Simplifying Change Requests with SmartSuite’s Pre-Filled Forms
Welcome back to another episode of SmartTips! I'm Gavin Brennen, your go-to product specialist at SmartSuite, and today we have something exciting lined up for all you SmartSuite aficionados. We’ll be diving deep into one of the smartest additions to our toolkit yet: pre-filled forms. These nifty forms promise to revolutionize how you handle change requests, boosting your efficiency like never before. So, what exactly are pre-filled forms, and how can you make them work for you? Let’s unpack this.
What are Pre-Filled Forms?
A pre-filled form is, at its core, a basic SmartSuite form with a twist: some of the fields in the form are already filled in by the time your user gets their hands on it. This advancement is particularly handy for tasks like linking to certain records, sending forms to specific individuals, or ensuring basic information common to all users is pre-set.
Use Case: Event Planning
To illustrate, let’s imagine you’re at the helm of an event planning company. Whether you’re orchestrating weddings, organizing galas, or throwing bachelor parties, change requests are par for the course.
Here's where our pre-filled forms come into play:
- Orders Table: Your orders are neatly organized with statuses and other relevant details.
- Change Request Table: Users can fill out a form here to make changes to their linked order.
The Problem Pre-Filled Forms Solve
In the existing setup, users have to manually select their event in the change request form. This means they could potentially scroll through and access all other events—a cumbersome (and frankly, inefficient) approach. Moreover, creating unique identifiers for each event is a hassle.
Imagine the convenience if, upon sending a mass email for the SmartSuite Gala, the order linked to every change request auto-populates. Even better, the linked record can be hidden from view, preventing any tampering. Essentially, every record created is seamlessly tied to the event at hand.
Implementing Pre-Filled Forms
Now that you understand the benefits, let’s tackle how you can start embedding this genius into your daily operations.
Modifying the URL
To activate pre-filled variables within your forms, you’ll need to tweak the URL itself. Don’t worry—though this may sound techy, it’s straightforward with a little guidance. Here's a brief rundown:
- URL Structure: Start with the normal shared form URL.
- Appending Parameters: Add ?Prefill_ followed by the name of the parameter. The parameter is the specific field you would want prefilled.
- Parameter Structure: Follow the parameter with = and the value you want to prefill. For instance, if your field is an "Order", and you wanted it to prefill to "Wedding", your URL would look like:
https://form.smartsuite.com/exampleformid?Prefill_Order=Wedding
Pro Tip: If you’re new to URL manipulation, don’t worry! My colleague Brian wrote a comprehensive help article about this.
Using Formulas to Generate the URL
I crafted a formula that takes the base URL and intelligently pre-fills the order field using the title of the order. This code snippet encapsulates how you can achieve this:
CONCAT([Base URL], "?Prefill_Order=", [Order Title])The ?Prefill_ is case-sensitive (capitalize as shown) to avoid any hiccups!
Exploring Further Possibilities
Experimenting with pre-filled forms opens up a world of customization and efficiency. Once you get comfortable, you can craft forms that tailor precisely to your needs without repetitive input, saving time and reducing errors. Have you discovered any creative uses for pre-filled forms?
Conclusion
Pre-filled forms offer a sleek, modern solution to a perennial problem in order processing. By tweaking URLs and using smart formulas, you can enhance your workflow markedly. We’re eager to see how our community leverages this feature to elevate their processes. If you find any novel applications, don’t hesitate to let us know!
Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep optimizing with SmartSuite!
As always, happy smart-suiting!
