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How to automatically generate a checklist

  • May 15, 2023
  • 7 replies
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I am using a customized version of the Employee onboarding Template base. The template seems to be set up to duplicate the base for every new hire that is being onboarded. I would like to use one base that generates a checklist for the employer onboarding tasks every time a new hire is created (I have a synced table with new hire records). I thought maybe I could use the new record templates feature, but the problem I'm encountering is that just linking tasks means that I can't use the "Complete" checkbox because it applies to the task record, not the task for a specific new hire. I hope this makes sense. 

Can anyone advise on how to make it so that everytime a new hire record is created, a series of tasks are created for that new hire specifically that can be used as a dynamic checklist?

Best answer by ScottWorld

The only way that you can do this is to completely restructure the entire database as a "many-to-many relationship", which is a more complicated type of relationship that requires 3 tables (instead of 2 tables) for your record linking.

You can read more about many-to-many relationships in Airtable's support document here.

Also, If your company has a budget for this project and you’d like to hire an expert Airtable consultant to help you set all of this up for you, please feel free to contact me through my website:

Airtable consulting — ScottWorld

7 replies

ScottWorld
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  • ScottWorld
  • Genius
  • 9808 replies
  • Answer
  • May 15, 2023

The only way that you can do this is to completely restructure the entire database as a "many-to-many relationship", which is a more complicated type of relationship that requires 3 tables (instead of 2 tables) for your record linking.

You can read more about many-to-many relationships in Airtable's support document here.

Also, If your company has a budget for this project and you’d like to hire an expert Airtable consultant to help you set all of this up for you, please feel free to contact me through my website:

Airtable consulting — ScottWorld

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  • brianna_eagen
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  • 2 replies
  • May 15, 2023

The only way that you can do this is to completely restructure the entire database as a "many-to-many relationship", which is a more complicated type of relationship that requires 3 tables (instead of 2 tables) for your record linking.

You can read more about many-to-many relationships in Airtable's support document here.

Also, If your company has a budget for this project and you’d like to hire an expert Airtable consultant to help you set all of this up for you, please feel free to contact me through my website:

Airtable consulting — ScottWorld


Thank you; this article is helpful but I'm struggling to imagine what my three tables are. New hires, onboarding tasks and ??

ScottWorld
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  • ScottWorld
  • Genius
  • 9808 replies
  • May 15, 2023

You can call it whatever you want: “junction table” or “individual tasks” or “new hires x onboarding tasks” or whatever you want!

TheTimeSavingCo
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You could try using an automation with repeating groups if you'd like.  Make an automation that'll trigger when a new employee record gets created, look for all your template tasks, and create them all and link them to the new employee:

Link to base

Adam, Airtable Consultant - thetimesaving.company
ScottWorld
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  • ScottWorld
  • Genius
  • 9808 replies
  • May 17, 2023

Record templates are the newer & easier way to automatically create linked records, but @brianna_eagen will still need to have a 3rd junction table in her base.

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  • brianna_eagen
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  • May 18, 2023

You can call it whatever you want: “junction table” or “individual tasks” or “new hires x onboarding tasks” or whatever you want!


Thanks - I'm not stuck on the naming, more what the actual content of that table would be. Just to track the additional field of complete? In this scenario, is there one row per employee per task?

Employee name, task name, complete y/n

Employee name, task 2 name, complete y/n

ScottWorld
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  • ScottWorld
  • Genius
  • 9808 replies
  • May 18, 2023

Thanks - I'm not stuck on the naming, more what the actual content of that table would be. Just to track the additional field of complete? In this scenario, is there one row per employee per task?

Employee name, task name, complete y/n

Employee name, task 2 name, complete y/n


Each record would link to one employee and one task. So you will have 2 linked record fields: one linked record field for employee and one linked record field for task. 


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