Skip to main content

Base Design

Need help with your Airtable base design? You've arrived at the right place.

  • 3,359 Topics
  • 8,410 Replies
3359 Topics
T
TheWayTimMovesNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Single Linked field to multiple tables

I have a master Locations table which has a list of locations. Each location then has it's own table that has it's own set of unique records.I'd like to make a lookup field in the master Locations table that links to all the records in each location. I have made multiple lookup fields for each table, but I'd like to make it a single field with the linked records.Is this possible?

41
TheTimeSavingCo
Sean_Lake1
Sean_Lake1Inspiring
posted in Base Design
Setting up a tracker for dates

Good day all!Currently we schedule training that has been nicely integrated with GCal.  Recently, we decided to track rescheduled training for better communication and reporting.  I've added a "RESCHEDULED" check box to be marked when a training has been rescheduled.  My idea is to have another table, that "holds" all the rescheduling.  I'd like it to hold:Training Title (obviously) which it would get from the linked record to this table.Old training date and timeNew training date and timeNow how can my automation ensure it copies and pastes the Start Date and Time prior to changing that field to the new Start Date and Time without overwriting the old Start Date and Time?  I want to avoid the process from overwriting the data it's intended on tracking LOL.Ideas?

284
pressGO_design
A
aleynaNew Participant
asked in Base Design
Automation that Update linked record if it exists, if it doesn't exist, Create New Record

Hello there,I have a base where we are taking job hours and rolling up all the hours into monthly payroll. I attached screenshots of the sample base.Basically, I am trying to create an animation where if {Payroll Link} is empty, then copy and paste  {Payroll Link Calculation} into the linked field. If that record doesn't already exist in the Payroll table already, then create a new record, and just like before, update the {Payroll Link} link with {Payroll Link Calculation}.I've tried multiple versions of this automation and keep getting stuck. Please let me know if I need to provide more information on the base's structure. Thank you in advance for any help!

143
A
M
Mar_CastroParticipating Frequently
asked in Base Design
Show matching workers for a request looking at several fields

Hello,We are trying to create a base that allows us to track our workers' capacities (we called them Dimensions: skills, tools, languages, seniority level...), manage project requests and show matching workers for each request. For that, we have created a table for each dimension we want to track in workers (one table for skills, another for tools, another for languages, another for seniority level, etc.).Then, we have a table for workers, where we add every worker and select their dimensions in fields linked to the previous tables. Some dimensions have a 1-to-many relation with workers (for instance, a worker can only have one seniority level, but several workers can have the same seniority level). Other dimensions have a many-to-many relation with workers (for instance, a worker can be proficient with more than one tool, and several workers can be proficient with the same tool). And then, we have another table for requests. In this table, we have several fields linked with

92
M
J
JaponaisNaturelNew Participant
asked in Base Design
Unable to insert true into a single select field which has options true and false

Hi everyone,I am trying to insert in a single select field which has options "true" and "false" (without quotes) a data coming from an application through a webhook which is either "true" or "false" (also without quotes).Unfortunately, when trying to do so, I get an error 422 "Cannot parse value for field blabla".Is there an incompatibility between the values true and false and a single select field ?Shall I add quotes in the original data so it can be inserted into a single select field ?Thanks in advance for your help,Gilles

206
Grunty
Y
yvoNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Financial reporting & forecasting

Hi all!I'm new to Airtable hoping it can help me to design an Investment Tracker including forecast reporting and graphs for the next X years.  If I have an investment which is saved in a table with eg. Start dateEnd dateAmountInterest (per month or year)Exit fee at end of durationInterest payment (month/qtr/yr/rollup)I want to get rid of the 'Excel way of working' where I have to create a large spreadsheet with 12 months a year and many fields to fill. What would be the best way or workaround to have reporting values per month/qtr/yr? Reporting in terms of return per... / Cash Flow per... / etc.Thanks!

1712
Y
J
Jan_SkalaNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Linked record - deleted on side of connection. Can be repaired?

Hello All,I have two tables, one have items and second have handling company. I make linked record so for items i linked handling company. Some time back I deleted linked record on the side of handling comany. I really miss this and now I need information about what handling company make what item.It is way how to repair it? I dont want make new linked record collum, because I have really lot of records now. Thank you

51
pressGO_design
J
JEANNINENew Participant
posted in Base Design
Base design

Hello all. I'm a total newbie so forgive me for my simple question.I'm building my TMS for my hotshot trucking business, when I created "expenses" field I can't figure out how to formulate or date or maybe some other way im not aware of, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly expenses so my end of quarter and YTD calculations are correct.Can someone please give me some guidance?Much appreciated!

175
Lom_Labs
D
Dana_SelzerInspiring
asked in Base Design
Tasks with both doer and approver

I'm setting up a project management system. Many, not all, of the tasks will have an assignee who completes the task and an approver who checks and approves the work. Is it best to set the task up as 1) one task with one 'assignee' field and one 'approver' field; 2) one task with two assignees in the same field; 3) two tasks...one as for doing the task and one for checking/approving the task. Maybe there are other options I've not considered. Thanks for your advice!

123
D
B
Brandon_BuchanaNew Participant
asked in Base Design
Specify a Chronological Order

Context: I have two tables, Shots and Videos (with links between). It's possible one shot may be used in more than one video. I will export shots through a CSV into an InDesign template using data merge (Page Builder won't work for other reasons).Problem: I'm trying to specify a chronological order for the shots to appear.Ideas that won't work/aren't ideal:I could just drag them around into the right order, but since one shot may go into multiple videos, the order may vary by video.I could rearrange order of linked shots from Video table side, but that won't work the the CSV export to InDesign.I could do a single select list of numbers, but that won't work since each shot may have a different number for each video it's in.Any other ideas? 

122
B
A
Admin_I-P-KNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Creating date range from Google calendar

Hi,I've built a team utilisation and created a timeline that allows me to see how I have committed my resources across different projects. As part of this utilisation, I have a table where I can log days off for each team member. Currently, I enter the dates one by one using the date field.I want to do this differently so I don't have to enter the days off one by one using the date field, because I sometimes need to include consecutive days off, and wonder if there is a way to have those days appear as a date range instead.I have a google calendar that shows each team members days off, and sometimes the time off can be a week. I want to pull these days off into Airtable and have them display as a date range. Is this possible?

372
A
B
Brian_BarnesNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Stock Control Form

Hi, I am creating a stock control system for my private clinic. I have a table/form set up already with automation, so I enter the medication in stock with lot/batch number and expiry date. I'd like to create a form that links to this main view, I enter the medication used that matches to the same lot/batch number, I then enter how much of the medication was used and it deducts from the qty in stock. The problem I'm having, when creating the form, I am able to view the medication but the view doesn't show the lot/batch number.  Is there a way I can set this up? To clarify, the same name of medication can have different lot/batch numbers which is why it's important to accurately select the right one. Thanks in advance. 

172
B
G
GXA2278New Participant
posted in Base Design
Unsyncing Synced base (2 way sync beta solution)

Hello!  Long story short -  I'm in the Airtable 2-way sync beta -  I have many smaller bases which is synced to a main base, which is completely synced content.  This does not work with the 2 way sync (must be the other way around - one source of truth going to smaller bases) and furthermore the 2 way sync does not work on a synced base.  Someone at Airtable suggested I "duplicate" my synced base in order to "recreate" my smaller bases so that my 2 way sync will work. Does anyone know how to copy my synced base so that it becomes unsynced content?  That way I can get my 2 way sync to work TLDR : my synced base needs to be copied over as an "unsynced" base so that i can get the 2 way sync to work 

20
G
A
AirradiatorNew Participant
posted in Base Design
How to pull data from table 1 to table 2 if it matches a condition?

Complete newbie here so go easy. Table_A contains 2 fields: 'Name' and 'Status' (Active or Expired)How can I automatically pull all 'Names' with only status 'Active' into a field in Table_B?I want it so that any changes made to the 'Status' in Table_A are auto synced and refreshed in Table_B.Thank You

364
pressGO_design
H
hyunjinjamesleeNew Participant
posted in Base Design
How do view all assigned tasks from multiple bases?

Hello,our company has been playing around with airtable for our project management and tasks management. Our company runs marketing and branding for multiple brands. So we have created 1 base for each of the brands. In each base, we have multiple marketing campaigns for each specific brand. We wish to view all the tasks assigned from multiple bases for each of the members in the workspace. How may I go about structuring our bases and fields to be able to achieve this?  Thank you in advance. 

733
TheTimeSavingCo
W
WhereisnomadNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Aggregate multiple selections from multiple fields on Table 1 into appropriate fields, Table 2

New'ish to Airtable and feel like I'm running into a super'noob question and just missing something. The point of my base is to share resources across a team, though not every resource to every user.In my base I have a Resources table, and a Users table. Users (using a form) can share resources with SPECIFIC users and tag the resource with a number of filterable fields (like Project, Topic, etc).I'm then using a no-code platform to display the resources shared to that specific user, and letting them filter their resources by the tagged Project, Topic, etc. To do this, I need to pull, for example, all of the Project names (multi-selects) from all of the resources shared with that user only to a single aggregating field on the User table, named for example "Projects" (which of course are all located in a single column). So in their record, they have their username, a field with all of their projects, and a field with all of the Topics they are working with. I am trying to do th

134
W
E
Eric_Bryant1Participating Frequently
posted in Base Design
One to Many to One

Hi there,I work in the film industry and am trying to create a base to help me track my work.I make graphics for sets.  A graphics might be something that hangs on the wall in a set, so it would be in every scene that's shot on that set.  Or it might be a prop like a newspaper, that only appears in ONE scene on that set.  I'm trying to build a schema that allows for both.  If a graphic is in every scene, I would like to have to enter it just once for the set, and have it somehow linked automatically to every scene that is on that set.  If a graphic in only in one scene, I'd like to have it listed in only that scene.I've set up a demo base with linked tables forGraphicSceneSetRight now, the way it set up, the only way that I can set a graphic for all scenes on a set is to manually enter it for each scene.  I'm trying to figure out a way to automate this or to have a different schema that accomplishes it.  Thanks for any help or thoughts.https://airtabl

72
E
D
ds1rbiNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Please provide filters those like within 'this month', and within 'this week'

There is no 'the this month', week, or year peroid filter.Why don't they provide it as a Out of Box feature?How to make or use via fomula as like a filter abobe?  

00
D
L
Logan_LenzNew Participant
posted in Base Design
Address Lookup Using Latitude and Longitude

I’m trying to solve for an automation that will lead me to finding physical mailing addresses. I’m mostly wondering if there are blocks or other ways to reach public latitude and longitude converters that will feed the address back to Airtable. More specifically, I’m using the Clearbit block and their data only gives you latitude and longitude coordinates. I’m basically just looking to see what I can do automatically with those coordinates to populate the actual address in my table. Super grateful for this community and any ideas that may help here. Thanks!

733
samru
J
jeenyNew Participant
posted in Base Design
First Airtable... help appreciated

Hi,I am completely new to Airtable and, tbh, to any form of database and analysis. I am working as a writer and coach.One company I work for has some trouble with its organization. A few things go wrong in administration, and we are trying to track them to the best of my abilities.Usually, it starts with an appointment (name of customer + date of his appointment). Then the contract has to be sent out, be signed, come back. A first payment has to be made. Some customers reschedule. We have to send out additional material after the appointment, plus an invoice, and that should be paid...I am not sure what (exactly) to track, and how to analyze my data afterwards. (i.e. would it be better to just have "invoice" yes/no, or should I have the date it was sent...?)Since we are not sure where problems could lie, I am not sure what to track.On the other hand it seems that my objective is not a beginner's task (I want to track the customer's journey on one hand, and the appointment's on the othe

41
Ron_Daniel
S
stephanie_crockParticipating Frequently
posted in Base Design
help with database structure

working on developing a better crop plan. each year, i have spreadsheets and my planting and harvest information never gets added so i'm trying to make a better workflow. REF reference file where most of the basic data about each crop goes. when it's plantableINVENTORY is where i store my annual seed inventory. as I go about planting stuff, it would be nice to have this updated, but not absolutely necessary.BEDS is where i have a list of beds in the field. this is also where i'd like to track what is planted each year and where.GREENHOUSE is where i would log the plants i start in the greenhouse. i have a current list and just need to add the dates when I start the plants.FIELD is where i would log the plants i start in the field and transplant from the greenhouse. (I merge this with the Greenhouse table and have a status update (greenhouse, transplanted, seeded)HARVEST is where i can put potential and actual harvests and see them through time. most farmers start here and then wor

153
S
Alex_from_66_PR
Alex_from_66_PRParticipating Frequently
posted in Base Design
When will airtable allow you to download all attachments in a field at once? (LIke Smartsuite)

Its crazy that this simple feature has not been implemented. There are many times that people would need to download all images in an attachment field. Smartsuite has this functionality and honestly its embarrassing that a 'first mover' like airtable doesn't have it. A very important feature that SHOULD have been implemented years ago.Is there any update or news wether this feature will ever be implemented or should some of us start looking at other competitors?

52
Alex_from_66_PR
M
MRCNew Participant
asked in Base Design
Organizing Bases

Hi, I'm new to Airtable and I'm setting up Bases for a company with multiple teams (marketing, sales, project management, asset management & finance). When I set up Bases, is it best to set up separate Bases for each team or to have one Base with multiple Tables for the entire company? The teams share data for Accounts, Contacts, Asset ID and Deal Amount, so those will be common to all and needs to be the universal source of truth. Does it make sense to have one Base with those common/shared Tables and then share and sync the Bases, or to just do it all in one Base?  If I created one Base, it will end up having many Tables and could become unwieldly, but seems much easier to create automations if everything is in one Base with multiple Tables. The end goal is to have one source of truth. 

883
M
E
Eduardo_PimenteParticipating Frequently
posted in Base Design
"Replace" local-base a table with a synced table

Hi!Before the existence of the "sync between bases" feature, I started developing a rather complex base on Airtable, that had been working wonderfuly and used by different users and teams. So for every project that we start, I create another base based (no pun intended) on the "main" one, that I keep improving on functionalities.But for that base, that contain roughly 40 tables, I wanted that a couple of them were in fact synced tables, as now it makes sense that some records are taken from a synced base managed by a single person, while the projects and teams are still restriced for each different project.One could ask me why can't I register all the projects on the same base, so the sync would not be needed. But given the complexity of managing permission and the additional development effort, and mostly the visual and usability aids that Airtable give us to choose among views and filters to distinguish relational different projects, it makes much (MUCH) more sense to me to keep crea

44
A
A
andyhParticipating Frequently
posted in Base Design
Splitting a string of numbers & checking their values

Hi! So I have fieldA that contains a string of numbers & separators, rolled up from another table (e.g. "10|15|22").I then have fieldB that contains an integer.I need to be able to split the string, compare each number to that in fieldB and add the number that's closest (but less than) the number in fieldB into a new fieldC.Is this possible? Or is there a workaround? I'll take anything, no matter how clunky after going around in circles with this all day! 

184
TheTimeSavingCo

Badge winners

Show all badges
Terms & Conditions