diff --git a/the_works/static/the_works.js b/the_works/static/the_works.js
index 10a1f40..ad2bd90 100644
--- a/the_works/static/the_works.js
+++ b/the_works/static/the_works.js
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ function initDataTable(table_id) {
 
 // create "New"-element and append it to the <div> containing the DataTables search field 
 function initCreateButton(opts) {
-console.log(`initCreateButton: opts are ${JSON.stringify(opts)}`);
   let a = document.createElement("a");
   a.id = "create-button";
   a.setAttribute("title", opts.title);
@@ -25,14 +24,23 @@ console.log(`initCreateButton: opts are ${JSON.stringify(opts)}`);
 }
 
 function showDialog(opts) {
-  console.log(`showDialog: opts are ${JSON.stringify(opts)}`);
   // if form action includes the string "update", the id at the end of the URL is a dummy and must be replaced with the correct id
   if ( opts.url_id && opts.form_action.includes("update") ) { 
     opts.form_action = opts.form_action.slice(0, opts.form_action.lastIndexOf("/") + 1) + opts.url_id;
   }
-  console.log(`showDialog: opts.form_action is ${opts.form_action}`);
+  // if input id or input value is not an array, make it a single-element array
+  opts.input_id = Array.isArray(opts.input_id) ? opts.input_id : [ opts.input_id ];
+  if ( opts.input_value ) {
+    opts.input_value = Array.isArray(opts.input_value) ? opts.input_value : [ opts.input_value ];
+  } else {
+    opts.input_value = new Array(opts.input_id.length).fill("");  
+  }
+
+  console.log(`id[] is ${JSON.stringify(opts.input_id)}, value[] is ${JSON.stringify(opts.input_value)}`);
   document.getElementById("dialog-heading").textContent = opts.heading;
-  document.getElementById(opts.input_id).value = opts.input_value || "";
+  for (var i = 0; i < opts.input_id.length; i++ ) {
+    document.getElementById(opts.input_id[i]).value = opts.input_value[i] || "";
+  }
   document.getElementById("form_submit").formAction = opts.form_action;
   document.getElementById(opts.modal_id).showModal();
 }