Update a checkbox field with automation

Hey! I love working with Activecampaign. We actually more use it as a business automation system than sending campaigns. :robot:

One type of such automation is “updating fields” based on certain actions.

We have a checkbox field on Accounts (so we can not use tags) for listing which data sources our leads and clients are using.

Based on certain actions, I want to add a data source, e.g. “SQL Server”, to the checkbox field.

PROBLEM: Add “SQL Server” with automation removes all other values in the list.

Isn’t it possible to add/select values in a checkbox field with automation or mass updating, without wiping out existing selections?

If not, are their any other strategy to solve the described challenge?

Hi @enhanza Great question! At present, using the “update a contact” step will always override an existing value, regardless of what type of field is being utilized and what other data previously existed.

You could potentially use if/else branches and a condition for “field contains” a selection of values to help us update the field without erasing the previous data based on what is already contained in the field. This type of approach would require us to create a branch for each variation we might encounter in order to make sure our contacts take the correct path, and if you have a significant number of checkbox options this may not work well for your team/be easily buildable. For example, if you have a data source with four options, we could look for someone who has already selected the first three options - if they match, we can use the yes path to select all three options plus the one we’d like to add, and if no, look for an account with just the first two options selected, and so on - we would need to repeat this until we’ve exhausted every option, and you would need to ensure you start with the variants with combinations or it could very easily erase data inadvertently as well. It may be wiser to consider some kind of API update in order to first call and see what values are already selected so that the response can ensure they are always included.

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Hey @alibby!

Thanks for the suggestion. I am afraid that the variants will be way too many for that to work. But thanks anyway.