Display Record URL as field automatically

[John_Beaudoin]

I’m currently using a four-step Zapier recipe to append the record URL to a newly created record. I’d MUCH rather just have Airtable do this automatically… Does anyone know if that’s possible (the key word is automatically, since I know how to do this manually)?

As I discover something new about Airtable almost everyday, I’m wondering if I have just missed this functionality somewhere. Thanks!

Jack

[W_Vann_Hall]

John_Beaudoin:

Apologies for missing this before posting.

No, I’m very glad you did.

For one thing, your description of how you used Zapier to filter and identify records needing additional work opened my eyes to methods of using middleware beyond simple automation of Airtable actions — which is as far as my work with Zaps had ever taken me.

For another, I came up with three or four ways of almost doing what you wanted to do entirely within Airtable. Some I rejected because they would require you to add manual steps to your process, others because they needed Airtable to do something it currently does not do or to do it differently than it currently does; the former solutions may prove perfectly workable for other bases, and future enhancements of the product could validate the latter. While I failed to find an Airtable-only solution, I better understand the system’s potential and shortcomings.

I’m also glad to find my first reply wasn’t as off the mark as it first appeared. In the context of your application, though, I’m not sure of its benefit, as your approach still seems to require a four-step Zap. Or do you intend to modify your process to take advantage of a formula-crafted record URL?

[John_Beaudoin]

I’ve turned off the four-step zaps (one for each table that contributes data to the Log Registry) and replaced them with IFTTT recipes:

IF - a new record appears in the “Incomplete” view of this table
THEN - create a new record in table “Log Registry” with Record Name (field) and Record URL (formula -crafted record URL)

I’ve had some hiccups with IFTTT-Airtable interactions in the past, but if it is stable then it enables me to stay comfortably within the parameters of my paid Zapier account.

Wouldn’t it be great if Airtable instituted “triggers” and “actions”? I know that one thing that makes Airtable great is its usability, but I’d prefer to keep my automation and data syncing as internal operations in Airtable.

[W_Vann_Hall]

Ah, that works! I’ve not done much with IFTTT, as it wasn’t suitable for the purpose for which I initially investigated it, so I went with Zapier. Since then, most of my integration work has been in support of someone’s questions, and typically he or she is using Zapier. (In my own projects, I’ve usually found a way to do what I needed within Airtable…)

I hadn’t realized you were adding records to a [Log Registry] table to indicate incompleteness; for some reason, I thought you were appending a line of text containing the record URL to either a document or a long text field — so that was the behavior I was trying to duplicate.

—not that it would have made any difference; I still couldn’t do that entirely within Airtable.

[Suzette_Cruz]

@John_Beaudoin @W_Vann_Hall
Thank you both for your post. I too wanted to capture the URL of my record so that I can link and get access more readily between Air Table and my CRM & ARP via a zap.

I came up with a formula to create my Records URL in Air Table. I did so by using the Concatenate formula & Record Id and the syntax that followed found by copying my record URL that is found when you hit the toggle down button. (This is the arrow next to my unique record number (1st field column)that is shown when the record is in its expanded form). In essence, I created the URL address that you’d use to enter into the address field in a chrome tab.

My actions were as follows. I created a new Formula field in my AT record, titled it “A.T Record URL” and then proceeded to enter the following formula using my table

=Concantenate(“https://airtable.com/tblyyyyyyyyyyyyyy/viwxxxxxxxxxxxxx/ ](https://airtable.com/tblyyyyyyyyyyyyyy/viwxxxxxxxxxxxxx/", Record-Id(),"?blocks=hide")

Sorry, if this explanation is a bit rudimentary. I’m new to this and so not a developer, at all! So if there is a cleaner way to find the URL for a record let me know. I’d also love to know if it helps as well.