This can be done by using the Duplicate Form Record Formula feature, available in the Submission Actions section in the form. This functionality enables users to easily generate fresh records using established ones, simplifying data input and boosting overall efficiency. It serves as an effective substitute for extensive prefilling, particularly in cases where numerous fields require prefilling, causing URL lengths to become unwieldy. To set this up, you need to:
Turn on Allow users to copy submitted record to a new form in the Submission Actions section (make sure that action after save is set to Success Message)
Copy the formula from Duplicate Form Record Formula
Create a formula field in Airtable
Copy the URL generated by the formula field from the template record
You can send this URL to anyone and it will populate the values in the form based on the template record.
This feature only copies the values of fields that are included in the form. It will ignore the fields that are in Airtable, but not in the form.
Portal
Within the portal, you can employ this formula within a button. When the button is clicked, it will initiate a form containing default values derived from the chosen record within the portal. Here's an illustration:
Read-only Form
You might also consider displaying the template record to your users before they initiate the record creation process. To achieve this, you'll need to create two separate forms:
The form with the duplicate record creation feature enabled.
The form where all fields are set to read-only. This form will showcase the template record along with a button that opens the form for duplicating the record.