Limitations with New Linked Record Picker

Agreed to those questions! Also, with the new linked record picker, not all of my users can now add new records, despite it being enabled as an option for that field. I submitted a trouble ticket with Airtable support about it (00673453). 

I was also confused about adding records, since the + button disappeared, but found that you just have to start typing to see the option to create a new record.

Not ideal for workflows like this one where I want users to create a new record every time--and the record creation form is not sufficient since it does not automatically link records based on the context.

That's a helpful workaround, but definitely not ideal.

Most of my users see a UI like the one in your screenshot, but in my account, I see something different - see below.

I checked and this does not appear to be a permissions (Editor vs Creator) issue. It could be a rollout issue, not sure. 

Agreed that the button up top was a better implementation, and I hope we can bring that back.

In other news, I fiddled around and realized that it does show images if the field is an attachment.  It does not show images if the field is a lookup.

So I'm hoping this is a bug/oversight and we can get them to show up regardless of the field type.

I just received a response form Airtable Support:

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I've received an update from my team and it appears that this was indeed an intended change surrounding the updated linked record picker. At this time, collaborators will need to first type in the search bar before being given the option to create a new record. 

For context, this change was made to reduce data duplication and ensure collaborators are checking for existing options before record creation. The search query is automatically used for the created record and this pattern more closely matches what creation in dropdowns looks like elsewhere in Airtable. 

Since this change is currently being rolled out in increments, these inconsistencies you're noticing between accounts in this interface are expected. You should expect to see this refreshed record picker on your account shortly. If you have any feedback you'd like to share regarding this new functionality, I'd be happy to pass this along to my team!

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Definitely not great news...

While the inadvertent creation of duplicate records is a problem for many bases, forcing users to always type in the search bar before being able to create new records is a strange decision. There are plenty of situations where a creating a new record is always the desired action versus linking to an existing record. This is one reason why solving issues can be difficult--the ideal solution for one person might break the workflow for someone else.

How many times have we seen this play out? How long before Airtable realizes two essential requirements exist for new feature changes?

1. Opt-in vs default opt-out as it applies to all new UI/UX changes.
2. Snapshot-in-time instances that are impervious to upgrades.

These are both ancient ideas in use by many SaaS platforms. Airtable is running out of toes to shoot off.

Wow. Another terrible update from Airtable.

Hi @Calvin_Young2, we have a fix going out today for showing images from lookup fields, but let us know if you run into any other issues around this. As for resizing the picker, you can click and drag the bottom right corner of the popover to adjust its width.

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.

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!

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..

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.

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.

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!

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.