Dropdown menus provide a list of values you can send to other apps in your Zap. If you want to send a value that's not available in a dropdown menu, you can use custom values.
In action steps, you can map a field from a previous step as a custom value in the dropdown menu. In triggers, you can use IDs that you find in the trigger app.
In the QuickBooks app, the Customer field in the Create Invoice action is a dropdown menu. It lists all the customers in your QuickBooks account. When you select a customer from the dropdown menu, your Zap will enter the same customer in every invoice. You may want to use a custom value instead, so the Zap enters a different customer each time it runs.
What can I use as a custom value?
You must use the ID of a specific item as a custom value. Sometimes, the ID may be the same as the name of the value, or it may be a numeric or alphanumeric string.
For action steps, you will see the ID below the name of an item in a dropdown menu.
For trigger steps, check the app you're using to find the appropriate ID.
When using custom values, you must:
- Enter the ID of the value, not the name of the value (if they differ).
- Enter a value that already exists in the app, or the step will error.
In QuickBooks’ Customer field, the customer name is the value name. The number below it is the value ID. "Arooj Aftab" is the name of the customer value and "7" is the value ID.
Sometimes, the value from a previous step doesn’t have a value ID. For example, a previous step may return a customer name instead of their QuickBooks ID. You can use a lookup table or search action to return an ID instead.
Set up a custom value
- Next to the field where you want to enter a custom value, click the three dot icon . A dropdown menu will open.
- Click Custom.
- Manually enter a custom value or click the plus sign icon in the field to map a field from a previous step.
If you're mapping a custom value from a value you've created in a previous step, it may not exist yet. Add a delay step in between to give your connected app time to create the new value.
Or, if you need to use a custom value in a trigger step, copy the field ID from your app directly and paste it as a custom value in your Zap.