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    User field type
    • 17 Apr 2024
    • 2 Minutes to read
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    Contents

    User field type

    • Updated on 17 Apr 2024
    • 2 Minutes to read
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    Article summary

    Plan availability

    Platform(s)

    Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app

    Related reading

    Adding user fields in Airtable

    The user field allows you to select one or more collaborator and non-collaborator names from an automatically generated dropdown list of users. This article covers how to use user fields to streamline your team's and organization's work.

    Adding user fields

    1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

    2. Create or open your preferred base.

    3. Add or edit a field.

    4. Search for and select User.

      1. From here, you can toggle the "Allow adding multiple users" button ON/OFF to permit or remove adding multiple users per record.

      2. Additionally, you can toggle the "Notify users with base access when they're added" button ON/OFF to ensure anyone added to a record is made aware they're included.

    Adding users into user fields

    NOTE

    Unless users have turned off their email notifications or their email address is unconfirmed, they will receive an email at the email address associated with their Airtable account.

    1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

    2. Open your preferred base.

    3. Click the + icon in the record you want to update.

    4. Search for and select your preferred user(s).

      1. Click the ⌄ icon under the “Permissions” section and select your preferred user role.

    5. Click Invite to base.

    NOTE

    Alternatively, click the + icon, then Invite a new user, enter your preferred user’s email address, and click Send invite and add to record.

    NOTE

    After adding users to a record, they automatically start watching the record and its associated comments—meaning they are notified when someone comments.

    Only one notification email is sent if you assign multiple records to a user with a bulk operation like the fill handle.

    Converting existing fields to user fields

    Converting fields to user fields

    NOTE

    When converting an existing field into a user field, individual records are matched with a current user or cleared. If the field matches a single user's first name, full name, or email, it is converted to that user. If the content of a cell doesn't match a single user or it's ambiguous (e.g., two collaborators with the same first name), the record is cleared.

    1. Visit your Airtable homepage.

    2. Open your preferred base.

    3. Locate the field you want to covert and click the ⌄ icon next to the field’s name.

    4. Click Edit field.

    5. Click the existing field type, then search for and select User.

      1. From here, you can toggle the "Allow adding multiple users" button ON/OFF to permit or remove adding multiple users per record.

      2. Additionally, you can toggle the "Notify users with base access when they're added" button ON/OFF to ensure anyone added to a record is made aware they're included.

    6. Click Save, then Confirm change.

    FAQs

    How do I count the number of users I have in a field?

    You can count the number of users in a field by adding a formula field using the formula below:

    
IF({field_name},LEN({field_name})-LEN(SUBSTITUTE({field_name},",",""))+1)

    NOTE

    Be sure to replace "field name" with the name of your user field.

    Does adding a user to a user field allow them access to the base where that field is?

    Users who are selectable in a user field already have some kind of permission in the workspace where your base/interface resides. Users will need workspace, base, or interface access to appear in the dropdown. By adding a user token to a user field it will not change their current permission level.

    To learn more about permissions as they relate to billing, please consult this article.

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