It would be very useful to be able to set text column values via automation. It is possible to set status column values and number column values, but not to set plain text column values. This is a gap in automations function.
The general use of this functionality would open up a number of use cases.
One such case I am very keen on is to use automations to set text column values upon item creation. Our organization does this routinely, and critically, on a number of our corporate boards using the āitem default valueā functionality. I have learned recently this functionality is āautomation adjacentā, but without the same level of visibility or audit trail as automations. If automations would perform this functionality I would move the default settings into automations to have all such activities in one place, and more robust visibility into the actions.
Additionally, there are a number of other use cases for setting text column values based upon a change in a column.
(Of course, it would also be desirable for default item values to work more consistently.)
100% agree. Would love to see an option to update column value, which would include text fields and any other fields that do not fall into the status column type. I would use this to set connected columns values.
Totally agreeāthis is a much-needed feature. Being able to set text column values via automations would open up a lot of flexibility, especially for workflows that rely on consistent data entry or templated text.
Your example of using it during item creation is spot on. We also rely on default values, but the lack of audit trail and centralized management makes it hard to track or troubleshoot issues later. If automation could handle this, it would really streamline things and bring everything under one consistent logic flow.
It would also be great to see conditions like āwhen X column changes, set Y text column to [value]ā added. That would unlock some really useful automations for status tracking, naming conventions, or internal documentation.
Hoping the team considers thisādefinitely a small change that could have a big impact!
Automato
