Showing summary data in a table

[Jason_Little]

I am using Stacker and AirTable for a simple app. It shows a list of orders that users enter. I want to show summary data, but here are the problems:

1. if I share the base, everyone will see all email addresses for all users (for shared bases, you can’t hide fields as public users can toggle your hidden fields)

2. if I share the view of a table, it doesn’t show the blocks that display the summary data I want to show

3. Stacker doesn’t have the ability to summarize data (IE: average, min/max etc)

I thought about having a ‘stats’ table but I’d have to link every order record to each field somehow, and then I could pull that data into Stacker.

Any ideas?

[Justin_Barrett]

Sorry that you haven’t had a response before now. I don’t have experience with Stacker, but I believe that @ScottWorld has. Perhaps he can share some insights on this issue.

[ScottWorld]

Thanks, @Justin_Barrett.

@Jason_Little,

1. Instead of sharing an entire base with your users, you need to use Stacker’s built-in ability to decide which records different people are allowed to see. That’s one of the key advantages of using Stacker, and that is why many people start using Stacker.

2. Stacker doesn’t natively support Airtable blocks, but it does support embedding websites, so you could embed blocks into your Stacker app (if you get on the Airtable beta program for embedding blocks). HOWEVER, the big Airtable security hole here is that when you share a block, your users have access to all the data in all of your tables.

3. Stacker supports Airtable’s formula fields, rollup fields, and lookup fields, so create those summaries in Airtable first, and then Stacker can show them to you. I’m not sure if Stacker supports the features of the “summary bar” in Stacker, but you could ask them. They might.have this ability natively built into Stacker.

Because your questions are very Stacker-specific, I would recommend reaching out to them about the features of their product, and how to use it most effectively. They have very good support.

[Jason_Little]

I ended up making a new table with the raw data and giving users instructions to filter it to do what my blocks do. Not slick, but good enough.

One thing I’ve always wondered, how do you automatically populate a summary table using rollup fields? When I create it, link the records and set the rollup field to count(), is there a way to automatically have it count all the records? Example:

table 1 has 20 records

table 2 is a summary table that’ll show a count of those records that I can use for display elsewhere (via Wordpress plugin etc)

I create the linked field and the rollup field in table 2 but then I have to manually link all the records from table 1. Is there an easy way to add all?

[ScottWorld]

You have to manually link records if they’re in another table.

To summarize records in your current table, you would use the summary bar:

Airtable - Support

The summary bar

The summary bar provides different types of summarizations of all the cell values in a given field. Summary bar overview General summary functions Uniques Special functions for numeric fields Speci...

[Justin_Barrett]

While you could link all of the records manually as @ScottWorld suggested, you could also use the new scripted action beta feature to make the link for you whenever a new record is created in your first table. One of its triggers is making a new record, which could then be used to create a link to your summary table. More info on that beta feature can be seen here, including a link to a signup form to request access during the beta phase.

New beta: scripting action Scripting app

:wave: Zach here from the Airtable team. We have a new beta launching soon that may interest anyone who’s been using scripting block. With the scripting action beta, you can trigger a script to automatically run when a record enters a view in an Airtable base. For example, you can run a script when a form is submitted, or when a change is made either inside Airtable or using the Airtable API. If you’d be interested in trying out the scripting action and sharing your feedback, fill out this q…

[ScottWorld]

Great call, @Justin_Barrett! :grinning_face_with_big_eyes: :raised_hands:

This new scripting action is going to be a huge game-changer for Airtable!! Which is exactly why I’m reading this JavaScript book right now! :slightly_smiling_face:

[Justin_Barrett]

Agreed. I got access to the beta shortly after that announcement, and it’s completely changed how I think about doing certain things in Airtable.

[Jason_Little]

cool, I will check that out. For now, I accomplish what I need with Zapier. When a new record is added in any of my 4 main tables, Zapier updates my ‘stats’ table (1 record, multiple columns for various stats) and then Stacker can pull in the summary data.

[ScottWorld]

That looks awesome! Glad you figured it out. Stacker is the best!