Skip to main content
Solved

INTERFACE DESIGNER "ADD ELEMENT" BUTTON IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

  • August 17, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 212 views
Edward White
Forum|alt.badge.img+2

THE HELP ARTICLE SAYS IT’S LOCATED IN THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER.  IT’S NOT

 

INTERFACE DESIGNER "ADD ELEMENT" BUTTON IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

 

What an I doing wrong?  

 

Do I have to install “Interface Designer”?

 

I click “ Interfaces” on the top center of my base and have created several interfaces.  None of them have an “ADD ELEMENT” button.

 

I’m simply trying to add some instructions on this interface and I don’t need it to be a long text field.  I just want to add a Text element to add helpful formatted text, links, lists, descriptions to my interfaces.

 

SUPER FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Best answer by Tyler_Thorson

Hello Edward,

The “Add Element” button refers to one of two things in the interface designer:

The first is a blue “+” button that appears when you hover over the bottom edge of any group:


The second is on a “Blank” type interface page or a legacy detail page, where it refers to the panel in the bottom left corner of the screen:



On a “Blank” type interface page or a legacy layout detail page you can use the text element and type what ever you like.

If you are using the modern style interface page you will need to use a trick to display a “Text Element”:


Step 1: Create a new Formula field and copy this character (with quotes) into the formula:

​​​​​​​"ㅤ"

Note: It is not a space, it is a blank character that will trick Airtable into letting you display an actually blank field rather than it inserting the standard “-”.

Step 2: Place this blank field as an element in your interface.

Step 3: Hover over the top right of the element you just placed. Click the blue “...” button and select Hide labels for this row.

Step 4: In the side panel, enable the “Help Text” Option for the field.

Step 5: Type whatever text you wanted to add.

Thats all.

​​​​​​​Hope that helps!
 

4 replies

Tyler_Thorson
Forum|alt.badge.img+15
  • Tyler_Thorson
  • Brainy
  • Answer
  • August 17, 2025

Hello Edward,

The “Add Element” button refers to one of two things in the interface designer:

The first is a blue “+” button that appears when you hover over the bottom edge of any group:


The second is on a “Blank” type interface page or a legacy detail page, where it refers to the panel in the bottom left corner of the screen:



On a “Blank” type interface page or a legacy layout detail page you can use the text element and type what ever you like.

If you are using the modern style interface page you will need to use a trick to display a “Text Element”:


Step 1: Create a new Formula field and copy this character (with quotes) into the formula:

​​​​​​​"ㅤ"

Note: It is not a space, it is a blank character that will trick Airtable into letting you display an actually blank field rather than it inserting the standard “-”.

Step 2: Place this blank field as an element in your interface.

Step 3: Hover over the top right of the element you just placed. Click the blue “...” button and select Hide labels for this row.

Step 4: In the side panel, enable the “Help Text” Option for the field.

Step 5: Type whatever text you wanted to add.

Thats all.

​​​​​​​Hope that helps!
 

Edward White
Edward White
Forum|alt.badge.img+2
  • Edward White
  • Author
  • New Participant
  • August 17, 2025

Thanks so much ​@Tyler_Thorson !

 

I’ve got a really nice interface I created that works perfectly.  I tried using that Blank type interface and it was horrible.  I couldn’t figure out how to recreate what I already had.

I used your trick and that works for me.  Seems silly that you cannot simply add a text element to an existing interface.  I just need to put some instructions between fields and that would have been so much easier.  

Thanks again for the trick!

Ed

vera_green
Forum|alt.badge.img+3
  • vera_green
  • New Participant
  • August 19, 2025

Thanks so much ​@Tyler_Thorson !

 

I’ve got a really nice interface I created that works perfectly.  I tried using that Blank type interface and it was horrible.  I couldn’t figure out how to recreate what I already had.

I used your trick and that works for me.  Seems silly that you cannot simply add a text element to an existing interface.  I just need to put some instructions between fields and that would have been so much easier.  

Thanks again for the trick!

Ed

This (adding text blocks) was possible in the “old” interfaces. A couple years ago they rolled out an entirely new set of interface designs that work better on mobile and added a few things, but at the same time took away a lot of design freedoms that were formerly possible. If you can find a copy of a base made back then that had one of the old interfaces built, you can still access these features, but you will have to rebuild everything on this base copy.

Jen_Pennington
Forum|alt.badge.img+5
  • Jen_Pennington
  • Participating Frequently
  • September 30, 2025

I’m having the same trouble. I would really love to add a text element that’s not a “trick.” The dashboard I’m making would serve as a perfect presentation if only it had this feature. 

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement