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Dec 08, 2021 06:50 AM
Hi there!
I’m not sure what the best solution is here and I would love your input.
My company writes books for service professionals who want to help more people and gain credibility/visibility. We (I say we, it’s just me right now) use the same process for writing the book for every client. This process is date-dependent and everything is dependent on several things that come before it. Eventually, we will be adding more writers and assigning them to different clients’ projects.
I have created a template of the process and I enjoy looking at it in the Gantt view. Very satisfying.
My first question is:
Do you think I should just create a separate base for each client or can I put all the clients in one base, potentially having 5-10 of the same process happening at any given time?
Ideally, I’d like to see all the client’s projects in one view so I can see where we are, who is doing what, where there are any delays and what needs to get done in one view. How would I do that? Right now my template is all in one table of tasks.
Thank you!
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Dec 13, 2021 07:49 AM
Hey Jennifer,
You bet.
I agree with @kuovonne in that you really should use a single table for Clients vs. 1 for each Client. Your base and the ability to properly filter and summarize the data you need will quickly get out of hand and unmanageable. With a single Client table, you can create the specific filtered views you want, whether that’s per client and/or tasks open and any other vital info you need.
With that many tasks, scripting may be better than automations for generating that many each time.
Here’s a similar thread that might help you with creating tasks with dependencies from templates.
If that doesn’t work, it might be good to get your initial setup working by hiring someone who’s an Airtable scripting expert.
Dec 08, 2021 07:05 AM
Yeah, I think you have the right idea. I would have a table with Clients, 1 for Projects, and a table with Tasks.
You can then use an automation that generates task templates for each new project. Create a single-select or checkbox field that is ‘Generate Tasks’ and have it set to create a group of them each time you start a project.
Then, use filtered Views inside your Tasks views to look at specific details like who, what, where, etc.
Dec 12, 2021 09:04 AM
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for the response. I need the automation to create a new table for every client I add. The table has to be a copy of the tasks table I created as a template, with all it’s related dependencies. Basically, a new table for each client/project, so I can view them separately. It’s a really long, complicated process of 141 tasks that have a bunch of dependencies, etc. The template outlines a process wherein I have a set of tasks every week that are dependent on the completion of the tasks from the week before. Right now the process stretches over a period of 8 and a half months (eventually I’ll get the time shortened but it will be those same tasks in the same order).
Is there a way to do this? I can’t see a way to do this without a lot of scripting and I don’t see an available script that does exactly what I need it to.
Dec 12, 2021 10:21 AM
Automations cannot create new tables. Scripting app (not run from an automation) can create a new table, but likely cannot create all the fields that you need.
However, you are probably better off having all of your clients in the same table and not creating new tables. Instead, use filtered views to view each client and projects independently.
You may find scripting useful for copying tasks, but whether or not you need a custom script (versus a custom script) is hard to tell.
Dec 13, 2021 07:49 AM
Hey Jennifer,
You bet.
I agree with @kuovonne in that you really should use a single table for Clients vs. 1 for each Client. Your base and the ability to properly filter and summarize the data you need will quickly get out of hand and unmanageable. With a single Client table, you can create the specific filtered views you want, whether that’s per client and/or tasks open and any other vital info you need.
With that many tasks, scripting may be better than automations for generating that many each time.
Here’s a similar thread that might help you with creating tasks with dependencies from templates.
If that doesn’t work, it might be good to get your initial setup working by hiring someone who’s an Airtable scripting expert.