Method Community

Hello!

I need to be able to create a dropdown list for our customer names. It looks like it's possible, but I'm not 100% on how to properly set it up.

Ultimately, we want to be able to have our customer list as a dropdown within Method AND on our web-to-lead forms.

Thank you!

Hi Sarah,

Yes! This is entirely possible in method. You need to add a linked field to the Customer Table on the table you are trying to associate the customer names with.

For Example, Im going to  create a table named "Cars". As the name would suggest, I want this table to have a list of Cars contained in it. Every Car has a make, and a model, and Is owned by one of my existing customers contained in the Customer table.

To make this work, I create the Cars Table, and Add the make/Model etc.. as fields. When I want to link the Customer however, there is an extra step. I would create a new field with the DropDown type listed, and click Add Field. At this point you get prompted wether or not to Create a New Table, or Choose from an Existing Table I would want to select Choose and existing Table. On Step 2, you get prompted to Select the Table containing Choices., For my Scenario I would select the Customer  table. The Third step can be a little confusing for those new to database sctructures. On this step, you will only be able to select fields from this table which are Unique, to link these tables together. In the case of the Customer table, I will select RecordID.

Once Ive added this Field to my Cars Table, it is now linked to the contacts table by this dropdown. This means I can go ahead and add another field to the Cars table, this time a Linked field. You Create a Linked Field By selecting the radio button which says Add a Linked Field at the top of the Edit Fields... screen. 

Now when I go to add this field, Ill see three options, Link Using: This is where I select the table I want to use in my scenario the Customer table (Note that at this point, following the steps I have laid out I will only the customer table as an option, as it is the only linked table). Next, I select the Linked field: This is where I choose the field within the Customer table I want to link to my Cars table. Here, I am going to select Name, and then go ahead and press Add Field.

Now, whenever I build a screen based off of the Cars table, I will see the Name field ias a field I can add to this screen. Adding this field to the screen will display a Dropdown containing the names of all your currently existing customers.

What specifically were you trying to use the Customer dropdown for? If you are basing it off an existing table, theres a good change the Customer Table is already linked and you can skip this process.

Thanks Sarah!

Regards, 

Hello,

Thank you for this information. 

I’m still a bit confused. 

We already have a Customer field, and we have lots of customers already. So, what we want to be able to do is have a drop down where someone could choose an existing customers OR create a new customer if the customer doesn’t already exist in our system.

I can see “Customer” under the Fields/Tables tab, but when I click on Edit Table or Edit Fields, I’m a bit lost.

Thank you,

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

This is where it gets slightly more complicated. What you are describing is definitely possible, but there a few extra steps. Im going to refer you to THIS helpful forum post for this one.

Essentially what you would need to do is create an Add New event to the dropdown, and have this action set to Show Screen in Pop Up . The screen you want it to open is the CRM_NewCustomer screen (or whatever you have set as your New customer addition screen)

Let me know how you go!

Thanks Sarah

Regards,

Ben