# Force User to search for linked record prior to providing option to create new record

**URL:** <https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853>\
**Category:** Feature Requests\
**Created:** [August 7, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853 "2024-08-07T03:09:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mitchyharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e79b87/32.png) [@mitchyharris](https://community.miniextensions.com/u/mitchyharris)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853/1 "2024-08-07T03:09:53Z")

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Hello - I was wondering if there was a way to control how a user interacts with Linked Records on forms. I would like to force the user to search for an existing record, then if an appropriate record doesn’t exist, prompt for them to create a record. I think this will help with reducing duplicate records. If this functionality already exists, please let me know.

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**Author:** ![Hannes](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.miniextensions.com/hannes/32/660_2.png) [@Hannes](https://community.miniextensions.com/u/Hannes)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853/2 "2024-08-07T17:19:51Z")

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Hi there,

Thank you for this suggestion! I will pass this on to our engineering team now for consideration for a future release and will post an update here when this feature becomes available!

How would you want the form to decide if an appropriate record was not found? When a search returns no results? Or simply require a search and then show the create button once a search has been performed? The better we understand how you would want to use this feature, the easier it will be for us to then implement a satisfying solution.

Thanks again for the suggestion! We really do appreciate your input!

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**Author:** ![mitchyharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e79b87/32.png) [@mitchyharris](https://community.miniextensions.com/u/mitchyharris)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 12:34am UTC](https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853/3 "2024-08-08T00:34:46Z")

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In my situation, I’m just looking for the user to perform a search prior to showing a create button as we have alot of similarly names linked records so don’t use the extact match functionality. But I can also see a use case for those who have exact matching turned on - assuming their search doesn’t get a match, that would prompt a create new button. Are both options possible?

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**Author:** ![Hannes](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.miniextensions.com/hannes/32/660_2.png) [@Hannes](https://community.miniextensions.com/u/Hannes)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://community.miniextensions.com/t/force-user-to-search-for-linked-record-prior-to-providing-option-to-create-new-record/853/4 "2024-08-08T01:20:13Z")

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Probably! And thank you for providing further context! I’ve passed this on to our engineering team now. As mentioned before I will post an update here when this becomes available!

Thanks again for taking the time to get in touch!