Archive Option for Single & Multiple Select Options

[Eli_Green]

It would be SO useful if there was a way to archive some of the options

Context/Example: We run a lot of events, and have each event listed as it’s own option in a multi-select field. Since most of our events are now in the past, we have a hundred+ options to scroll through to find the current ones. We cannot delete the old ones because we need to reference past classes on occasion. We use color coding and try to drag and drop reorder by date, but that doesn’t reduce the clutter. And filtering is of no use here because we are not wanting to see all of the options in the drop down.

[Databaser]

Hi @Eli_Green

I’ve had the same issue and solved it with an extra field that ‘logs’ the chosen option via an automation (“when record is updated” (eg “field x is not empty”) > “update record” (new field y = field x)). When you remove the option out of the multi select, your options will still be there.

[kuovonne]

Welcome to the Airtable community!

I recommend a base redesign.

Converting the multi-select field to a linked record field, creating a new table in the process.
Then in the new linked table, add an other field to indicate which events should be should be archived. Also create a new view in the linked table that filters out all the archived events and shows only active events.
Finally, back in the original table, edit the new linked record field to use values only from the new view that shows only active events.

This way you will maintain historical information for all past events, you can still have multiple events for a single record, and you can limit the drop-down to active events.