I’m evaluating Airbase as a viable product for my business and my clients’ businesses - but this is a show-stopper for me. One of the basic fundamentals of databases.
Is there a link to a reason why Airtable doesn’t have this?
I’m evaluating Airbase as a viable product for my business and my clients’ businesses - but this is a show-stopper for me. One of the basic fundamentals of databases.
Is there a link to a reason why Airtable doesn’t have this?
@Airtable_Team , Can we have an update / date for this feature?
I’m sure it’s not an easy one to add, but it’s the single biggest issue we all have with your product. I would love to know what’s the plan.
I would love an update too @Andrew. And this excellent suggestion from @John_Beaudoin:
would base-linking serve as a work-around for that other frequently requested feature – more granular permissions?
sounds like it could probably solve a majority of the requests for permissions granularity. Speaking for myself, I think I could revise my bases to use this as a permissions workaround…
I would love an update too @Andrew. And this excellent suggestion from @John_Beaudoin:
would base-linking serve as a work-around for that other frequently requested feature – more granular permissions?
sounds like it could probably solve a majority of the requests for permissions granularity. Speaking for myself, I think I could revise my bases to use this as a permissions workaround…
If we look at Google Sheets, each sheet has its own permission - and you can link to any sheet imaginable - so long as there’s read access.
This could open up the a WORLD of collaboration between Airtable users…
e.g. if somebody shares a base with country codes, regions etc. or population stats that only need to be updated in a central place.
My use case for sharing, would be that I create a base for all my customers to reference, so they don’t need to do the work themselves - read only of course.
YES that would be awesome! I will see that it helps that I discovered that I can use “dumb” links – copying the link to a record and pasting it into a URL record field in another base will take me back to that record when clicked. BUT I don’t want to have to go to the base I want to link to, find and open the record, copy the link, return to the new base, find the record I was working on and paste. Yikes, that’s not really scalable in a workflow.
I would use this to create an effective master task list for myself. I store each individual client’s project in it’s own base, then I have a base for my company. I want my company base to hold my master task list across all bases, where I can link to tasks in each individual base. It’s the only way I’ve thought of to have a master task list that gives me a big picture of everything I need to do in a given day. Otherwise, I have to visit 6+ bases and manually make a new list of tasks just to see what’s assigned to me that needs to get done in a given day.
Hi @Lauren_Perfors
While I agree with everyone that links between bases would be very useful, I may have a couple of suggestions which may help you…
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Airtable link directly to Slack and you could have your bases creating posts in slack channels - these are great because the posts have direct links to the records.
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It would be possible to use Zapier to create the tasks in your master base automatically - including populating a field with the link to the record concerned.
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Have you considered having all your data for all clients in one base - and use filtered views where needed to look at information per client? This would obviously not work if you need to share the base with the client. This also benefits you in that you can produce overall reports for your business.
YES that would be awesome! I will see that it helps that I discovered that I can use “dumb” links – copying the link to a record and pasting it into a URL record field in another base will take me back to that record when clicked. BUT I don’t want to have to go to the base I want to link to, find and open the record, copy the link, return to the new base, find the record I was working on and paste. Yikes, that’s not really scalable in a workflow.
I would use this to create an effective master task list for myself. I store each individual client’s project in it’s own base, then I have a base for my company. I want my company base to hold my master task list across all bases, where I can link to tasks in each individual base. It’s the only way I’ve thought of to have a master task list that gives me a big picture of everything I need to do in a given day. Otherwise, I have to visit 6+ bases and manually make a new list of tasks just to see what’s assigned to me that needs to get done in a given day.
Lauren,
I am using Zapier as a workaround for a similar use case – you can see the details at Display Record URL as field autmatically.
Essentially, I have a multistep Zap watching each table in a base. When a new record is created, Zapier grabs the record name and URL and stashes it in a table I call “Log Registry.” A view on that table filters on the date, giving me a daily task list.
It’s not elegant, and I would prefer not having to use Zapier, but it works.
Jack
+1 for this. I love everything about airtable and this could push it to a whole other level. It could instantly sort out the granular permissions request that gets thrown around so much and could instantly make more complicated bases much easier to manage.
I am currently building multiple rosters for different companies which really need to sit in their own base, but it would be great for them to be able to draw information from common bases.
I keep coming back regularly to the forum, hoping to finally find this thread closed by a glorious final post proudly announcing the much anticipated rollout of this feature or the granular access permissions.
You may say I´m a dreamer…
Clearly, this is a very popular feature request! As Andrew said above, it’s certainly something that we are thinking about, though there are a variety of technical hurdles that would need to be cleared first. Since this is a huge undertaking, we want to make sure that we approach this in the correct way. Any specific ideas on how and why you’d want linked bases to work would be greatly appreciated!
Based on your responses, it seems like there are at least few reasons why one might want to link across bases, all of which raise interesting questions that we need to consider going forward:
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Linking across bases could work as a form of granular permissioning (e.g. the Sales team has access to the sales base, and the PR team has access to the PR base, and though they might be able to see selected data from the other team’s base, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to alter it or read all of it). If this is your main reason for wanting cross-base linking: would your needs be met by Airtable implementing more granular permissioning controls at the table level or even the field level (e.g., password protected/hidden/redacted tables/fields that certain users are not allowed to see)? Is it more important to you that different users have access to different bases for privacy reasons (i.e. it’s mission critical that certain users don’t see certain bits of information), or for convenience reasons (i.e. I don’t want all users to see everything in one big base because not all of that data is relevant to their interests)?
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Using linking across bases in order to create a manager/“master” base, which draws information from a number of sub-bases. Would your needs be met in this case by some sort of reporting functionality that takes information from many bases, or is it particularly important that this information takes the form of another base?
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(Please correct me if I’m wrong about this.) A general sense that a large base with many tables feels cramped—that you have to “cram” what feels like too much data into one place. If this describes you, can you articulate why you feel this way? Is it because of how a base with many tables looks? Is it because of loading times? Is it because you feel like having too much information in one place is overwhelming?
Other considerations: How would you like linking across bases to interact with permissions? Say there are two bases, A and B. A user has access to Base A but not access to Base B, and Base A includes links to Base B. What should the user see when they look at Base A? How would linking across bases work with editing? Should you be able to edit the contents of Base B while in Base A, or should you have to go to Base B first?
There are so many things to say about linking bases, but this is enough for now, I think. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Hello! To chime in on your Suggestion #3, I do feel claustrophobic with the number of tables, only in that it is unorganized! It almost makes me want to create separate tables, but I don’t have time to continually re-paste all my information, so I’d rather just dive very deep into customized views of a massive data network.
However, I would most prefer to interact with my tables in a better view than a cramped scrolling horizontal. Honestly, that interface reminds me of the anxiety of having too many tabs open at once. A good file management system, like that of the metaphorical desktop layout, does not blockade you from deeper levels of organization. Have you ever been in a folder for files that fit together, have it become stuffed to the brim to the point that you feel anxiety over your inability to create further categories
I think this connects back to the whole idea that everything can be broken down into simpler categories, like somewhere from 5 to 7 or 12.
To touch on Suggestion #2, we can’t deny how powerful a reporting feature would be! This could easily morph into the backbone of many an organization, and they would find it breathtaking if we could deliver pivot chart equivalents to them, based on the data. I already plan to use AirTable “currency” fields with budget, spending, pricing, payment, and so on-- the ability to also view the pulse of our business would be extremely impactful in organization-wide adoption.
I am so grateful for this app, though! Definitely rendered many of my old go-tos obselete. I would love to someday see the option to slide the table tabs from the top to the left, and allow some metaphorical equivalent higher in the hierarchy than a Base. Similar to onenote organization, but powerful in a very different open way (they’re a beautiful infinite notebook/planning and brainstorming tool, while you all organize my everything else).
I just feel frustrated having the equivalent of multiple scroll-throughs of small tabs that I can order next to their similar categories, but cannot tag or filter or connect in any way. For instance, different departments, roles, and tasks require different references and data or input. A way to somehow tie them together in themes would be wonderful.
Thanks again!
Yes! Linking bases is the #1 reason we likely won’t stick with Airtable long term. As we work on multiple projects, and each project being a base, we have no way to see an overview of all of our projects in any succinct way. If we can link data from bases, then we could have a single base that is an aggregate of various aspects from each individual project-base allowing us to see a cross section of data much more efficiently. This would help immensely. Thanks!
Hi,
Great to read that there is being worked on the feature to enable inter linkages between bases. That would for us be hurdle to overcome before purchasing a company’s license and start investing on importing all our organisations information and training our team on working with it.
However, since it is not the case, there is no point in doing so. Unless we would know that the interlinking will be enabled in let’s say now and half a year time? Until then we could keep our records up-to-date manually, but then it really needs to get going…
Any idea on when the feature might be operational @Airtable?
Thanks,
D
@Airtable , this is the most popular thread, and the most requested feature.
It would be very much appreciated if you can tell us what’s the plan / time frame.
Thank you
@Katherine_Duh Our use case is a bit different from those you’ve described. We are a small team using AirTable mostly to manage marketing tasks related to our products. Each product has a base with tables for projects related to the product. In addition we have a separate base for all marketing materials (videos, brochures, etc). This is separate from the products because many of these materials apply to more than one product. Right now there is no way to tie that back to the products and include those materials in a project.
In addition, every one of our bases currently contains a “Task Owner” table. I would prefer to have one “Task Owner” base, and all other bases could reference that. In addition, as a task owner, I could go to the “Task Owner” base for a compiled list of my tasks from all the bases.
I think both of these scenarios would fall into that “master base” category, but I wanted to provide some additional context on our use case just to clarify the functionality that we need. It just so happens that our products are software products, so I appreciate what it will take to implement this kind of new feature. If you need more detail to develop the user stories for this feature set, feel free to reach out.
Our team absolutely loves AirTable, so keep up the good work!
I’m going to +1 this comment. I have five distinct bases with different consultants having access to different bases. Because I have tasks listed in different bases, my primary interest at this point is the ability to pull in all my tasks and organize them by date as a way to make sure I’m keeping all my plates spinning and not wasting valuable consultant $$.
Combining everything into a single table makes no sense for me, as one of my bases is for writing books; I have another for interviews/podcasts; another for general marketing; and a last for other administrative details. These are different teams (so permissions issue), but even if I was OK with everyone seeing everything it is simply overwhelming and confusing to try to connect it all in a single base.
Let’s say I would like to create a base titled “My Tasks” that pulls all of my tasks (as a collaborator) from the different bases on my account. Is that possible?
Thanks
+1, this is one of the first things I looked for as a new Airtable user. Overall I find Airtable a truly amazing product, hopefully since it’s been 3 years it’s close to completion just as I’ve signed up :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: .
+1 as well! please let us know if this is planned!
It would be a clever feature
hopefully this will come in 2018
@Katherine_Duh From reading all the comments left in the past 2 years it definitely seems like linking tables to another base is an extremely in demand feature. I would like to have a master list of clients that will be accessible from each of my bases. The main reason would be that I would not have to copy and paste an updated table into each of my bases every time there is a change.
At this point I’m using 217 records (and growing daily) in each of my bases for client information. I really only need this data in one place and need to be able to link each base to it instead of taking about the amount of space I’m currently using.
@Katherine_Duh From reading all the comments left in the past 2 years it definitely seems like linking tables to another base is an extremely in demand feature. I would like to have a master list of clients that will be accessible from each of my bases. The main reason would be that I would not have to copy and paste an updated table into each of my bases every time there is a change.
At this point I’m using 217 records (and growing daily) in each of my bases for client information. I really only need this data in one place and need to be able to link each base to it instead of taking about the amount of space I’m currently using.
Anna_Moers, you are correct. This feature is very much needed.
I hope that we can hear from AirTable about their plans.
Hello,
I recently started using Airtable and I find immense productivity within. That said, There is a glaring set of issues that perhaps, either I do not know how to use a certain function eliminating this problem or it is an essential necessity missing from Airtable.
I am using Airtable to manage all of our books and publication releases for my publishing house.
I have a table that has all of our authors and another which has all of our books.
To use these tables in other bases, such as to devise pre-release information, launches, event marketing, etc. I need to export both of those tables (Authors and Books) into each of the above. Essentially, recreating the same tables numerous times. However. In the new bases where I would naturally use the linked records, I have to use a different column because the initial column will not allow me to link to another record…???
It would be a vast improvement if I could simply link to any record from any of the bases in my workspace. Simply adding “Link to record in a different Base” or even the possibility of linking to a record from a base on a completely different workspace, altogether. And for these pieces of information to properly link and update as the originating tables are updated.
I can do this in Excel. by simply typing = and then clicking on a different document and then the tab and cell I wish to use.
Because here, in airtable, I would have to constantly export and import to update those entries. They don’t seem to update or relationally update as new information is created in one.
For example. I have in my Authors table the author, the name of the book they are working on, which is linked to the book table. I have an initial manuscript deadline, final deadline, and planned publication release date. For various books, this information has not yet been added.
So If I export the book table to a launch calendar base to have it linked so I do not need to recreate the listing of books and their associated pieces of information. I have to export and import it again whenever the original table in the print editorial calendar is up-to-date, as it is a living file that changes constantly.
Essentially, forcing me to erase the existing table in the launch base and setting it up again.
This feels like a huge gap in how this should work.
I simply want to expand my bases for various purposes and want to be able to link to the main source of information that is going to be used relationally in other bases for various other purposes.
Perhaps I’m missing how this is doable in Airtable? Any help would be appreciated.
@Katherine_Duh I’ve also been patiently waiting for almost 2 years for update on this feature. The work arounds are cumbersome and time consuming. It’s becoming increasing difficult to justify a premium membership without being able to link to multiple bases.
Thanks for any feedback you can provide.
This would be so very helpful!
