The ability to delay a automation to allow items to be inputted. E.g. when you select the trigger to be when a new item is created, the automation automatically runs, and before you can even input items such as default items.
we have an automation that runs off a default email address to send an email, the automation would complete before the email address was pre-populated.
The ability to delay a automation to allow items to be inputted.
You can do this on workflows.
If you don’t have workflows, then can you change the trigger to be when you change a specific column?
What’s your process? I’d like to help if possible.
Yeah, this is a common issue. The automation fires as soon as the item is created, but the fields like email or owner haven’t been filled out yet. It used to drive me absolutely bonkers before Workflows.
Here are a few ways to handle it:
Instead of triggering the automation on item creation, add a Button column and use that as the trigger.
When Button is clicked → then send email, update status, whatever you need
This gives you full control. You can fill in all the details first, then hit the button when you’re ready. Super helpful when you’re working with default fields or need to double-check info before anything runs.
Another option is to trigger based on a specific column instead of item creation. For example:
When email column changes
When status changes to “Ready to send”
This delays the automation naturally until you’ve entered the info you need.
If you have access to Workflows, you can build a delay right into the automation:
When item is created → wait 2 minutes → then send email
This gives you a short buffer to finish editing the item before it takes action.
Thanks for the suggestion! I did explore workflows, but found that the available triggers—such as moving items to a board or adding them directly—weren’t ideal for our process. They ended up causing multiple automation events to fire, which created more complexity than intended.
We also considered using a different trigger, but the board in question currently has over 40 columns, and we’re aiming to automate as much as possible to reduce manual input. Adding another trigger would have added to the complexity and potentially slowed things down or it being missed.
I’ve managed to work around the issue by repositioning the email trigger to the bottom of the automation sequence. This allowed two notification steps to complete first, giving enough time for the default email address to populate before the email is sent. It’s not perfect, but it’s functioning more reliably now.