HubSpot Ideas

Jems212

Update/Overwrite/Append Data Options for Contact Property Fields

Basically for each property I want 3 options to choose from:
1) Update value if blank
2) Append to value
3) Overwrite value

 

Sample use case(s):
Append Option: Notes Field
I have a comments field on my contact form where someone sends us a query. If that contact later submits another query I don't want to lose the previous info from my records. I want to see the new information appended to that field.  (Can't keep creating new properties and using smart properties). 

 

Overwrite Option 
Standard as happens curently with most fields, if a contact enters a new phone number it overrides the previous data to keep it updated with the latest information.

 

Update if Blank option - Lead Source
When a lead comes in, I assign the Lead Source to it, but I only want that updated if there is no previous Lead Source assigned to it. I don't want subsequent forms to overwrite the value. Smart Field(s) works only partially because if I use the API to submit forms, smart fields do not stop it from being overwritten.

 

Thanks 

139 Replies
LSlader
Member

Need this for append options.

ABeian
Contributor

6 years later...

We need this feature too, in connection with forms.

 

Ginayoyo
Participant

It is disheartening to see that the problem was brought up in 2017 and six years later, in 2023, no resolution has been found.

LSmith24
Member

Cant beileve this is not possible

WOuld be hugely helpful for transferring our system from dynamics to hubspot and now will need tobe manual

TJIH31
Member

Appending multiple checkboxes on a form is crucial to most companies. It should definitely be an option

antonia_kraft
Contributor | Platinum Partner

+ 1

ScottSpot
Member

Need the ability to append data to properties other than multi-select checkboxes. Most notably, we need to be able to append comments into a notes field exactly as the original requester described.

 

@Dylan -- for context, every single idea currently in beta status has fewer upvotes than this idea.

CarolineZ
Member

+1

janheinze
Member

I wouldn't classify this as a feature; rather, the current behavior appears more akin to a bug. From my perspective, enabling users to fully overwrite database records via web forms, without the ability to prevent this, is a rather risky proposition. Introducing a straightforward checkbox option within the form builder to append data instead of overwriting could effectively address this issue.

BMeling
Member

This would be a perfect solution for the Playbook problem we're having as well.

Since Playbook activity does not transfer in any way to a duplicate Deal (which is the only way for it to enter the Onboarding Pipeline without removing it from the Sales Pipeline), we have to manually visit the original Deal to see Playbook contents. The only option then is to update Properties ... but if you update Properties via the Playbook, it overwrites instead of adding to any existing text.

TMüller17
Member

We have a similar case where existing contact or company properties shouldn't be updated with every new form submission.

Our case: we ask for campaign criteria - and some customers want to submit different campaign settings. 

So it would be very helpful if the first entry wouldn't be overwritten but added to the field.

 

ABeney
Participant

We need this fix actioned now. We have a property which tags those who submit forms to an exprom/visprom pot depending on what they submit but we have this for multiple shows and products. We cant have this being overriden everytime someone submits a form from a different show, as we lose the fact they were tagged for a previous show. There are new forms being created all the time and many shows and it is too laboursome to keep creating/editing workflows to fix this as a workaround. This should be standard and I cant believe it is still not actioned when it first flagged in 2019!

TJIH31
Member

This should be one of the higher priorities for Hubspot updates. I can't imagine it'd even take long to code it

jdepu
Member

Some of our most complex workflows stem from not being able to append data when a form is submitted. This would be a really helpful feature.

JacobJ22
Member

Similar issue to a lot of users here. We have an entire section of workflows that are dedicated to appending values that could be handled by functionality. Instead we have to have two assets and two processes in place for each modification to our existing form set. 

MichelleMassung
Contributor | Platinum Partner

I'm definitely in need of this functionality, too. I would like to be able to append to a text field, just as you described, to not lose data previously entered. And being able to have a form append to a multi-select property and not overwrite it would be great. That should be able to be accomplished right from the form and not have to be done with workflows. Just like with workflows, you should be able to set the choice of overwrite or append.

RBozeman
Participant

This would be a sorely needed upgrade. I can think of many situations where this type of functionality would be so helpful. 

 

Thank you for all of the mentions of Insycle @TimBrown, appreciate it. I work for Insycle, so just wanted to chime in here to provide a little more context for people that need the append/overwrite/update functionality with CSV imports. 

 

Insycle's Magical Import module currently offers four different import mode options when importing:

 

  • Update – Update CRM records with all non-empty field data contained in the CSV.
  • Fill – Import CSV values only when the corresponding field in your CRM is empty.
  • Overwrite – Insycle will replace any existing data in your CRM with the data in the CSV — even if the CSV field is empty.
  • Append – Import values from the CSV and append (add them to) the existing data already in your CRM. A typical example of how “Append” is used would be in a “Notes” field.

Other features you should be aware of include the ability to select an identity field (to match CSV records to existing records in your database and avoid duplicates), the ability to format, clean and standardize data as you import it to improve data quality, add records to a list on import, to automatically associate the records on import based on the matching field you select. 

 

Here is our help doc on this if you want to see how it all looks inside the UI. 

StCanices
Member

+1

Em111
Participant

Yes I need this. Would be good for importing too. At the moment you can either 'overite' or not during an import, but for multi-select properties we don't want either of those options, we want to add/append the imported value to that property e.g. if they currently have value A1 and we import B1, we want the property to show both A1, B1 not one or the other. Can't see a way to do this at present. I've just been unticking the overite and then viewing the list in the contact view after import and manually adding the imported value to any contact who is missing the value. We are only working with small numbers of contacts but will be mega annoying once we are handling large chunks of data.