, EXCEPT for the fact that they want multiple options in a single select. His answer would work if I used checkboxes for each, but that’s not the requester’s intent. Wait…hmm, maybe I can do this another way and sorta make everyone happy…and keep the Zapier integration working.

[Rachael_Castela]

hey matthew! i stumbled across this post and am wondering if you found a solution. thanks!

[Aron · Accepted solution]

Hi Rachael,

You can now do this using the Last Modified time field by scoping it only to the checkmark field. The last modified time field will keep the time at which the checkbox was marked. You can do then use formulas on that datetime to see if it was today or anything else :slightly_smiling_face:

Here’s a quick video: https://www.loom.com/share/f32631529cd14a96a6ba57582e777e32?focus_title=1&muted=1

[katies]

The problem with the "Last Modified time field" is that if you ever accidentally check a checkmark, then uncheck it to remove it, the "Last Modified" time field will show the date that you unchecked the box (because you modified it by UN-checking it).  You CANNOT delete a date/time from the last modified column if it has ever had data in it before.  So, you'll have an unchecked box, but a "completed date/time" listed (which are completely useless records of the date that an accidental click was removed).  If you filter, sort or report your records by completion date, you'll now have BAD DATA mixed in (items which are NOT complete, but which show that they are complete).