The collaborator field allows you to select one or more names from an automatically generated dropdown list of all the collaborators (both team members and base-level collaborators) with whom your base is shared.
A collaborator field can be set to allow only one collaborator or to allow multiple collaborators. You can change this setting by going into the field configuration menu and checking or unchecking the Allow adding multiple collaborators checkbox.
The field icon will change depending on whether or not the collaborator field supports one or multiple collaborators.
If you convert a collaborator field supporting multiple collaborators into a collaborator cell only supporting single collaborators, only the first collaborator in a cell will be retained.
The collaborator field can be configured to notify a collaborator when their name has been added to a cell. This is particularly helpful for project management use cases or any other situations in which you need to assign records to people.
By default, a collaborator field is set to notify collaborators when their name has been added to a cell. Adding a collaborator's name to a cell has three effects:
- Any collaborator whose name has been added will receive an in-Airtable notification. (You will not receive an Airtable notification if you add yourself.)
- Any collaborator whose name has been added will receive an email at the email address associated with their Airtable account. (You will not receive an email if you add yourself. Former collaborators and unconfirmed invited collaborators will not receive emails. Anyone who has email notifications switched off will not receive emails.)
- Any collaborator whose name has been added to a record (including when you add yourself) will automatically start watching the record in question. This means that, in the future, they will get notified about comments on the record. Collaborators can set themselves back to "Not watching" manually.
You can turn off the notifications feature by going to the field configuration menu and unchecking the Notify collaborators when they're added box.
Note that collaborators will not be notified if you duplicate a collaborator field or convert a field into a collaborator field. If you assign multiple records to a collaborator with a bulk operation (like paste or the fill handle) only one notification email will be sent.
Please be aware that if you add a collaborator field to a form, then anyone viewing the form can see the full list of all collaborators on the base, including their profile pictures and full names (but not their email addresses). Collaborators who are added to the base after the form was created will also show up on the form.
If you have concerns regarding the full list of collaborators being visible on a form, consider making a single or multiple select field instead.
Converting to a collaborator field
If you convert an existing field into a collaborator field, every cell will either be matched with an existing collaborator or cleared. If the field matches the first name, full name, or email of exactly one collaborator, it will be converted to that collaborator. If the content of a cell matches no collaborators, or it's ambiguous (e.g. you have two collaborators with the same first name), the cell will be cleared instead.
Note that converting a field to a collaborator field will never invite anyone new to your base.
If a collaborator no longer has access to your base (either by unsharing themselves, being unshared, or deleting their account), their tokens will still appear in cells where that collaborator was previously assigned, in a lighter gray color.
However, their name token will no longer appear in the collaborator selection dropdown menu.
