Smart Lists are a flexible, centralized lookup tool in Apricot that standardizes dropdown values across your entire database. Administrators can create and manage list values in one place, then reuse them across multiple forms and fields—reducing duplication and improving data consistency.
Smart Lists are powered by Smart Field Presets, which act as the source of truth for the list values. When you create a Smart List, you're creating a preset that tells Apricot: "show the values from this field, on this form." You can then assign that preset to dropdown fields throughout your site. This separation gives administrators control over both where values come from and how they appear, making it easier to manage the same list across multiple forms.
Using Smart Lists helps improve report quality by enforcing consistent field values across forms. When you assign a Smart List to a form, any data entered via that dropdown is easier to group, filter, or aggregate in reports — which reduces manual clean-up and improves data reliability.
Administrators can add Smart Lists via the Form Designer. From the Field Choices palette, drag in a “Smart List” field, then assign (or create) a Smart Field Preset to define the list’s source and display values. Once configured and published, the Smart List becomes available for use in that form across your site.
Feature Availability
Smart Lists are available to all Apricot Pro and Enterprise customers.
Limitations
Smart Lists currently support only single‑select dropdowns (not multi‑select or checkbox options).
Once a Smart Field Preset has been used in the setup of a Smart List, the preset cannot be deleted.
The field types that cannot be used as the “Primary Field” in a Smart Field Preset include:
Signatures
Attach Doc
Image
Autopopulate
Dynamic Fields
If you change the primary field after a preset has been used (and the Smart List is already used in a published form), existing data entered in that field will not be retained.
If a Smart Field Preset returns more than 1,000 records, Apricot will display only the first 1,000 in the dropdown.
Smart List–powered fields cannot be used for:
Form Logic
Email Triggers
Duplicate Checks
Imports
Registration Grids
Quick View
Record Search
Connect/Intake in certain configurations
System Fields (including Record Name)
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