Question

Zapier timestamp field - help needed

  • 2 March 2023
  • 8 replies
  • 318 views

I have a Zap that automatically sends project update messages to a specific Slack channel (in threads) when a specific field in Airtable is updated. Everything triggers as it should. However, every single Slack message within the channel gets pinged with a project update.

The only thing I can think of is that Zapier sees that several records have been updated at some point in time based on timestamp and thinks a Slack message needs to be sent.

Question: With that context, is there any way to create a custom function within the timestamp field in Zaper (see pic) that looks for updated Airtable records after a specific date? For example, I only want Zapier to look at Airtable records that have been updated after 3/1/23.

 


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8 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @jb_crunchbase 

Good question.

That field in the Zap trigger needs to reference a Last Modified field type from the Airtable Table.

The Last Modified field can be configured to only look for changes to specific fields in Airtable.

I’d recommend making sure you select a View in the field below in the Zap trigger.

In the Airtable Table View, you can add a Filter and set a specific date to limit the records that match.

 

OR you can add a Filter as step 2 in the Zap to filter based on a specific Date: https://zapier.com/apps/filter/help

Thank you, Troy. Very helpful.

 

One question: Is there an idea string for date/time to insert in the field shown below?

 

When I add in a test string for date and time, I get this:

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@jb_crunchbase 

Check this Filter help article: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496030961165#filtering-between-certain-dates-and-times-0-1

Thank you @Troy Tessalone. I’ve been fooling around with the filter option, but I still can’t seem to get it right.

This is what I’m seeing in Zapier:

 

This is the last modified column in my Airtable:

 

Any idea why the Zap wouldn’t continue?

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@jb_crunchbase 

If you’re triggering from Airtable, then why not try this approach…

Select a View as part of the Zap trigger.

In the View, add a Filter condition to specify the desired conditions for the date field.

Then you won’t need to the Zap Filter step.

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@jb_crunchbase 

Date format is different from what is indicated in the help article.

 

YOURS

 

HELP

 

 

Thank you @Troy Tessalone. Question: How would I add a filter condition for the date to an existing trigger? Here’s my trigger for reference:

 

As for the date format, I tried different variations, including the format in the help article. Nothing worked.

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@jb_crunchbase 

Airtable help article about configuring Filter conditions in Views: https://support.airtable.com/docs/filtering-records-using-conditions

 

You can open a ticket with Zapier Support for further help with the Filter: https://zapier.com/app/get-help