Getting overexcited

[Michelle_King]

Just wondered has anyone used Airtable to Organise their company manual? I am quite new to Airtable and getting a little over-excited - at the moment our company manual drives me crazy as it frequently needs updating (or at least small sections do) just wondered if anyone else had popped there’s into here and if so what it looked like and how successful its been

[Bill_French]

kuovonne:

I personally find Airtable’s ability to format content inadequate for publishing a nicely formatted manual.

Yeah - me too, and it’s more than your personal feeling; it’s a fact. :winking_face: But let’s be clear - managing the content for a document production process and all the commenting and collaboration that occurs – and formatting a document are two very different ideas. The former is Airtable’s sweetspot - the latter, not so much - in fact, not even.

That’s why I manage content in Airtable and push to systems that are able to blend data, imagery, and charts based on content [templates] at render-time. This is a Google Document; the data all comes from Airtable where vast amounts of commentary and collaboration work ensues.

This is why requirements must be carefully considered before pressing on or giving up.

[Bill_French]

kuovonne:

Airtable can’t search inside attachments.

Sidebar: Actually, it can. :winking_face:

1. Script Block passes the documents to Google Vision (or the many services that transform binary to text).
2. Text is updated in the record (a text version of the document).
3. Bob’s your uncle.

[kuovonne]

Bill.French:

Sidebar: Actually, it can. :winking_face:

1. Script Block passes the documents to …

Well, if you go that route there’s practically nothing that Airtable can’t do, since Airtable can outsource everything. Hey, Airtable, please make dinner …

Airtable can’t natively search inside attachments by itself.

[Michelle_King]

Holli_Younger:

Employee Portal - Airtable

Thanks guys I think something like this would work - our problem is lots of people between different departments save things on their own computers and I panic we will lose things when people leave

Loving the idea of a web based manual we generally update/ check a few sections a month as most of it needs to be updated at least once a year but each department is responsible for keeping its section updated (we have 5 main teams split across 14 locations but with having 27 members of staff and 360ish volunteers things have potential to get messy!)

Honestly somewhere for people to be able to go to get the most up to date info would be incredibly helpful to ensure everyone is working off the same forms.

[Holli_Younger]

I appreciate the feedback on the Company Portal. It was one of my first bases and could definitely use some upgrades now, as Airtable as evolved.

@kuovonne:
This looks like a really cool method of delivering the company handbook and related forms. However, it looks like edit the individual pieces of the handbook in some other app, and include only the most current published versions in the base. Is this correct?

You are correct. Each document is created as the master and saved as a word document, for editing purposes at a later time. Then each file is converted to a pdf/a and uploaded into Airtable. Access is provided only to those employed. After an employee leaves the company they no longer have access. If a document comes up, or an important form requiring signature it is uploaded and an email is sent to all employees letting them know of the update.

Furthermore, we have different departments, some of which work the overnight shift so their holidays, days off get are different than those that work in the office. By using Airtable I am able to easily tag each document to allow those to see only the relevant documents to their specific department/role within the company.