Limitations with New Linked Record Picker

[Calvin_Young2]

Today there was an update called Refreshed linked record picker in Interfaces which makes the record picker for linked fields more compact and consistent.  I like the idea, but it breaks some important things in our workflow.

Namely, it does not show images, and it truncates the record names.

Here you can see a snippet of an interface which shows a linked field.  There are a few records already linked (circled in green) with image thumbnails appearing on the right side of the card (red arrow).  Clicking the "Add group" button opens the new record picker (circled in blue) which severely truncates the record name and does not show image thumbnails.  

To confirm the configuration of this field, here are the settings which show that "Part Image" is the first visible field.  (Regardless of the position, it always shows up to the right on the cards, which is a handy feature.  Here I put it first in line to try to force it to show up in the new record picker.)

The update states "We've updated the linked record picker in Interfaces, now featuring a streamlined UI, width-resizability, and enhanced usability for single-select linked records."

Does anyone know how to resize the width so that I can avoid truncating my record name?  Is it possible to have image thumbnails show in the new record picker?  Without those features, my interface has become unusable.  

[ScottWorld]

I personally believe that every Airtable user should be using Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable. It is a free product, and it addresses 100% of the features that Airtable users have been begging for for years, including addressing all of these problems that Airtable has with the linked record fields. 

@Patricia_Saylor The 3 top features that Airtable can build into its linked record picker would be:

1. The ability to choose what fields should be displayed in the linked record picker, just like Fillout allows. In Fillout, each linked record field gets its own unique field selection options; you can choose an unlimited number of fields to display (including attachments); and no field ever gets its data cut off because text always wraps onto multiple lines. 

2. The most important feature that most Airtable users want is the ability for DYNAMIC selections in the linked record fields. For example: Pick a vendor in linked record field A, and only show that vendor’s products in linked record field B. Pick a state in linked record field A, and only show that state’s cities in linked record field B. Pick a salesperson in linked record field A, and only show that salesperson’s customers in linked record field B. This was the very first feature that Fillout ever supported. Even Excel and Google Sheets supports this basic feature, but Airtable doesn't natively support it.

3. The ability to update records from a form. Again, Fillout handles this masterfully.

[Calvin_Young2]

Great, thank you @Patricia_Saylor -- I'm glad to hear it was just a bug.

Resizing the picker is not a solution for displaying long strings -- even on a high resolution screen, resizing the window, I can only get it to show about half the number of characters as the old picker.  

It would be wonderful if we had access to a few settings.  Row height (the images are quite small) and the ability to display record names as a header (rather than a column) would be top of my list.

Honestly, I think I just like the old record picker better in some situations.  Maybe it would be sufficient to be able to choose which we're using.

Thanks!

[Calvin_Young2]

Wow -- this is incredible.  Those three features are huge pain points and I am so glad to see that a third party has addressed them.  Thank you for sharing!  And here's hoping that AT can roll up some of these features in the near future..

[Vivian-Hare]

Hi folks,

We appreciate all your feedback, and we plan to address some of the feedback you have given us. We’re temporarily rolling back some updates we made to the design of the Linked Record picker in Interfaces as we further iterate.

Here's some context as to why we started on the journey in the first place:

1. We wanted to improve data density, so that you could scan more records at once.
2. These changes will help unlock additional exciting features coming, such as dynamic filtering of linked records.

Please continue to give us feedback on the product, and we hope to share some of these exciting new features with you in the new year.

[Calvin_Young2]

Hi Vivian, thanks for the update.  That's great news that dynamic filtering is on its way!  

I appreciate the shift towards higher data density, but it is generally preferable to have a few options (like with row height in grid views).  

It would be great to have an option that allows the record name to take up the full width of the picker.. but I understand if that's a more niche request.

[Joseph_Roza]

Was this change rolled-back? I no longer have access to it in any of my workspaces. It's a shame because I really liked it!

[Calvin_Young2]

BTW if anyone ends up in this thread today -- there appears to be a new bug which requires you to toggle the "Allow users to create new records" on and off.  I've submitted a ticket which will hopefully get resolved soon.