Formula Markdown Formatting

[Zollie]

Love the long text field rich text options. Can we extend markdown to formulas as well?

Why

The usage could extend way beyond this, but my use cases are summary fields using rollups and formulas. Right now it looks like this:

But as ‘Satuses’ scales to track more complicated lists, I’d like it to look more like:

Complete
001: Modeling (someone’s name)
002: Modeling (someone’s name)

Incomplete
003: Modeling (someone’s name)
004: Modeling (someone’s name)

The bold formatting really makes a difference from a readability standpoint. Monospace or tab characters \t would also be lovely to ensure consistent formatting.

[Katerie]

You actually can do this already, just not directly.

Have your formula field generate the text in markdown syntax, and then use Airtable’s API to copy and paste the contents of the formula field into a long text field with rich text enabled. Provided that the API does the copy-paste action, the long text field will parse the syntax and display it as formatted markdown text.

The simplest way to do this is to just use Airtable’s built-in automations, which use the API to perform actions. Set up an automation trigger that detects changes in your formula field and then have the automation copy the contents into the rich text field. But you can also do the same thing through the scripting app, with a third-party service like Zapier, Integromat, or Miniextensions, or through some software you make yourself.

[Tom_M1]

Is this on the roadmap to be fixed? Why would we need to use the API for such a simple job to be done (basic formatting in formulas)?

[kuovonne]

Welcome to the Airtable community!

Tom_M1:

Is this on the roadmap to be fixed?

Airtable has not published their roadmap.

One way of implementing this feature would be to have formatting options for calculated fields that return text. You could choose to show the result as plain text or markdown/rich text. However, this would require a lot of coding changes and testing.

In the meantime, the API is not the only workaround. You can also use an automation to move the text from the formula field to the rich text field. Or you can use scripting to move the text. The main technique that you cannot use is copy/paste in the user interface.

[cameronrout]

This didn't work. I used an automation to populate a rich text field with valid markdown and the field didn't interpret the markdown.

this is the string: 
**Lishvamir:** _/ˈlɪʃ.væ.mɪr/_, _n._ Example; pl. *Lishvamirai*; v. *Lishvamirith* to exhibit; adj. *Lishvaminar* exemplifying; adv. *Lishvamirvel* clearly. [\< S. *Víchrèn* (Flowing) + *Úvapír* (Illuminating) + *Mälvíon* (Signifying) → *Lishvamir*]

This is what it looks like when I use an online markdown tool (markdownlivepreview.com):

Lishvamir: /ˈlɪʃ.væ.mɪr/, n. Example; pl. Lishvamirai; v. Lishvamirith to exhibit; adj. Lishvaminar exemplifying; adv. Lishvamirvel clearly. [< S. Víchrèn (Flowing) + Úvapír (Illuminating) + Mälvíon (Signifying) → Lishvamir]