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Updating record based on form submission and unique ID lookup

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bertiep
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I've looked at a few posts that deal with updating an existing record based on a form submission, but haven't found anything that addresses my particular need.

I have a base to keep track of volunteers. It includes general contact info, which groups they are a part of, how they came to the organization, etc. I want to also use this base to keep track of which events they RSVP to. They RSVP to events via airtable form. I want to be able to update their existing record to add the event to the "Events" column (multi-select field).

I've found ways to do this that involve the person filling out the form looking up their record (e.g., https://community.airtable.com/t5/show-tell/updating-an-existing-record-via-airtable-form/td-p/13268...). But my volunteer list needs to remain private—I can't have it so that anyone filling out the form can see the names of other volunteers. Instead, I want to have users fill out their email address each time they RSVP, and then use that as a unique ID to look up if they already have a record, and to update the record. If they don't already have a record, then I want to create a new record to start tracking the new volunteer.

So the path would be something like this:

User fills out form

--> IF email address matches email address in existing record THEN "Events" column is updated

--> IF email address doesn't email address in existing record THEN create new record

Any help would be very much appreciated! I've tried several automations but haven't been able to figure out how to look up existing records in this way. I'm not familiar with scripting but if this would be possible through scripting I'm down to figure it out.

1 Reply 1
HannesK-ME
8 - Airtable Astronomer
8 - Airtable Astronomer

Our miniExtensions form can be used for this scenario in different ways:

- You could either have a login page on your form where users can enter their email address to look up their record. This can be made secure with a password, and/or using email confirmation (similar to 2FA). You can also set this up so a new record can be created if the email doesn't exist already.

- You generate a unique link to each user's record and provide them with this link (e.g. with an Airtable automation).

Both of these methods would fully hide the other users' data from prying eyes