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Next Actions Development

  • January 27, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 43 views
R
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Hi
I have a typical Projects / Task base which includes a good next action identification process as here [Next Actions] (Next actions view) with assistance from https://community.airtable.com/u/w_vann_hall

I have a view in my projects tab that lists all the actions in sequence from the above but I’d really like to filter it to show just the next action, it seems to ignore the filters and list all the tasks as screenshot.

in this example the action "Bentley to provide Azure location is the next action as identified by the process above, I’d like to exclude the other actions from the view

I can get close in my task view by grouping task per project where the filters work but as I have a lot of projects the view is too clunky

    2 replies

    W
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    • W_Vann_Hall
    • Inspiring
    • January 27, 2019

    The good news is I vaguely remember working on this base. The bad news is I only vaguely remember doing so…

    When you say “I’d really like to filter it to show just the next action,” do you mean in the {Tasks} field? {Tasks} is a linked-record field, so by definition it’s going to display all tasks associated with a project. However, there is a mechanism built into the base that would allow only the next task to be displayed. I think I can simply tell you what needs to be changed rather than passing back another modified version of your original base, since by now the one I’d be modifying is clearly out-of-date.

    To enable display only of the next action for a project

    1. In {Tasks::Next} (that is, in the {Next} field within the [Tasks] table), change the aggregation formula to
      IF(values,IF(Index=values,1))
      This corrects an oversight in the first modified version.
    2. In [Tasks], create a new formula field {Next Task} with the formula
      IF(Next,Name)
    3. In [Projects], create a new lookup field called '{Next Action}. It should follow the link to [Tasks] and lookup the {Next Task} field.
    4. In your <Projects::Next Actions> view, hide {Tasks}. Display {Next Action} instead.

    Now, {Next Action} should show only the next action for each project. (I don’t recall how completed tasks were handled, but I suspect once they’re flagged as complete, I blank out their index numbers. This should result in {Projects::Minindex} being revised upward, bringing the next task in the sequence to be highlighted as the project’s next action.)

    One caveat: After modifying the original modified base, with the currently defined filter the <Next Actions> view displays a number of projects that are not flagged as complete vet do not link to any tasks. If this is a valid response — that is, you are tracking open projects without a defined next step — you can tweak <Next Actions> to show only projects with a defined action by adding a second filter step to display only those records where {Next Action} is not empty.

    If I’ve misinterpreted how you wish the next action to be displayed, never mind… (Let me know where I went off course, and I’ll try to return to the lane.)

      R
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      • Rob_G
      • Author
      • Known Participant
      • February 8, 2019

      The good news is I vaguely remember working on this base. The bad news is I only vaguely remember doing so…

      When you say “I’d really like to filter it to show just the next action,” do you mean in the {Tasks} field? {Tasks} is a linked-record field, so by definition it’s going to display all tasks associated with a project. However, there is a mechanism built into the base that would allow only the next task to be displayed. I think I can simply tell you what needs to be changed rather than passing back another modified version of your original base, since by now the one I’d be modifying is clearly out-of-date.

      To enable display only of the next action for a project

      1. In {Tasks::Next} (that is, in the {Next} field within the [Tasks] table), change the aggregation formula to
        IF(values,IF(Index=values,1))
        This corrects an oversight in the first modified version.
      2. In [Tasks], create a new formula field {Next Task} with the formula
        IF(Next,Name)
      3. In [Projects], create a new lookup field called '{Next Action}. It should follow the link to [Tasks] and lookup the {Next Task} field.
      4. In your <Projects::Next Actions> view, hide {Tasks}. Display {Next Action} instead.

      Now, {Next Action} should show only the next action for each project. (I don’t recall how completed tasks were handled, but I suspect once they’re flagged as complete, I blank out their index numbers. This should result in {Projects::Minindex} being revised upward, bringing the next task in the sequence to be highlighted as the project’s next action.)

      One caveat: After modifying the original modified base, with the currently defined filter the <Next Actions> view displays a number of projects that are not flagged as complete vet do not link to any tasks. If this is a valid response — that is, you are tracking open projects without a defined next step — you can tweak <Next Actions> to show only projects with a defined action by adding a second filter step to display only those records where {Next Action} is not empty.

      If I’ve misinterpreted how you wish the next action to be displayed, never mind… (Let me know where I went off course, and I’ll try to return to the lane.)


      Thanks for this, works well.

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