Question

How do I make a one-time trigger?

  • 8 March 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 140 views

I’m making a Zap to make a slide in Google Slides from data in Airtable.  I need to pull these slides periodically-- about once per quarter.  The data in Airtable is updated continuously, I just need to present one slide on each record every once in a while.

So I need a way to generate one slide for each record when I say so.  Is there an airtable trigger that says “do it now, once” instead of when records are updated or added?


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4 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Andy Cornwell 

Good question.

Some options for the Zap trigger:

 

Might be a good idea to turn the Zap OFF when you don’t need it.

 

Userlevel 4
Badge +6

Hi @Andy Cornwell 

Chiming in here. Do you happen to have a field in your Airtable base that would indicate that the record can be sent over to Google Slides?

If so, we can use a filter step so that the slide will be generated once the field indicates that the record can be sent over to a slide. Here’s a helpful guide about filter steps: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496180919949-Filter-and-path-rules-in-Zaps.

You can then set up a Zap that goes like this:

  • Trigger - New or Updated Record (Airtable)
  • Action - Filter by Zapier
  • Action - Create Presentation From Template (Google Slides)

Please give it a shot and let us know how it goes!

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Andy Cornwell 

Airtable Views can be used to trigger Zaps.

Airtable Views can have Filters.

That would remove the need to have a Filter step in your Zap.

Userlevel 7
Badge +12

Using Views can be a helpful way to trigger Zaps without needing a filter, but one thing to remember is that records will only trigger a Zap the first time it moves into a view. If a record is in a view, leaves and then later returns to the view, it wont trigger the Zap. 

 

One way around that would be to turn the Zap off when you’re finished using it and then back on when you need it. That will reset the Zaps ‘memory’ of what it’s seen before. You’ll need to do the same thing if you use a Zap with a Filter like @Bram’s suggestion. 

 

Will any of the above solutions work for you, @Andy Cornwell?