I am shocked there isn’t basic hyperlink functionality. It shouldn’t have to be a formula/function. This is basic stuff for text editing. Should also be able to use a shortcut to hyperlink Airtable content with square brackets or some other symbols.
I saw this in the Airtable Updates. Looks like the feature has already been built?
I saw this in the Airtable Updates. Looks like the feature has already been built?
As mentioned above, it has been done using the Rich Text field type. The thread is still open for requests relating to adding an actual HYPERLINK() formula and/or adjusting the functionality of the existing URL field type.
Update (June 25, 2020): The button field is now available for all users — read more in our launch blog post: https://blog.airtable.com/now-available-button-field
Hey all! I’m thrilled to announce that we’re launching the beta for button field, a new field type that allows you to create buttons that trigger customizable actions. Our first action is open URL, which lets you open links based on a URL formula. You can use this to do things like:
- Send emails
- Open Airtable forms with prefilled records
- Create Google Calendar invites
- Open JIRA tickets
- Post tweets
- And much more!
In addition, you can customize the label and style of the buttons.
Update (June 25, 2020): The button field is now available for all users — read more in our launch blog post: https://blog.airtable.com/now-available-button-field
Hey all! I’m thrilled to announce that we’re launching the beta for button field, a new field type that allows you to create buttons that trigger customizable actions. Our first action is open URL, which lets you open links based on a URL formula. You can use this to do things like:
- Send emails
- Open Airtable forms with prefilled records
- Create Google Calendar invites
- Open JIRA tickets
- Post tweets
- And much more!
In addition, you can customize the label and style of the buttons.
Great news! Simple, but powerful.
I added excel like hyperlinks with this way:
- set field type as long text
- activate rich text (primary fields doesn’t support rich text)
- type something in cell and select text
- from pop-up appeared on top of the text click URL icon and your URL
Update (June 25, 2020): The button field is now available for all users — read more in our launch blog post: https://blog.airtable.com/now-available-button-field
Hey all! I’m thrilled to announce that we’re launching the beta for button field, a new field type that allows you to create buttons that trigger customizable actions. Our first action is open URL, which lets you open links based on a URL formula. You can use this to do things like:
- Send emails
- Open Airtable forms with prefilled records
- Create Google Calendar invites
- Open JIRA tickets
- Post tweets
- And much more!
In addition, you can customize the label and style of the buttons.
Hi @Stephen_Suen. Loving the button field, but is there a way to use ‘mailto:’ on a mobile device?
Hi @Stephen_Suen. Loving the button field, but is there a way to use ‘mailto:’ on a mobile device?
If you already have the full email address in an email field in Airtable, just tap on the envelope icon on the right side of the record’s expanded view in the mobile app, and it will launch your email client to start a new message.
If you’re building the email address via formula, all you need to make is the email address. In the Airtable iOS app, it will automatically become a link that you can tap to begin composing a new message in your email client. No “mailto:” prefix is required.
If you already have the full email address in an email field in Airtable, just tap on the envelope icon on the right side of the record’s expanded view in the mobile app, and it will launch your email client to start a new message.
If you’re building the email address via formula, all you need to make is the email address. In the Airtable iOS app, it will automatically become a link that you can tap to begin composing a new message in your email client. No “mailto:” prefix is required.
Thanks @Justin_Barrett for replying. I’m using a formula that concatenates all the email addresses we have for that record and then using the button field to email them all at once. It works great on the computer but opens a blank browser page from the app.
Thanks @Justin_Barrett for replying. I’m using a formula that concatenates all the email addresses we have for that record and then using the button field to email them all at once. It works great on the computer but opens a blank browser page from the app.
@NHAD_Team Thanks for the clarification. Are your email addresses in separate fields, or are they coming in from another table via a lookup or rollup field?
@NHAD_Team Thanks for the clarification. Are your email addresses in separate fields, or are they coming in from another table via a lookup or rollup field?
@Justin_Barrett They’re in separate fields but in the same table.
@Justin_Barrett They’re in separate fields but in the same table.
@NHAD_Team Thanks. In either case, you can still use the button beta to open the URL, though building the formula is going to take a little more effort because I’m guessing that not all of the email address fields will be full.
Long story short: in the button field formula, begin with “mailto:”, then use IF() functions to conditionally add each address, adding a comma between each of them. Here’s an example that adds three addresses:
"mailto:" & {Email 1} & IF({Email 2}, "," & {Email 2}) & IF({Email 3}, "," & {Email 3})
This of course assumes that the first email field will always have an address. If you have more addresses to add, add more IF() functions following the above pattern.
On my iPhone, using a button with this formula will open my email app and begin composing a new message to whichever of those three addresses are available from the chosen record. If you want to get really crazy, you could also add a subject line and other items to that formula after the last address. Just be sure to wrap the contents of each additional section in ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT() so that spaces and other special characters are properly encoded. Here’s a brief example:
"mailto:" & {Email 1} & IF({Email 2}, "," & {Email 2}) &
IF({Email 3}, "," & {Email 3}) &
"?subject=" & ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("This is my subject line") &
"&body=" & ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("I could even start the body of the message here.")
@NHAD_Team Thanks. In either case, you can still use the button beta to open the URL, though building the formula is going to take a little more effort because I’m guessing that not all of the email address fields will be full.
Long story short: in the button field formula, begin with “mailto:”, then use IF() functions to conditionally add each address, adding a comma between each of them. Here’s an example that adds three addresses:
"mailto:" & {Email 1} & IF({Email 2}, "," & {Email 2}) & IF({Email 3}, "," & {Email 3})
This of course assumes that the first email field will always have an address. If you have more addresses to add, add more IF() functions following the above pattern.
On my iPhone, using a button with this formula will open my email app and begin composing a new message to whichever of those three addresses are available from the chosen record. If you want to get really crazy, you could also add a subject line and other items to that formula after the last address. Just be sure to wrap the contents of each additional section in ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT() so that spaces and other special characters are properly encoded. Here’s a brief example:
"mailto:" & {Email 1} & IF({Email 2}, "," & {Email 2}) &
IF({Email 3}, "," & {Email 3}) &
"?subject=" & ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("This is my subject line") &
"&body=" & ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT("I could even start the body of the message here.")
Thanks @Justin_Barrett. Unfortunately this still opens up a browser page that says"The URL can’t be shown" when I try to use it from the app.
@NHAD_Team What mobile device are you using, and how recently have you updated the app?
For me, using iOS with the latest version of the Airtable app, the button opens up a new email exactly as @Justin_Barrett describes.
Can you create a formula field with the exact same formula as the button field to inspect the results of the formula? Maybe there is an issue with the formula.
It’s working! Thank you so much @Justin_Barrett!! Amazing!
Love this!
“Airtable Pretty” Links
a suggestion for the button, make the label a formula field too.
Would be great to make the label a formula field too. Also I’m wondering how the data is stored in that field. I’d love to be able to copy and paste it as a hyperlink to other apps. (My use case is that I send a pre-filled form link to users via email and the actual URL is quite long - I usually hyperlink some text and paste the URL from a formula field into that. It would be much easier if I could just copy a field and paste it directly into an email without having to fuss about with hyperlinks in the email program. A hyperlink formula would achieve the same thing, I think.
I would like to create a new field which has a hyperlink (URL address plus the text )(Only the text will be visible )
the URL will come from an existing URL field, and the text will come from an existing short text field.
How can I do this in airtable? Combine the 2 fields into one URL?
Note: It seems like the new button field comes close, but it does not seem to allow the button field label to come from an existing text field ?
I would like to create a new field which has a hyperlink (URL address plus the text )(Only the text will be visible )
the URL will come from an existing URL field, and the text will come from an existing short text field.
How can I do this in airtable? Combine the 2 fields into one URL?
Note: It seems like the new button field comes close, but it does not seem to allow the button field label to come from an existing text field ?
This could be done using an automation to update a long text field with rich text enabled. The rich text markdown for building a clickable link is:
[Link text here](URL here)
Make a new automation that runs when either the text or URL fields are updated. The only action step that you need is “Update record”, where you combine the contents of those fields into a long text field with rich text active, wrapping the brackets/parentheses around the appropriate pieces:
The important thing to note, though, is that the URL can’t be “abbreviated”. I ran a test using just “www.justinsbarrett.com” in the URL field, but it led to an error trying to open the site. You’ll need the full “http://” prefix in front of the URL for it to work.
This could be done using an automation to update a long text field with rich text enabled. The rich text markdown for building a clickable link is:
[Link text here](URL here)
Make a new automation that runs when either the text or URL fields are updated. The only action step that you need is “Update record”, where you combine the contents of those fields into a long text field with rich text active, wrapping the brackets/parentheses around the appropriate pieces:
The important thing to note, though, is that the URL can’t be “abbreviated”. I ran a test using just “www.justinsbarrett.com” in the URL field, but it led to an error trying to open the site. You’ll need the full “http://” prefix in front of the URL for it to work.
Justin
Thanks for your rely.
I did get this method to work, just took a little extra time because this was my first automation!
It just seems like a very complex method of performing an operation that seems so basic and common. Since I currently have about 1000 records in the table, I have to somehow edit all of these to get the automation to run. Is there anyway of just commanding the automation to run on all records at once? It also looks as if under the free plan I am limited to 100 automations per month!
As a side note , it seems like this should just be a simple formula to enter in the field formula, to accomplish this same task. Do you know if there has been any talk or development for a simple solution like this?
Thanks again…Ed
Justin
Thanks for your rely.
I did get this method to work, just took a little extra time because this was my first automation!
It just seems like a very complex method of performing an operation that seems so basic and common. Since I currently have about 1000 records in the table, I have to somehow edit all of these to get the automation to run. Is there anyway of just commanding the automation to run on all records at once? It also looks as if under the free plan I am limited to 100 automations per month!
As a side note , it seems like this should just be a simple formula to enter in the field formula, to accomplish this same task. Do you know if there has been any talk or development for a simple solution like this?
Thanks again…Ed
My guess is that it feels “so basic and common” to you because it would be an asset in your particular use case. 
I feel the same way sometimes. The moment I need something that doesn’t exist, it’s easy to feel like it should have been there all along, but I remind myself that what’s important to me isn’t necessarily important to everyone else.
There are ways to batch-trigger automations. However, with the limits of the free plan, your monthly automation allotment would be exhausted in seconds. The only other option coming to mind at the moment is to design a script for the Scripting app that could process all records, but the free plan doesn’t allow use of the Scripting app.
While it would be nice if the Airtable dev team (which isn’t that large) could add every possible nice-to-have feature, they have to carefully prioritize their efforts, and so far they haven’t been forthcoming in divulging what drives their priorities. In the meantime, we wait. It’s all we can do.
My guess is that it feels “so basic and common” to you because it would be an asset in your particular use case. I feel the same way sometimes. The moment I need something that doesn’t exist, it’s easy to feel like it should have been there all along, but I remind myself that what’s important to me isn’t necessarily important to everyone else.
There are ways to batch-trigger automations. However, with the limits of the free plan, your monthly automation allotment would be exhausted in seconds. The only other option coming to mind at the moment is to design a script for the Scripting app that could process all records, but the free plan doesn’t allow use of the Scripting app.
While it would be nice if the Airtable dev team (which isn’t that large) could add every possible nice-to-have feature, they have to carefully prioritize their efforts, and so far they haven’t been forthcoming in divulging what drives their priorities. In the meantime, we wait. It’s all we can do.
Justin…Thanks again! Yes I want it ALL!! lol…but you make some good points!
So, If I sign up for the plus plan and increase my allowable automations, how would I actually batch trigger the automation to go through all of my records the first time?
Airtable has been very good to me with a free plan, so maybe it’s time I spend some money with them!
Ed
My guess is that it feels “so basic and common” to you because it would be an asset in your particular use case. I feel the same way sometimes. The moment I need something that doesn’t exist, it’s easy to feel like it should have been there all along, but I remind myself that what’s important to me isn’t necessarily important to everyone else.
There are ways to batch-trigger automations. However, with the limits of the free plan, your monthly automation allotment would be exhausted in seconds. The only other option coming to mind at the moment is to design a script for the Scripting app that could process all records, but the free plan doesn’t allow use of the Scripting app.
While it would be nice if the Airtable dev team (which isn’t that large) could add every possible nice-to-have feature, they have to carefully prioritize their efforts, and so far they haven’t been forthcoming in divulging what drives their priorities. In the meantime, we wait. It’s all we can do.
Actually, Scripting App is free until March. So, you have a few months to experiment with a Scripting app solution before deciding if you want to pay for it.
Processing all the records at once in Scripting app is also probably a better choice than using automations, because it is still very easy to run out of automations, and there is currently no method to purchase more automations before the end of the month.
Even if you want to use automations, you cannot use scripting in automations unless you have a paid pro plan (not just a trial). Thus, you cannot realistically have a single automation batch update multiple records on the free plan.
@Edward_Grenzig If you have 1000 records to update now, but will have only a handful of records to update on an ongoing basis, you might be able to use a combination of Scripting app for the initial conversion, and then automations for ongoing edits.
Justin…Thanks again! Yes I want it ALL!! lol…but you make some good points!
So, If I sign up for the plus plan and increase my allowable automations, how would I actually batch trigger the automation to go through all of my records the first time?
Airtable has been very good to me with a free plan, so maybe it’s time I spend some money with them!
Ed
Great points made by @kuovonne, especially about the Scripting app availability for free plans until March (a point that I keep forgetting)
If you still want to go this route (not necessarily with this use case for the reasons that @kuovonne described above, but perhaps for other use cases), the process is pretty simple: select the entirety of one of the two fields driving the automation trigger, delete the contents, then undo. The data coming back into those cells as part of the undo operation will trigger the automation once for each record.
