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Create a unique Project ID Number

  • 30 December 2021
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Currently there is a 7 digit number code that’s associated with each project. The number has no logical association with the project and I would like to be able to create a unique project number that automatically generates with each project creation. I am hoping to use this unique ID for all my google drive, folder, file, invoice structures.

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Best answer by Michelle from Copper 24 February 2022, 22:26

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Hi @mkm, my apologies for the delayed response! I’m not sure I fully understand your question, so if this answer is off the mark just let me know.

You’re right that each Project in Copper has a system-generated ID. Are you hoping to hoping to use this as a kind of ID across all your systems?

If so, there’s two ways for you to grab this ID number from Copper.

  1. Copy it from the URL of the project. There is a portion of the URL that looks like this: /project/####### - those digits would be the Copper ID that you can use in your Google Drive, etc. if you want. Or,
  2. Have Copper populate the ID into a custom field. That way you can see it in the Details section of the project. To do this, you would first create a custom field on Projects (maybe called Project ID). Then, you’d build a workflow automation that automatically fills it out when a Project is created. I’ll put some screenshots below of what that workflow automation would look like.

 

To create a custom field for Project ID, go to Settings > Customization > Manage Fields on Records > Projects > Create Field.

To create a workflow automation to populate the Project ID, go to Settings > Automation > Workflow Automation > Add Workflow. The screenshots below are an example of a workflow automation that say: when a new Project is created that doesn’t have a Project ID filled out, fill it with the Copper system’s ID for that project.

 

 

The result:

 

 

Let me know if that answers your question!

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Thanks for this @Michelle from Copper ! I’ll be using this to show the ID on the opportunity and then will have Copper add this number to a field on the corresponding Project when it’s created. Super helpful

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@RebeccaB @mkm did you have a chance to build that workflow automation? Let me know how it’s working out for you 🙂

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@Michelle from Copper yes - Thanks again for posting the step by step. This worked perfectly for us. I have the Opportunity ID populating into a custom field, Placement ID, on any new opportunity and did a data import to add it to all existing opps.  We’ve adopted the Opportunity ID as our Placement ID number for use across the org with any item relating to a specific won opportunity: projects, invoices, finance reporting, etc. The team loves it!

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@RebeccaB 🙌 So glad to hear it’s helpful for your team. We use a similar approach here at Copper (carrying over IDs between platforms) and it makes things so much easier.

Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with!

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Hi @Michelle from Copper : I used your steps above to create and populate the project ID’s, but cannot figure out how to get the project ID to populate into a custom field in the related Opportunity. Can you help with this?

Or alternatively populating/relating the Opportunity ID to the related project.

Thanks!

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I’m actually having a kind of similar issue.. we have a workflow set up to create a project once an opportunity reaches a specific stage.  That part is working, but I’m trying to carry over the Placement ID from the opportunity (cf_placementID0) to a custom field on the project (cf Project Placement ID). I have the workflow set to use formula, GETVALUE(cf_placementID0) but nothing is populating. Any suggestions? @Michelle from Copper 

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@VINIV Sounds like you’re wanting to store the Opportunity ID on a Project and vice versa? Workflow automation is not able to update a field an another record. So for example, if I have a ID for Project A, I can’t get workflow automation to populate that ID on Opportunity B.

In the original instructions/recipe, the workflow automation is updating the same record that triggered the workflow automation. So if it detects a change in Project A, it fills something in on Project A. It cannot jump over to another record and make a change there.

There’s one exception: when the workflow automation creates a new record. So if a change in Opportunity A triggers the creation of Project B, workflow automation can pull info from the triggering record (Opportunity A) and populate it into the record it created (Project B).

So the question here… is your workflow automation creating those additional records? Or do they already exist?

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@RebeccaB gotcha, sounds like you’re on the right track. Two questions for you:

  1. Placement ID for the Opportunity and Placement ID for the Project - what type of fields are those? Dropdown, text field, number field, etc? The reason I ask is because you usually use GETVALUE()  with a dropdown. Otherwise in most cases you can directly plug in the field key e.g. cf_placementID0
  2. Would you mind posting a screenshot of your workflow’s Action?
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Got it - this is a text field so I just changed from GETVALUE(cf_placementID0) to cf_placementID. We’ll see if that does it… :) A screenshot of the workflow is attached. @Michelle from Copper Thanks for the quick reply!

 

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@RebeccaB great! Looks good based on your screenshot so let me know if it fires correctly!

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@Michelle from Copper Thanks for your feedback! I have yes created a workflow where a change in Opportunity A creates a Project B. How can I then get workflow automation to pull info from the triggering record (Opportunity A) and populate it into the record it created (Project B)?

Thanks!

 

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@Michelle from Copper more specifically, how can i get it to show up in the “Related” section?

 

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@VINIV 

I have yes created a workflow where a change in Opportunity A creates a Project B. How can I then get workflow automation to pull info from the triggering record (Opportunity A) and populate it into the record it created (Project B)?

Great! I’ll give you some general guidance here, but if you wanna tell me more about which fields you want to pull over then I can give you more details as well.

 

First, find the variable name for the field you’re trying to push.

If you’re pushing from a default field, find the variable name here (or just reply and I’ll find it for you). Here are some common ones for Opportunities:

  • The Opportunity Name is name
  • Value is monetary_value
  • ID (as in the system ID) is id
  • Source is customer_id_source

 

If you’re pushing information from a custom field, set a field key. You can do this for an existing field by going to Settings > Manage Fields on Records > Edit Custom Fields. Find the field you’re pushing info from and fill in the Field Key line (or copy it if it’s already filled in).

You’ll also see a place to select whether that field belongs to Opportunities, Companies, Projects, etc. I recommend that you apply it to Projects too if you haven’t already.

 

Next, go to edit your workflow automation (Settings > Automate > Workflow Automation). Scroll down to the Action. Click “+ Add Fields” and add each of the fields you’re trying to populate.

Select “Use a Formula” for each of them and then fill in the variable name on the right side box.

  • For default fields, simply plug in the variable. For example, the variable for the Opportunity’s ID is simply id
  • For custom fields, take the field key (e.g. “deal_type”) and add “cf_” to the beginning. In our example this leads to cf_deal_type 

Remember to save and turn on the workflow rule!

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@VINIV 

how can i get it to show up in the “Related” section?

Ah, unfortunately there is not a way to automatically associate that Project with the Opportunity. This would have a great Idea for our product team to look at - feel free to post it so we can pass it along to them. :) 

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@mkm let me know if you ended up automating the Project ID! In the meantime I’m going to mark my first response as “Best Answer” so that others can find it easily.

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