Contact List Field not selecting contact from list.

BrianThy

I have a contact list field on a form of mine. When typing a contact name and submitting it, the spreadsheet doesn't actually select the contact, linking it to their other information like email. I have to manually select it from the dropdown. How can i make it so it actually selects the matching contact from the list?

BrianThy

Do I have to add every contact of mine to the preferred contact list?

Ward.Hively

Hi Brian,

The contact field is a bit more complex due to the programming behind it, called "JSON," which looks something like this:

{
"id": "AAAAATYU54QAD7_fNhTnhA",
"name": "Jane Doe",
"email": "jane.doe@smartsheet.com"
}

There needs to be a programmed connection between the name and email to generate the contact ID and create the "contact" record. Without adding the preferred contact to the contact field, the system won’t be able to identify which contact you’re referring to.

Think of the contact field as more advanced than a typical drop-down field. It always requires the "preferred contact list" because the query runs at the column properties module.

Let me know if you need any further clarification!