The XRay.Tech Blog
Case Study & Tool Belts
"This is incredible. The robots are doing so much of this work, and it's way better than we could have done it ourselves. The documentation is also amazing â weâre ready to start training our staff how to perform this workflow right away!"
Every low-code builder runs into problems from time to time.Â
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But where do you go to find the help you need to quickly fix some bugs? Where can you go to work and learn alongside a vetted low-code expert?
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As a low-code agency, we want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to find the quality low-code support that they need, or to offer their services as a builder in this emerging space.Â
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Thatâs why weâre pleased to introduce you to LowCodeEngineers.Â
What is LowCodeEngineers?
LowCodeEngineers is XRayâs new service for connecting anyone with low-code experts who can build, fix, or update their low-code projects.
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LowCodeEngineers can help you to design and deploy a site in Webflow, create an automation in Zapier or Make, set up a database system in Airtable, and a whole lot more.
Engage with low-code experts on an hourly basis
You can get support at any scale from LowCodeEngineers. Whether you want help on a long-term project or just need another set of eyes for a quick fix, LowCodeEngineers has you covered.Â
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You can hire vetted builders on an hourly basis for convenience and flexibility. Just go to lowcodeengineers.com, book some time and describe your goals to get matched with a qualified expert.Â
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We handle all of the logistics; you just need to show up to the call and be ready to talk about what you want to have built.Â
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After your call, youâll be sent an XRay Workflow resources board with all relevant materials from your call.Â
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How to use LowCodeEngineers as a customer
So how does it work?
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First, letâs take a look at how you can use LowCodeEngineers to book time with an engineer. Then, Iâll give you some information about signing up as an engineer if youâre looking to get paid for working with the tools you know and love.Â
Book 1, 4, or 10 hours to get started
To get started, just got to lowcodengineers.com, and click on âHire an Engineerâ at the top of the page.
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Then, choose the amount of time you want to schedule. We offer packages of 1, 4, and 10 hours.Â
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This will take you directly to a booking calendar showing every available time slot with a qualified low-code builder. Pick a time that works for you, then enter your email to receive a verification code.Â
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The verification code just helps us to keep the site and everyoneâs appointments secure.
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Describe your project, your problems, and your goals
Fill in your name and phone number. Then, weâll ask you for some basic information about you and the support youâre looking for.Â
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The more detail you provide here, the better weâll be able to match you with the right expert. Make sure to note all of the software that youâre using, the problem youâre experiencing, and what youâre trying to accomplish.Â
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To finish scheduling your appointment, youâll need to enter your payment information and click âPay nowâ.
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Every appointment is billed at a rate of $250 an hour. This rate makes it affordable for anyone to get hourly low-code support, and ensures that we can provide fair compensation for the network of expert builders on the platform.Â
Manage your LowCodeEngineers projects with an XRay Workflow resources board
Once youâve scheduled some time, weâll automatically send you your own personalized XRay Workflow board for managing your LowCodeEngineers appointments.Â
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XRay Workflow is a tool that weâve built to organize and share resources from anywhere on the web.Â
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On your board, youâll see a brief slide deck explaining the process of working with a low-code engineer, including the Rules for the Call, and the 100% regund guaranteed policy.Â
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Youâll also see XRay.Tools, an automation search engine built by XRay.Tech to help you discover what you could automate with the tools youâre already using.Â
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Additionally, youâll see a pin called âDebriefsâ.
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This is where all of your meeting recordings, AI summaries, and full transcripts will live for every appointment that you book with LowCodeEngineers.
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This resources board is also where your engineer will save resources for you to review another time. Things like API docs, useful links, or even tutorial videos that the engineer wants to share with you will all be referenced in this one resources board.Â
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After your call is finished, you can return to your board to review material from previous sessions, or to book more time with your engineer.Â
How to use LowCodeEngineers as a low-code expert
LowCodeEngineers is just as easy for everyone on the other side of the equation.Â
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If youâre a low-code builder looking for a good way to get paid for your expertise, then LowCodeEngineers is right for you.Â
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With hourly engagements, we excel at flexibility. Whether youâre a freelancer or a full-time professional starting a side hustle, you can find gigs that fit your schedule on LowCodeEngineers.Â
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If youâre interested, just go to lowcodengineers.com and click on âBecome an Engineerâ to apply today.Â
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That link will take you to a calendar where you can schedule an interview with the team responsible for vetting your expertise.Â
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Be prepared to give a demo of a system youâve built on your tool of choice, and let us know what your availability is for taking on new customers.Â
If youâre approved, youâll be onboarded into LowCodeEngineers, and youâll be able to claim appointments.Â
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Youâll also get access to XRay Workflow as an editor so you can see and manage all of the resources boards for the customers that youâve claimed.
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This shared resources board gives you control over all the information that the client can see, and helps focus their attention on the aspects of your work that require their input or acknowledgement.Â
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No more messing around with negotiations, or writing out complicated contracts, or figuring out ways to send and receive payment.Â
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Just claim a request, show up to the appointment, and share your expertise.Â
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All the project management that used to bog you down will be taken care of: from followup emails and payment to call recordings and transcripts. LowCodeEngineers handles all of the logistical tasks, so you can focus on doing the work.Â
Why we created LowCodeEngineers
We built LowCodeEngineers to help everyone in the low-code space, from builders and agencies to companies and entrepreneurs trying to save some time with low-code tools.Â
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For low-code builders, finding work can often be a challenge. And frankly, freelancer sites like Upwork and Fiverr are a race to the bottom.Â
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They encourage talented freelancers to constantly undercut each otherâs prices in an extremely competitive environment, while leaving much of the logistical work up to the users.Â
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Negotiating terms, requirements, and timelines for each project is left up to each individual builder, adding unnecessary complication to every task.Â
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And things arenât any better for the customers and clients in this setup.Â
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Projects and problems come in all shapes and sizes.Â
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Sometimes, youâre just looking for a quick fix, and itâs not worth it to hire an agency on a monthly retainer. But scouring typical freelancer sites makes it difficult to find someone with proven experience, in addition to the unavoidable negotiations.Â
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LowCodeEngineers makes it easy for anyone to book time with a vetted expert, complete their project or fix some bugs, and get back to work.Â
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For experts, LowCodeEngineers makes it easy to apply, offer their services, give support, and build a book of business.Â
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With automated and AI systems for project management, it's never been easier for an expert to manage dozens of clients.Â
Book low-code support from vetted experts at an affordable rate
Now there's a better way to work in the low-code space. For a flat hourly rate of $250, LowCodeEngineers connects you with vetted low-code builders who can keep your projects moving along.Â
And with software like XRay Workflow and XRay.Tools, you and your engineer can easily stay connected and informed of what's possible with the low-code apps you already use.Â
Just go to lowcodeengineers.com today to try it out.Â
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If youâd like to learn more about building low-code projects, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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If youâre making the switch from Notion to Airtable, you might be worried about losing all of the useful Relations that keep your databases linked.Â
Luckily, with a couple super easy formulas, you can quickly convert all of your Notion Relations into Linked Records in Airtable.Â
In this post, weâre going to show you how to quickly migrate your data without losing valuable connections.Â
Weâll start by showing you how to export a Notion database and import it into Airtable. Then, weâll walk you through a couple of quick formulas and field edits that will let you automatically re-establish your Relations from Notion as Linked Records in Airtable.Â
Letâs get started!
One-time migration vs. synced databases
Before we show you the entire process for exporting your data and creating linked records, we just want to be clear that the setup weâre going to demonstrate is only suitable for a one-time transfer.
If you want to keep a permanent sync between Notion and Airtable, you should check out automation providers like Whalesync or Unito, that specialize in synchronizing databases between different apps.Â
These apps will let you maintain parallel databases in Notion and Airtable, and update the appropriate records whenever you make an edit to either database.Â
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On our blog, you can find tutorials for syncing Notion and Airtable in either Whalesync or Unito.
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However, if you just want to make a one-time switch from Notion to Airtable, the technique we demonstrate in this tutorial will be perfect.Â
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With all of that in mind, letâs take a look at the process for migrating your Notion databases and transforming your relations into linked records in Airtable.Â
Overview
First, weâll give you a quick overview of the whole process. Then, weâll go into each step in detail.Â
1. Open your Notion databases that are linked with a relation.Â
To start, open up your Notion databases. Weâll call them Database A and Database B. It doesnât matter which is which; weâre just using these labels to make it clear when weâre working in one vs the other.Â
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2. Add a unique ID to Database A
Add a new property to Database A. Choose âIDâ as the type. Enter a name for this field, like âNotion IDâ, and provide a prefix to use in the ID.Â
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NOTE: If you have a field in Database A with unique values for every record, you donât need to add an ID. For instance, you might be able to use an âemail addressâ field instead. However, adding this ID only takes a few moments, and ensures that youâll have a unique value associated with each and every record. This will be essential when youâre creating linked records in Airtable.Â
3. Add an ID rollup to Database B
Add a rollup to Database B to look up the ID field for each related record from Database A.Â
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4. Export your Notion databases
Export both of your databases as CSV files. You can find the âexportâ option in the three-dot menu in the top right.Â
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5. Import your databases in Airtable
Import the databases into Airtable as new tables, and adjust the field type during the import configuration.
Make sure the relation and rollup fields are set to âsingle line textâ.Â
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6. Turn Database Aâs primary field into a formula field
Then, duplicate the primary field in Database A, and change the original primary field into a formula. The formula will just display the contents of the Notion ID field. Alternatively, you can use the formula to point to any other field that will have a unique value for each record.Â
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7. Convert Database Bâs former rollup field into a linked record
Open up Database B.Â
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Convert the old rollup field into a linked record.Â
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Airtable will now treat the text in these fields as names of records in Database A, and since you changed the primary field to display a unique ID, it should find the correct matching records.Â
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8. Delete unused fields and update the primary field
Now the link has been rebuilt, you just need to delete any old unused fields, and change the primary field in Database A to something that makes it easier for a human to identify each record.Â
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For instance, weâll just change it so it includes the name and title of each contact.
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Thatâs how the transfer works in a nutshell, but you can read on for more detail about each step.Â
Preparing your Notion databases for export
To start, open up the related Notion databases you want to export.Â
On the Notion page pictured below, we have two related databases that we want to export to Airtable: Contacts, or âDatabase Aâ, and Companies, or âDatabase Bâ. A two-way relation connects each contact to a company.Â
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Weâve put both databases on the same page for convenience, but itâs OK if your databases are on different pages.Â
Before you can export your databases, youâll just need to add a couple fields to make sure you can easily rebuild the relations as linked records.Â
Add an ID field to Database A
In Database A, add a new property and choose âIDâ as the type. Then, enter a prefix to use. For instance, each record in our Contacts base will have an ID of âCONâ, then a number.Â
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Give this property a name, and save it.Â
Add a rollup in Database B to look up the ID
Then, open up Database B and add a Rollup property. Select the relation to Database A, and give it a descriptive name. Then, set the rollup to look up the âIDâ field you just created in Database A.Â
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By giving each record in Database A a unique ID, you can ensure that Airtable will be able to find the correct record to link to later - even if you have multiple records with the same or similar names.Â
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For instance, you might have two contacts both named âJohn Smithâ, so using the name alone would produce inaccurate results.Â
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By searching for the unique ID instead, you should avoid the vast majority of potential errors.Â
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Alternatively, you could skip adding the ID to Database A if it already has a field with a unique value for each and every record. In many cases, an âemail addressâ field might work for this purpose.Â
However, using a dedicated ID field is a foolproof solution that will work for any context, so thatâs what weâll demonstrate. Â
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Once your Notion databases are set up with unique IDs, you can go ahead and export them.
Export your Notion databases as CSV files
To export a database, open it up as a full page.Â
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Then, click on the three dots menu in the top right corner of the screen, and select âExportâ.Â
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The âexportâ option will let you export the entirety of your currently selected page, including any databases on that page. When you open the database as a full page, the database is the only item that will be exported.Â
Configuring your export settings
Export format
By default, the âExport formatâ should already be set to âMarkdown & CSVâ, which is what youâll want to use.Â
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Include databases
For every exported database, Notion will create two CSVs. One of these files will always include all of the records in the database.Â
The âInclude Databasesâ setting will let you choose whether you want the other CSV to include the current view youâve selected or the default view of your database.Â
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Choosing âCurrent viewâ will just make it so the other CSV uses your currently selected view. If you select âDefault viewâ,the other CSV will use whatever view youâve designated as the default view for the database.Â
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Include content
The âinclude contentâ option allows you to choose whether or not you want to include images in your export (if any are present on the page).
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Include subpages and Create folders for subpages
For a database export, you can usually leave âinclude subpagesâ unchecked.Â
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If you are including subpages, you can also choose whether or not to create folders for those subpages.Â
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With all of your settings configured, click on âExportâ to save your database. The exporting process can sometimes take a while as Notion creates the necessary files and compresses them into a .ZIP archive.Â
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Once your export is ready, you can save it to your computer.Â
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The randomly generated title isnât very descriptive, so youâll probably want to rename the archive.Â
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When you uncompress it, youâll see a folder with two CSV files. Both will have the name of your database, and one will also say âAllâ.Â
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The âAllâ CSV will include every record in your database, and is the CSV youâll usually want to use. The other will include the default view, or the âcurrentâ view, as you selected during the exporting process.Â
Import your databases into Airtable
To import your database into Airtable, open up an Airtable base youâd like to use. Click âAdd or importâ.
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Then select âCSV fileâ. Upload your CSV exported from Notion for Database A.Â
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Then, choose whether to create a new table, or to add the data to an existing table. Weâd recommend always creating a new table, unless you already have a table formatted with all of the fields you need.Â
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Next, youâll need to adjust your import. Airtable will try to set appropriate field types automatically, but youâll usually need to adjust its selections a bit.Â
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As youâre adjusting the fields, be sure to set the former relation field from Notion AND the ID field to âSingle line textâ.
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Under âOther settingsâ, make sure that âuse first row as headersâ is checked to use the first row in your CSV as field titles instead of making it a record.Â
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Once your configuration is all set, click âImportâ.Â
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Reviewing and adjusting your imported database
Repeat the same process to import Database B. Then, make sure to give both databases descriptive names in Airtable.Â
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Note that the data in the old relation fields in our databases look a little different than they did in Notion. Each record includes the Notion URL for its related page.Â
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This is another reason why we want to use an ID to find each record instead. With the added URLs, these records in Database B donât exactly match the names listed in the âContactsâ table.Â
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If we just converted this old relation field into a linked record, it would create new records that would include the name and Notion URL as the personâs name - and every other field would be blank.Â
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To help prevent confusion later on, Iâd recommend renaming your old relation fields from Notion. For instance, you can just add an {OLD} tag to the fields for the time being.Â
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Now, letâs use some simple formulas to rebuild your relations as linked records.Â
Rebuilding relations as linked records in Airtable
First, go back to Database A - for us, thatâs âContactsâ. Then, duplicate the âprimary fieldâ. Thatâs what Airtable calls this first field on the left that acts as a label for each record.Â
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Click on the primary field, and select âduplicate fieldâ to make a copy to the right.Â
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Then, give the newly copied field a new name to distinguish it from the primary field - like âContact nameâ.Â
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Use a formula to display the Notion ID as the primary field
Next, change the primary field to a formula instead of just a text field. Click on the primary field, and select âedit fieldâ.Â
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Then, change the field type to âformulaâ.Â
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Donât worry; this formulaâs going to be very easy. All you need to do is display the contents of the âNotion Contact IDâ field - or whatever youâve named your field that holds the Notion ID you created earlier.Â
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Just start typing the field name, and select it from the list when it pops up.
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Click on Save to commit your changes, and click âConvertâ on the warning about changing field types.Â
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With your formula set, the primary field for every record will display exactly the same value as the Notion ID field.Â
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Note that this isnât a permanent change. Itâs just a step towards rebuilding the relations as linked records with these two newly imported tables. We can (and will) change the formula again later.Â
Convert the old rollup field into a linked record
Open up Database B - for us, thatâs Companies. The old relation field that linked database B to Database A in Notion is called âContactsâ.
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Weâd recommend changing its name to avoid any confusion - weâre just keeping it here for reference, and weâll delete it later anyway. Weâll add an {OLD} tag at the beginning. Â
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The âContact IDâ field was a rollup in Notion - it looked up the Notion ID for the linked contact.Â
As such, it lists an ID for each related contact.Â
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If we convert this field to a linked record connected to the Database A - Contacts table in Airtable, then Airtable will automatically look for any records with these IDs in the primary field.Â
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Thatâs why we updated the primary field in the Contacts Database to use each recordâs Notion ID instead of the name.Â
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Change this fieldâs name to something that reflects the database you want to link to (like âContactsâ) and change the field type to linked record.Â
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Pick Database A (e.g., our âContactsâ table), ensure that âallow linking to multiple recordsâ is enabled, and save the changes.Â
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Once again, you need to confirm that you want to change the field type.Â
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And you can skip adding any lookup fields for now.Â
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If youâre working with a larger database with thousands of records, this might take a minute or two.Â
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But with a small database like the one in our example, the change happens immediately.Â
The âContact IDâ field is now a linked record connecting Contacts to Companies.Â
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Of course, these Notion IDs donât make for the best labels. Not for humans to read, anyway. So to wrap things up, just go back to Database A - Contacts, and change the primary field formula to directly reference the âContact Nameâ field instead of the Contact ID field.Â
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Weâll also include their title.Â
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Feel free to format your primary field however youâd like. You can concatenate any data you want from each record into the primary field with a formula.Â
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With the primary field updated, letâs go back to Database B - Companies, and check the linked record. Instead of IDs, we see names and titles now.Â
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And when you compare the new linked record field to the old relation field, you should see the names all match up.Â
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You can confidently delete the old relation field from both tables, and youâre all set to use your new Airtable database with linked records!Â
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Check out our Airtable beginnerâs guides to learn about adding automation, interfaces and more to your new Airtable system.Â
The importance and utility of primary fields in Airtable
Before we wrap up this post, we just want to note how useful the primary field in Airtable can be, and to emphasize a point we bring up often in Airtable tutorials.Â
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It is always a great idea to use a formula as the primary field instead of static text.Â
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In this case, using a formula lets us give our records one label that works well for rebuilding links, and immediately switch it to another label thatâs easier for people to read.Â
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And if we want to change this primary field again in the future, we just need to edit the formula once, and every record will reflect the new format instantly.Â
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Setting up a formula for your primary field is just one small aspect of organizing your database, but it can pay huge dividends when you need to edit your data. Just keep that in mind as you add new bases, and tables to your Airtable Workspace.Â
Data migration made simple with Airtable formulas
Moving your data from one app to another can be a pain. Luckily, a simple CSV export and import will take care of migrating your fields, and with Airtable, preserving your Notion relations just takes a few more steps.Â
With a simple formula in Airtable and a couple quick field edits, you can rebuild as many linked records as you want in a matter of seconds. If youâd like to learn more about managing your data in apps like Notion and Airtable, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Getting started with Zapier is easy, but building scalable and flexible automations for you and your team can take a little more work.Â
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Today, weâre going to share five of the key automation concepts that will help beginners to understand how Zapier really works.Â
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Weâre going to cover test data, variables, default values, paths, and run history. These aspects of Zapier are essential for building and maintaining Zaps that support real companies in practical use cases.Â
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Weâll explain how they all work, and weâll demonstrate some practical examples that you can build to try them out for yourself.Â
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Understanding these systems and tools will help you to leverage Zapier as a time-saving resource for an entire team and not just for an individual user. Â
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Thereâs a lot to cover, so letâs get started!
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Creating test data for your Zaps
First, letâs start by taking a look at test data.Â
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Test data is a concept that weâve touched on in our Zapier beginnerâs guide, as well as many other Zapier tutorials on our blog. However, itâs worth taking a moment to explain test data in detail.Â
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Test data is an essential part of any automation. You cannot build a Zap without test data.Â
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For instance, if you want to build a Zap that runs whenever a new event is added to a specific Google Calendar, you need to have an event on the calendar that you can use as test data before you start building the Zap.
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Any data in your trigger app can be used as test data, but you usually should pick something that has all of the information you intend to use in your automation.Â
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For example, if you want to reference the Zoom link from the Calendar event in your Zap, you should use an event with a Zoom link as your test data.Â
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Letâs see what a good test looks like, and what a bad test looks like.Â
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Hereâs the automation that we want to build.
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Whenever a new event is added to the calendar, send a Slack alert in the âtutorialsâ channel.
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The Slack message will list the Event title, Attendees, the Start Time and Date, the Description, and the Zoom link for the meeting.Â
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Creating complete test data
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First, weâll take a look at creating good test data.Â
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Since we want to launch our automation whenever thereâs a new Calendar event, we need to have a Calendar event ready to test.Â
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Weâll make a Google Calendar event called âTest Eventâ. Giving it a name like that will make it easy to identify it later in Zapier.Â
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Weâll be sure to include every data point that we want to use in the Slack message: attendees, a description, and a Zoom link for conferencing. The event already has a title, and every event must include a start time by default.
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This event has all the data we want to reference in our Slack message, so we can start building our automation.Â
Using complete test data to build a trigger
With your test data prepared, you can create a new Zap and start configuring the trigger. In our example, weâll choose Google Calendar as the app. Then, weâll choose our Google account.Â
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The triggering event will be âNew Eventâ. And weâll pick the calendar that we want Zapier to watch.Â
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Always make sure to select the calendar, folder, database, etc. where you just created your test data.Â
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Once youâve finished setting it up, Zapier will prompt you to test the trigger. While you can skip testing on any actions you add to your Zap if you really want to, you cannot skip testing the trigger.Â
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You need to test your trigger before you can turn on and publish your automation. So to continue our example, weâll run the test.Â
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Zapier will retrieve up to three recent pieces of data that match your trigger conditions. If your test data doesnât show up here, you can click on âFind new recordsâ to see more recent data.
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Keep in mind if youâre expecting test data and donât see it, it's likely something is configured incorrectly in your trigger. You might be watching the wrong folder or the wrong calendar, for instance.Â
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But we can see an event with title (or âsummaryâ) of âTest Eventâ, so our trigger is configured correctly. Â
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As you can see, Zapier retrieved a wealth of information associated with this Calendar Event. This is typical for Zapier triggers, and is going to be useful as we start building our Slack message.Â
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After building our trigger and testing it with complete data, we know that Zapier can find the data it needs to start running the automation.Â
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Now, we want to build and test the action that we want Zapier to perform whenever a new Calendar event is created.Â
Using test data to build an automated action
After youâve finished building and testing your trigger, click on âContinue with selected recordâ and add an action to your Zap. For our example, weâll add a Slack action, and choose âSend channel messageâ.Â
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Now, you can configure your action however youâd like. In our example, weâll compose the message, and include some of that data that we retrieved in the trigger.Â
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In our message, weâll include the event summary, the description, the start date and time, the list of attendees, and the Zoom link.Â
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While most of the data that you want to use should be pretty easy to find, sometimes the data you retrieve in Zapier wonât be labeled very clearly.Â
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For instance, the link for the Zoom call in a Google Calendar event is called âConference Data Entry Points Labelâ.
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In some cases, Google Calendar will copy the Zoom link to the âLocationâ field as well, but that depends on each userâs Zoom and Calendar settings.Â
Use the search bar to find data
This is one of the reasons why test data can be so useful. Inside of the results, you have access to a search bar which you can use to find specific data points.Â
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For instance, when we search for âZoomâ, the results show us the URL that includes the term âzooââ, which is how we can find out that itâs associated with the âConference Data Entry Points Labelâ variable.Â
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So weâll add that data into our Slack message along with the other information, and finish configuring this step with a few other settings.Â
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Once youâve finished configuring your action, itâs time to give it a test. Testing actions in Zapier is optional, but we would almost always recommend testing every single step while youâre building.Â
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Testing an action in Zapier
Note that testing an action in Zapier will actually run that action in your software, and will use the test data that you loaded into the trigger.Â
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So, for instance, testing a Slack message step will actually send a Slack message based on the specific Calendar event we selected when we tested the trigger.
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When youâre creating test data, youâll want to make sure to use appropriate channels, email addresses, and accounts. You donât want to bug clients or colleagues with test messages while youâre building.Â
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With all that in mind, weâll run our test and send a Slack message to our tutorials Slack channel.Â
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After testing your action, Zapier will confirm that your action worked correctly, or provide you with an error message if it encountered a problem.Â
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However, itâs always a good idea to open up any app where you expect to see new or updated data.Â
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For example, when we check Slack, we can see the message in the tutorials channel. Thereâs lots of useful information about the new Calendar event, including the Zoom link.Â
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You should also confirm that all of the information your Zap created is correct and functional. When we click on the Zoom link, we can confirm that weâre taken to a Zoom meeting.Â
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Our test is complete, and we know that our automation works. But what if our test data didnât have all this information?
Testing Zaps with incomplete data: missing and empty variables
If your test data is missing important pieces of data, it becomes much more difficult to build your desired automation.Â
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To demonstrate how this works, weâll go ahead and create some test data thatâs missing key pieces of information we need in our automation.Â
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Weâll create a new Calendar event called âTest Event - No Zoom, No Descriptionâ, and we wonât include a Zoom link or a description.Â
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Now weâll go back to Zapier, and re-test our trigger with the new incomplete calendar event.Â
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Then, weâll add a new Slack message and start filling it like before.Â
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However, we canât find the Zoom link this time. When we search for âZoomâ, or âConference Data Entry Points Labelâ, the variable that we saw in our earlier test data isnât there at all.Â
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Because our Google Calendar test data is incomplete, thereâs no way to add a Zoom link to our Slack alert.Â
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On the other hand, youâll note that the âDescriptionâ variable is still available, even though itâs empty.Â
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With incomplete test data, youâll encounter both of these scenarios. Some variables will be missing entirely, and others will be blank.Â
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This means you wonât be able to add the missing variables as youâre configuring action steps. And while you can add the blank variables to your action steps, you wonât be able to confirm their contents or formatting when you run a test, since thereâs no data there.Â
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When we test the Slack message step, we can see that thereâs no Zoom link, and no description.Â
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With incomplete test data, we canât build the automation that we want (a Slack message including a Zoom link), or confirm that itâs working as intended.Â
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Thatâs why your test data should have every bit of information that you intend to include in your ideal automation. If anything, you should err on the side of using more data than you think you need.Â
Understanding variables in Zapier
As youâve been reviewing our examples, or as youâve been using Zapier, you may have noticed that the data retrieved in Zapier always follows a similar format.Â
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Both events we tested had labels for nearly all of the same information. They both had labels for Summary, Attendees, Start Date, and Description, but the specific data or value associated with these labels differed for each event.
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[test data - annotate âvariableâ and âvalueâ
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These are what we call âvariablesâ. In Zapier, a âvariableâ refers to every piece of information retrieved from any step in your automationÂ
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A variable can be something like a Calendar eventâs name, or its start time.Â
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If youâre automating a CRM like Hubspot, youâll see variables for each contactâs name, their deal status, and dozens of other attributes unique to each contact.
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If youâre automating your ecommerce store in Shopify or Magento, youâll see variables relating to product prices, variants, and descriptions.Â
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Regardless of the app involved, variables describe all of the available attributes for whatever digital object Zapier is processing.Â
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Every calendar event will always include a similar list of variables in Zapier, and every Hubspot contact will include the same list of variables as every other contact.Â
Using variables to build more useful Zaps
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The variables are always the same, but the values - the actual data associated with each variable - can change every time.
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Thatâs why theyâre called variables, and why we build automations. That ability to include dynamic data is one of the things that makes Zapier so useful.Â
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In our simple automation with Slack alerts for calendar events, the alert is only really helpful if it includes the right details and Zoom link for each new event.
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In other contexts, using variables can help you to accommodate an entire team with a single automation instead of building a unique Zap for each person.Â
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Instead of sending an email to a single, fixed address, you could send an email to a dynamically retrieved address that will reflect the data that triggered the Zap to run.Â
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Replace missing or empty variables with default values
With purpose-built test data, we can always control what information we include, and what information we leave out.Â
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But when your Zaps are live and taking in data from the real world, inconsistencies are inevitable.Â
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We could design and build an automation that assumes people will always provide a description and a Zoom link, but we know that sometimes, people might forget to add them to their events.Â
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And when they do, what happens to the automation?
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Thankfully, Zapier provides some simple ways to respond to different data with different actions. All you have to do is add Default Values or Paths to your automation.Â
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Weâll start with Default values.
Adding default values to a Zap
Default values can be used to provide a fallback value for an empty variable.Â
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For instance, if a calendar event is missing a description, we can use a default value to use the text âNo description providedâ instead of just having a blank space.Â
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To get started, add a new action and choose âFormatâ.
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Your formatter step must be placed after the trigger, and before any action where you want to include the default value. So in our case, it needs to go before the Slack message.Â
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Formatter is a Zapier tool that allows you to reformat text, numbers, lists, and more.Â
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For the event, choose âTextâ, and select âDefault Valueâ as the action.Â
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Then, choose the variable that you want to replace if itâs empty. In our example, that will be the âDescriptionâ.Â
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Enter the text that should be used as a default value if the chosen variable is empty. Weâll enter âNo description providedâ.Â
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Once youâve created your default value, give it a test. Youâll want to test your default value twice: once with test data that includes data for the variable you want to replace, and once with test data thatâs missing data for the variable you want to replace.Â
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That way, you can confirm that the default value is only used for empty variables.Â
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To start, weâll go back to the trigger and select a Calendar event without a description.Â
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Then, weâll test the formatter step again.Â
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And as you can see, it replaced the blank variable with âNo description providedâ, just as expected.Â
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Next, weâll test the step again with an event that does have a description.Â
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And this time, it leaves the text as is.Â
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As we noted earlier, whenever youâre working with default values or paths, youâll want to test each possible outcome that youâve added to the Zap.Â
Add multiple default values to your Zaps
If youâd like to add multiple default values, add a new formatter step for each one.Â
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Just remember to place the formatter step before any action where you want to use the default value.Â
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When you add multiple formatter steps, itâs also helpful to rename them so that you know what each step does. âFormatterâ can transform data in dozens of different ways, so âFormatterâ alone is a very vague title.Â
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Weâll add another formatter step to our Zap to provide a default value for a missing Zoom link.Â
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Then, weâll rename both formatter steps to keep things organized.Â
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With both default values ready, any alert will use default values as needed to replace missing variables.Â
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To be thorough, you should test your automation with each possible configuration. In our example, that would involve testing once with a Zoom link and no description, once with a description and no Zoom link, once with both, and once with neither.Â
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But we wonât waste your time showing you all of those tests. Just remember to test every configuration that you can when building, within reason.Â
Perform different actions in the same Zap with paths
Default values are great for replacing text.Â
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But what if you want your automation to actually perform different actions based on different inputs?Â
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To do that, youâll need to use Paths. Adding paths will give your automation multiple potential outcomes.Â
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Each path will include an associated condition. If the data your Zap is processing meets that condition, it will run down that path.Â
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Letâs see how paths look in action.Â
Adding paths to your Zaps
Weâll add a couple paths to our Calendar alerts Zap: one for events that donât include a Zoom link, and one for events that do.Â
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This time, instead of just having a warning that no Zoom link is provided, we want to email the organizer of the event and ask them to add a Zoom link.Â
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To add paths, add a new action to your Zap. Note that paths need to be the last action in your Zap.
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Then, select âPathâ from the app menu.Â
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Instantly, you should see two branching paths added to your Zap. Each path starts with a âRuleâ.
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The rule is where youâll configure the conditions that make the Zap select the appropriate path.Â
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Click on the rule under path A to configure it.Â
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We want this path to run if the Calendar event is missing a Zoom link, so weâll set the condition to âConference Data Entry Points Labelâ âdoes not existâ.Â
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Then, weâll give it a test by clicking on âContinueâ.Â
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The automation says this action would not have continued down this path, since the Zoom link is there.Â
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To finish testing this pathâs condition, weâll update the test data to an event without a Zoom link.Â
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Then, weâll retest both formatter steps before finally testing Path Aâs condition again. The path now says that it would have continued.Â
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Once youâve configured and tested the pathâs condition, you can add any actions you want to the path.Â
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Weâll add a Gmail step, and set up an email that will go to the event organizer, asking (politely) to add a Zoom link to the event.Â
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Test any steps you add to Path A. Then, configure Path B.Â
Configuring a second path
You can set up the rule for Path B the same way as Path B, but be careful when youâre designating the rules for each path.Â
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Multiple paths can run at the same time. However, this can often lead to confusing and redundant results.Â
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In most cases, itâs best to set up all of your paths at a single junction to use mutually exclusive conditions. That way, youâll be able to ensure that, logically, only one path can run at any given time.Â
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For our example, weâll set Path Bâs condition to âConference Data Entry Points Labelâ âexistsâ. Since itâs the exact opposite of Path Aâs condition, we know that only one path can run at once.Â
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Then, weâll copy the Slack step from earlier in our automation into both Paths A and B.Â
Add (almost) as many paths as youâd like
Note that you can add up to 10 paths within a single path module. From there, you can also nest path modules inside of paths, potentially adding over a hundred paths to a single automation.Â
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Of course, just because you can doesnât mean you should. Be careful not to make things more complicated than they need to be.Â
Exploring Zap history to troubleshoot and fix errors
With all the variables and paths you might be adding to your Zaps, there are many different ways your automations might run, and many different outcomes they could produce.Â
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When something is not working, or not working as expected, you might not always be sure which path ran - or which one was supposed to run.Â
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Thatâs why itâs good to check Zap history whenever your automations arenât working as expected, or are hitting frustrating errors.
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Zapier keeps a log of all your Zapsâ history. You can access it by just clicking on the Clock icon in the Zap editor.Â
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You can also find history from your Zapier homepage by checking the panel on the left.
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 In your history, you can see every action run by your account.
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You can filter by date range, the name of the Zap, the apps involved, the folder the Zap is stored in, or the Zap creator.Â
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You can also use the search bar to search for keywords across Zap titles and the data that your zaps processed when they ran.
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When we filter our history by our âTest Data, Variables, Default Values, Paths Demoâ Zap, we can see a few results. Note that youâll only see runs that occurred while your Zap was turned on and published. You wonât see tests in Zap history.Â
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You can click on any of these entries to see more details.Â
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When we select an entry, we see a list of every action that ran, and a clear breakdown of which paths ran, and which paths didnât.Â
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Reviewing the history will let you see exactly where a Zap encountered an error, and will provide an error message explaining what happened.Â
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The error messages are often clear and helpful, but can sometimes be a little vague. These errors usually come from the app that youâre automating, not Zapier itself. A quick Google search with the error message usually helps.Â
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Be vigilant with your zap history; it is the key to understanding what happened, and will guide you to a solution. Checking the history tab should always be your first step whenever a Zap isnât working as expected.Â
Build advanced automations with a user-friendly platform
Zapier is an excellent automation platform for no-code beginners. But even a user-friendly platform like Zapier has the potential to build sophisticated automations that handle variable data with different outcomes.Â
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Understanding how test data, variables, and paths work will help you to build more useful, robust Zaps for your team. And keeping an eye on the history tab will make it easy to fix any problems that crop up.
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If youâd like to learn more about building automations with no-code providers like Zapier, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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With AIâs sudden rise to prominence in the last year, there are more AI tools available than ever.Â
Whether you want to use a standalone Chatbot or an AI utility integrated directly into your favorite apps, thereâs an option out there for you.Â
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In this post, weâre going to take a closer look at two specific AI tools that you might be considering: ChatGPT and Notion AI.
Weâll see how both of them stack up to each other, and weâll help you to answer the question: is Notion AI worth it?
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Weâll compare the features of ChatGPT and Notion, and weâll explore how each app can fit into your workflows. Weâll also break down pricing for both Notion AI and ChatGPT, so you can decide which is the better value for you and your team.Â
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Letâs get into it!
UX Comparison: Enter prompts directly in Notion, or send messages to a standalone chatbot
First, letâs take a look at the key differences between each AI toolâs User Experience, or UX.Â
ChatGPTâs UX: a familiar messaging layout
ChatGPT is a standalone chatbot.Â
To use ChatGPT, you just need to create an account at chat.openai.com, enter your prompts in the text box, and wait a moment for your AI answer.Â
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The UI is essentially a standard messaging interface. Youâll see every recent chat in a menu on the left, and youâll see your conversation with the AI in the main window in the middle of the screen.Â
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On the ChatGPT homescreen, youâll see a few suggestions for prompts that you might want to send.Â
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Clicking on any of these will instantly enter the prompt into a new ChatGPT conversation, and ChatGPT will immediately begin generating its answer.Â
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Notion AIâs UX: direct integration into your documents
While ChatGPT is a standalone app, Notion AI on the other hand is an integrated AI tool thatâs built directly into Notion.Â
If youâre not familiar with Notion, itâs a highly versatile app for creating documents, tracking projects, and building a wiki for your team.Â
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Each page or table can be extensively customized with configurable blocks, including a recently added block for Notion AI. Â
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Like any block, Notion AI can be accessed by simply typing forward slash, and searching for its name.
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Once youâve accessed Notion AI, you can enter a prompt into the text box in basically the same way as you would in ChatGPT. Youâll then see several options for inserting the response into your Notion document.Â
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Similarly to ChatGPTâs suggestions, you can also use some of Notionâs preconfigured prompt templates.Â
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These will automatically enter a prompt to perform common actions like translating text, or finding action items.Â
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However, Notion AI also offers a couple alternative ways to enter your prompts.Â
Highlight text to quickly reference it in your Notion AI prompts
If you want to reference an existing document or passage of text in your prompt, you can simply highlight that text in Notion, then type a related prompt.Â
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For instance, you might want to ask Notion AI to expand on the highlighted text, or to change its tone and style.Â
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Finally, Notion AI also allows you to create AI blocks. AI blocks allow you to run a prompt with the click of a button.Â
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For example, you might add an AI block with a âFind Action itemsâ prompt into a meeting notes template.Â
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That way, you can just click on the AI block to get a summary of each meeting after youâve filled in the notes.Â
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Ultimately, ChatGPT and Notion AI offer two very different ways of interacting with AI. But do these AI tools actually perform different functions?Â
Notion AI and ChatGPTâs Functionality
Despite their distinct user experiences, Notion AI and ChatGPT actually boast very similar capabilities.Â
Generate creative writing samples, brainstorm ideas, and more
Relying on language models, both can generate realistic text for nearly any context or use case you might think of.Â
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They can handle creative writing like poems, draft marketing copy for a newsletter, offer up a list of vacation activities for you and your family, or brainstorm a chore schedule for keeping the house clean.Â
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Notion AI and ChatGPT can also help you to check the spelling and grammar of a passage of text, or translate it into another language.Â
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Write code with ChatGPT and Notion AI
You can even ask both AI tools for help writing code and scripts, although their answers wonât always be 100% reliable.Â
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However, theyâre usually an excellent starting point for building a section on a webpage, or creating a function to use in Google Sheets or Airtable.Â
Ask for styled and formatted text with markdown
Both Notion AI and ChatGPT are also capable of formatting the text that they generate.Â
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Using a simple syntax called âMarkdownâ, which is very popular in web applications, they can add headings to their answers, apply bold or italic styles, and even create tables and checkboxes.Â
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After some testing, the only difference weâve found so far is that Notion AI can create fully functional toggle lists, while ChatGPT seemingly canât.Â
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Use Notion AI for automatically styled blocks, or copy and paste from ChatGPT
Since Notion uses markdown to format all of its blocks, any formatting that Notion AI uses will be applied in the app.Â
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All of the headings, text styles, tables, and other formatting options will work in the exact same way as any formatting that you apply manually in Notion.Â
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When you copy text generated by ChatGPT, youâll also copy the markdown formatting along with it.Â
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Then, when you paste the text into an app like Notion that supports markdown, all of the formatting will be preserved.Â
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Ultimately, both Notion AI and ChatGPT can provide fully formatted and styled text in response to your prompts.Â
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However, if youâre using ChatGPT, youâll need to copy and paste the AIâs answer into whatever app youâd ultimately like to store or publish it in. With Notion AI, your formatted answer will already be generated in an app thatâs ideal for keeping track of your documents.Â
Shared limitations: focus on language tasks, not math
Just as the two AI tools have similar strengths, they also have similar weaknesses.Â
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As AI language models, theyâre excellent at producing sentences that sound like they could have been written by a human. But theyâre not always so great at math, or even just counting.Â
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Complicated math problems often stump both AI tools, and neither is particularly good at sticking to a word or character limit. In the image below, you can see that ChatGPT managed to stick to our request to provide a description of less than 100 characters, while Notion overshot the mark.Â
However, ChatGPT also frequently fails to abide by character limits.Â
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As long as youâre using these AI tools for the language processing that theyâre meant for, they can both perform virtually all of the same tasks - and perform them well.Â
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The key difference is that Notion AIâs answers are integrated directly into your Notion pages, while ChatGPTâs answers will need to be copied and pasted into another app.Â
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If Notion is a key part of your workflows, Notion AI could be a much more efficient AI tool. However, if youâre not already a Notion user, or if you want to use AI prompts to generate text in several different apps, Notion AI wonât offer as much of a benefit.Â
ChatGPT and Notion AIâs language models
With our earlier talk of language models, some more technical readers might be wondering: which models do Notion AI and ChatGPT actually use?
Choose from GPT3.5 and GPT4 in ChatGPT
The answer for ChatGPT is very simple. As you can see when you open up the app, ChatGPT offers two models at the time of writing: GPT3.5, and GPT4.Â
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However, GPT4 is only accessible to users with a âPlusâ plan. Weâll discuss that plan in more detail in the pricing section of this article.Â
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3.5 and 4 are similar language models built by OpenAI, the organization that developed ChatGPT.Â
However, GPT4 is a more advanced model. Itâs been trained with more parameters, and is better suited to complex creative tasks.Â
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You can learn more about the specific details of each model in OpenAIâs documentation, or in this OpenAI research page.Â
Notion AI: no clear answers, but likely built on OpenAI language models
While ChatGPT openly advertises their language models, Notion isnât quite so forthcoming.Â
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Notion doesnât disclose any information about the exact language model, and if you turn to Google, youâll see thereâs some confusion on this topic.
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Some sources claim that Notion AI uses Anthropicâs Claude LLM, while others state that Notion AI is using LAMDA, an open-source model released by Meta (aka Facebook).Â
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However, based on Notionâs official documents, it appears that Notion AI is using a language model developed by OpenAI. In all likelihood, this is some version of ChatGPT, but we canât be sure which one precisely.Â
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When Notion AI first rolled out, Notion Expert Thomas Frank noted that their product terms stated:
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âNotion uses technology provided by OpenAI, LLC (âOpenAIâ) to provide Notion AI.â
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Unfortunately, the product terms page that he referenced is no longer accessible.
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However, in the âSupplementary Termsâ page for Notion AI, itâs stated that:
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âyou may not use the Notion AI features in a manner that violates any OpenAI Policyâ
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So despite some claims to the contrary, it seems almost certain that Notion AI is using an OpenAI language model.
GPT3.5 Turbo is generally one of the most commonly used models for third-party apps, but there are several other models they could be using.Â
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At any rate, itâs pretty clear from their output that Notion AI and ChatGPT are using similar models. But if you want to ensure that you have access to GPT4, youâll need to use ChatGPT Plus.Â
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ChatGPT and Notion AIâs pricing plans
While weâre on the subject of ChatGPT Plus, letâs talk pricing. At first glance, both AI tools appear to offer roughly comparable pricing, but in most cases, ChatGPT will be significantly cheaper for teams.Â
ChatGPTâs pricing
ChatGPT offers two plans: a free plan, and ChatGPT plus, which costs $20 per month.Â
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The free plan provides access to the GPT3.5 language model only, and imposes no hard limits on how many messages you can send.Â
However, you may lose access to ChatGPT whenever the app is experiencing heavy traffic.Â
ChatGPT Plus features
ChatGPT Plus grants you access to GPT4, and ensures that you can access the app at any time. As long as ChatGPT isnât experiencing a total outage, youâll be able to use it.Â
With ChatGPT plus, you can send unlimited messages with GPT3.5, and 50 messages every 3 hours with GPT4.Â
Note that this limit has already been raised once since ChatGPT plus launched, so it may continue to increase.Â
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You can also use optional plugins with GPT4. Note that these plugins may require paid plans of their own, but many are free to use - at least for now.Â
Several of the plugins are still in beta, and may introduce paid plans once theyâve completed a release version.Â
Notion AI pricing
Notion AI offers a free demo, and an add-on for paid plans that costs $10/mo.Â
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The free demo provides each Notion user with a limited number of AI requests. The exact limit depends on how many people are in your Notion workspace. Larger workspaces get more free Notion AI prompts.Â
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Unfortunately, the limit isnât readily visible until youâre nearly at the limit already, but it appears that users get at least 20 requests they can use to try out Notion AI.Â
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A paid Notion AI plan has no hard limitations, but Notion does note that your usage may be limited if itâs deemed excessive.Â
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Notion often lists Notion AI at $10 per user per month, but this is a little misleading.Â
You already need to have a Notion paid plan to sign up for Notion AI, and their paid plans start at $10 per user per month.Â
Both $10 charges can be brought down to $8 per month if you pay annually, so Notion AI will cost you either $16 or $20 per month at a minimum if you donât already have a Notion subscription.Â
Adding Notion AI for every user in your workspace
Perhaps the biggest difference in pricing is that you have to purchase Notion AI for every user in your workspace, while a single ChatGPT Plus account can be easily shared with a few users through a password manager like 1Password.Â
So when youâre comparing the pricing of both platforms, remember that the $10 per user per month charge will apply to every user in your Notion workspace.Â
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Finding the right AI tool for you and your team
Ultimately, Notion AI is great for Notion power users.Â
If Notion is the backbone of your company, holding your wikis, docs, and data, Notion AI is well worth the extra $8-10 per person per month, as long as youâre planning to make AI content writing a central part of your everyday work.Â
With Notion AI, you can stay focused in Notion instead of going back and forth to copy and paste text out of a standalone app like ChatGPT.Â
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However, if you want to add your AI output to several different apps, sticking with ChatGPT is likely the better choice.
Additionally, if you want a robust free option for long-term use, ChatGPT will be the clear winner.Â
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With so many AI tools available today, thereâs something for every use case. Whether you prefer a standalone app or an integrated utility, thereâs a tool that can fit your use case.Â
If youâd like to learn more about AI and workflow automation, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Generative AI is not limited to standalone apps. With interest in AI growing every day, tools like ChatGPT are being integrated into all sorts of popular software that you might already use.Â
Right now, Airtable is rolling out a brand new field type called âAI Assistâ that will let you generate AI prompts that automatically include the data in your base.Â
In this post, weâre going to show you how this new AI Assist field works, and how you can sign up to try it out for yourself.
In our demonstration, weâll start by creating a couple prompts using Airtableâs templates. Then weâll make one from scratch, so you can see all of the options youâll have with this field.Â
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How to sign up for the AI Assist beta
AI assist is a brand new Airtable field type, and itâs still in a closed beta at the time of publication (09/20/23).Â
If youâd like to sign up for a chance to join the free beta, just go to https://www.airtable.com/product/ai, and sign into your Airtable account if youâre not signed in already.Â
Then, fill out the brief form to submit your request to join the beta. Not all requests will be granted access to the beta.Â
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As Airtable notes in the sign-up form, theyâre currently prioritizing accounts that are part of larger workspaces. However, small teams with free plans may still be able to join based on their circumstances, so itâs still worth signing up even if youâre not on an enterprise plan.Â
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Eventually, we expect the AI Assist field to become a more widely available feature accessible to anyone whoâs using Airtable.Â
But while youâre waiting, weâll give you a preview of how it works. You can also check out our video tour at the bottom of the page if youâd like to see a live demonstration.Â
How the AI Assist field works
An AI assist field will generate its content by sending an AI prompt to GPT3 or GPT4. The field will then be filled in with the AI response.Â
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The prompt can either be based on a template provided by Airtable, or written from scratch by the user.Â
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However you choose to create your prompt, youâll always have the option to reference specific fields in your table.Â
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This allows you to create an AI field that summarizes the contents of several other fields, or an AI field that translates the contents of a specific field.Â
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Next, weâll show you how to create AI Assist fields step by step.Â
Using the AI Assist field with prompt templates
First, letâs create an AI assist field using a templated prompt.
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In the image below, you can see a simple Airtable base where weâre tracking our latest blogs. It includes a small collection of relevant fields: title, subtitle, blog body, and date posted.
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Once youâve been admitted to the AI Assist beta, you can get started by simply adding a new field to your table. Then, choose âAI Assistâ as the field type
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When you create a new AI Assist field, youâll have the option to configure the field from scratch or create a field based on a template.Â
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Weâll start with a template.Â
The AI Assist template gallery
When you choose to start from a template, youâll see a template gallery with several options you can choose from.Â
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The template gallery is divided into a few categories based on use cases: General, Product, Marketing, UX Research, and Recruiting.
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All of the templates are available in a single list in the main window of the template gallery. If you select a category on the left, your window will scroll to the relevant part of the list.Â
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In the âMarketingâ category, we can see an option to âGenerate a tweetâ. To use any AI template, just click on it to get started.Â
Configuring an AI Assist template in Airtable: generating a tweet
Once youâve selected your template, youâll see several options for configuring your prompt. Each template will have slightly different options, but the general approach will usually be similar.Â
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Identify the main field the AI should reference
To start, youâll need to identify the main field that you want to summarize into a tweet. In our example, weâll select the Blog Body Excerpt, which includes the first 2,000 characters of the full Blog Body.Â
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This means that for each record, the AI assist field will reference the contents of that recordâs âBlog Body Excerptâ field.Â
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As youâre configuring your prompt, youâll see an example based on the first record in your base, but the finished AI field will dynamically reference unique content from each record.Â
Identify additional fields for the AI to consider
Next, you can include other fields that the AI should reference as it builds the tweet. In our example, weâll also select the âTitleâ and âSubtitleâ fields.Â
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Note that as you keep making changes, you can update the preview at any time to see how your changes influence the AIâs output.Â
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Provide an example of âan ideal tweetâ
Under âProvide your own examplesâ, you can enter an example of an ideal tweet that the AI should attempt to emulate. If you provide an example, the AI will try to compose a new tweet that follows a similar structure and style.Â
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In our demo, weâll enter this tweet that we published to our account several weeks ago:
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â đ€ Getting frustrated with Asana and Monday? Build your own custom task management system in Airtable. In this XRay tutorial, we'll show you how to start tracking tasks and projects with an Airtable base. Just copy our base to get started. https://youtu.be/djdjIE82Gsc
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Provide specific instructions to fine-tune your prompt
Finally, under âGive any other instructionsâ, you can choose an optional style for the AI to use and provide any other details that youâd like to include in your prompt.Â
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Currently, there are only three options under the âStyleâ menu: Friendly, Informative, and Funny. We expect that Airtable will add more options as the beta continues and the tool is updated. For our example, weâll choose âFunnyâ.Â
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In the âCustom Instructionsâ field, you can enter any instructions or information that youâd like. This is a good place to enter any data that canât be retrieved from the fields in your table.Â
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In our example, weâll provide some basic information about XRay. These details about our company arenât going to be in any field, so weâll add them here.Â
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XRay.Tech (or XRay) is a workflow automation consultancy. Every week, XRay posts a blog about workflow automation using tools like Airtable, Notion, Zapier, Make, and more. XRay's mission is to help knowledge workers create one billion hours of time for meaningful work.Â
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When we update the preview, we can see that the AI is closely imitating the structure of our example tweet, and is using two emojis to start it off.Â
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With all of your prompt options configured, click on âUse Templateâ to close this window and finish setting up your AI Assist field.Â
A note on character limits in Airtableâs AI Assist fields
While Airtable doesnât provide a specific character limit for the AI Assist field prompts, long selections of text often donât work very well and may produce errors.Â
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Our full blog referenced in this base is about 16,500 characters. Attempting to summarize this field with AI assist resulted in several errors, so we created the Blog Body Excerpt field to select the first 2,000 characters of the blog instead.Â
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Hopefully, Airtable will add more info about the required prompt length in the future. For now, weâd recommend sticking with shorter prompts whenever possible for the best results.Â
Adjusting settings on the AI assist field
When you close the prompt window, youâll be taken back to the field details window. Here, youâll see two tabs: Prompt, and Settings.Â
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All of the template settings that we covered previously can be found under Prompt, and can be updated at any time.Â
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Under settings, youâll see additional technical parameters that you can adjust.Â
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Choose the AI modelÂ
First, you can choose the AI model that you want to use. Currently, there are two choices: GPT3.5 and GPT4.Â
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In general, GPT3.5 and 4 are very similar models, but GPT4 is a more advanced language model that is better suited to more creative use cases. You can learn more about all of OpenAIâs language models in their official documentation.Â
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Airtable notes that GPT3.5 is a more popular model while GPT4 is more expensive. For now, the AI Assist field doesnât require any additional charge, but this note may suggest that the feature could be a paid add-on when the betaâs over. Weâll just have to wait and see.Â
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Using GPT4 will also disable automatic generation. To generate content in an AI Assist field using GPT4, youâll need to click on the âgenerateâ button.Â
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In our example, weâll go with GPT4.
Set the AIâs randomness
Next, you can set a âRandomnessâ value for this fieldâs AI responses. âRandomnessâ is a similar concept to âtemperatureâ and âcreativityâ, which you may have seen in other AI tools.Â
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Randomness is set as a number between 0 and 1. The higher the number, the more unpredictable and adventurous the AI will be with its answers. The lower the number, the more straightforward and predictable the answers.Â
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You can never guarantee total accuracy with an AI language model, but around 0 to 0.25 will help to ensure more reliable answers.Â
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We want to see some creativity, so weâll set ours to 0.4.Â
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In the preview Tweet, we can see that the AI is throwing in a little humor with phrases like âthe artist formerly known as Integromatâ.Â
Enable or disable automatic generation
Finally, youâll see a toggle to âGenerate automaticallyâ.Â
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If you enable this setting, Airtable will automatically generate its AI response in this field. If you disable the setting, youâll just have to click a button to generate an answer for each field.Â
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As we noted earlier, you wonât be able to enable automatic generation if youâve selected GPT4 as the model.Â
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Once youâve configured all of your settings, click on save to commit your changes.Â
Generate your AI answer for each field
If you enabled automatic generation, youâll see AI responses fill in for every record in your table. Note that any records missing data for fields that you referenced in the AI Assist configuration wonât get a response.Â
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If youâre using GPT4 or if you chose not to enable automatic generation, youâll need to click on the âGenerateâ button in the AI assist field to send the prompt and get your response.
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After a few seconds, youâll get an answer in the AI Assist field. GPT4 will usually take a bit longer than GPT3.5.Â
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Once a response is generated, it will be permanently saved to that record. To get a different response, youâll need to edit the fieldâs settings or edit the dependent fields and regenerate the answer.Â
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Since our template references the blog title, editing the âTitleâ field will erase the contents of the AI assist field and allow us to regenerate the answer.Â
AI Assist templates: translating text
As we noted earlier, different templates have different options. To see an example of those differences, letâs another AI Assist field and take a look at another template.Â
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Under the âGeneralâ section, thereâs an option for âTranslationâ. Weâll choose that, and see the options that come up.Â
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In the configuration window, there are only three options. We just need to set a field to translate, a language to translate the text to, and provide other instructions if we want.Â
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Weâll select the Blog Body Excerpt again as the field to translate. Then, we need to identify the language we want to translate it to.Â
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The âLanguage to translate intoâ field will accept any kind of text field: single line text, long text, select fields, etc. However, its data must come from a field in your table. You cannot directly enter the language you want to translate your text into.Â
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Weâve created a single-select âTranslate to:â field in our table with options for âFrenchâ, âSpanishâ, and âGermanâ. This is the field weâll use to identify the language we want to translate into.Â
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You could create a similar field with different options, or simply use a text field and enter whatever language youâd like.Â
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Finally, you can provide more specific directives under the âGive any other instructionsâ tab. Here, you may want to indicate that certain terms should not be translated, or that the text should be translated into casual slang rather than professional composition.Â
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Note that under this âother instructionsâ tab, thereâs no dropdown menu to change the style of the AIâs response like there was with the âgenerate a Tweetâ template.Â
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With all of your choices configured, you can click on âUse Templateâ to close the prompt template.Â
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Under âSettingsâ, youâll see all of the same technical options as with any other template. You can change the model, the randomness, and enable automatic generation.Â
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Weâll save this field, and wait a moment for the automatically generated translation.Â
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Immediately, we get a translated version of the excerpt in German. If we switch the language in the âTranslate toâ field to Spanish, we can get another excerpt in Spanish. Â
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Overall, the âTranslateâ template is pretty similar to the âGenerate a Tweetâ template, but there are far fewer options. When you use Airtableâs AI Assist, youâll need to play around a bit with each template to find out what options you have at your disposal and which settings work best. Â
Create an AI Assist field from scratch
Finally, letâs take a look at creating an AI assist field from scratch.Â
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In our example, weâll use our prompt to generate a meta description for our blog post. The meta description should be SEO-friendly so we can use it for search engines, and should be under 160 characters.Â
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To start making an AI assist field with a custom prompt, create a new field in your table and choose âAI Assistâ.Â
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Then, pick âStart from scratchâ.Â
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When you build an AI assist field from scratch, youâll just see a single field where you can enter any prompt that youâd like.Â
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You can enter a prompt here in much the same way that would enter a prompt into ChatGPT. The key difference is that you can also insert dynamic data from your Airtable base into the prompt by clicking on the blue plus sign.Â
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This data works just like dynamic data in Airtable automations. If you choose a field from this menu, it will insert the contents of that field into your prompt for each record.Â
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Letâs see what that looks like in practice.Â
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Weâll enter a prompt to create a meta description:
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You are a digital marketing expert working for XRay.Tech. XRay is a workflow automation consultancy that helps people create time with no-code and low-code tools. XRay posts a blog every week with tips, tutorials, and news about workflow automation tools.
Write a meta description for the following blog post:
Title: ï»ż
Subtitle: ï»ż
Blog excerpt: ï»ż
The meta description should be SEO friendly and under 160 characters.
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Then, weâll add dynamic data to dynamically provide the title, subtitle, and blog excerpt for each record.Â
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With our prompt configured, we can click on âSettingsâ to adjust the same technical parameters that are available for all AI assist fields: model, randomness, and automatic generation.Â
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With everything configured, we can click on âCreate Fieldâ to close the configuration window and check out our new field.Â
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After we click on âGenerateâ, we get a pretty decent meta description. But is it actually under 160 characters?
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Weâll quickly add a formula field to our table, and use a simple LEN() function to calculate the length of the âMeta Description (SEO)â field.Â
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The response is actually 176 characters. Turns out that language models canât reliably do math, or even count very well.Â
Confirm AI responses with actionable messages
Inaccurate answers are always a risk with AI. Even if you reduce the randomness to zero, you canât count on AI to produce completely factual answers, or responses that perfectly meet your parameters.Â
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This isnât an issue thatâs specific to Airtableâs AI, either. Whenever youâre using AI, itâs generally a good idea to have a human being check the work before publishing the AI-generated text or sending it off to a client.Â
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A great way to check Airtable records before performing automated actions is with actionable messages.Â
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With an actionable message, you can send the contents of an Airtable record in a Slack message for review. Then, the recipient can approve or reject the record with a single click, and update the record accordingly.Â
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You can learn more about actionable messages in this tutorial on the XRay blog.Â
Streamline your workflows with Airtableâs AI Assist
AI is making it easier than ever to draft, brainstorm, and refine content. While standalone software like ChatGPT is already extremely useful for a wide range of use cases, integrated tools like Airtableâs AI assist create seamless options for using AI in the apps where weâre already getting work done.Â
Sign up for the free beta today and try it out for yourself!
If youâd like to learn more about AI and automation tools, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
No-code are tools always evolving to give users new features and new capabilities.Â
However, important changes arenât always about adding brand new functionality. Sometimes, a simple change to an appâs visual layout can make a huge difference.Â
Recently, thereâs been a major update to Zapierâs user interface (UI), which is big news for any no-code builder.Â
Today, weâre going to show you all the key changes to Zapierâs automation builder interface.Â
Weâll show you how it changes the way you can view and manage your Zaps, and how it enables editing your automations with simple drag-and-drop actions.
Choose between the new Visual Editor or the Classic Editor
When you open up a new Zap, the new UI is immediately apparent. Now, instead of a list of modules, see a flowchart-like UI.
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However, before going into detail about the new UI, we want to quickly highlight that you can continue to use the old layout if youâd prefer.Â
Near the top right corner of the screen, thereâs a dropdown menu thatâs set to âVisual Editorâ by default.Â
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To revert back to the old familiar Zapier automation builder, click on the menu and select âClassic Editorâ. You can switch back and forth between either option at any time.Â
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In the future, Zapier may begin to phase out the classic editor, so weâd recommend getting used to the new visual editor soon.Â
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Ultimately, the visual editor offers several advantages over the classic editor without sacrificing any important features, so itâs not a difficult switch to make.Â
Visual editor overview
Letâs take a closer look at the new Visual Editor.Â
For simple, linear Zaps, the new editor isnât necessarily a huge change. However, the visual editor offers a much easier way to view every step within a complicated Zap that includes multiple nested paths.Â
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For example, letâs open up XRayâs Social Media Scheduler Zap in both the Visual Editor and the Classic Editor to see how both versions of Zapier display all of its steps.Â
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Our Social Media Scheduler is an automation that we use to schedule and publish our posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.Â
After selecting a platform and marking a post as âReady to Postâ in Airtable, the automation is triggered. Then, based on the platform selected, Zapier will publish the post to Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Each platform has its own path in the Zap.Â
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Additionally, there are two more paths within the Facebook path: one for photo posts, and one for links or text posts.Â
Viewing actions inside of paths in the Visual Editor
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In the new Visual Editor, you can easily see every path, every action within each path, and even the details of paths nested inside of paths.Â
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At a glance, you can see that each post will be scheduled to its respective platform, some information will be updated Airtable, and an alert will be sent in Slack. You can get all of this information without having to even click on a single module.Â
Viewing paths in the Classic Editor
In comparison, the Classic Editor displays almost no information at all about any actions that live inside of a path.Â
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When we switch back to the Classic Editor for our Social Media Scheduler, all we see are three steps: the Airtable trigger that launches the Zap, the delay step that waits until the scheduled time, and a path module.Â
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There are no clear details about the actions inside of each path. The only information displayed is how many steps are in each path. Thereâs no indication at all that the Facebook path includes its own sub-path.Â
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To see more information about any specific path, you have to click on it to see all the details. When you open a path, it takes up the entire screen, so you canât see the others.Â
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Ultimately, to get a complete picture of the entire automation in the Classic Editor, youâll have to click several times on each path, and youâll only see one path at a time.Â
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In the Visual Editor, you can see the entire automation in a single flowchart, making it very easy to instantly understand how the automation works.
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This is especially useful when youâre building your automations with a team. When a colleague needs to update your automation later on, it will be much easier for them to get the full picture without clicking into each individual path and action. Â
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Adding actions in the visual editor
Adding actions to a Zap in the visual editor is simple.Â
Just click on any of the plus signs you see to add a new action at that point in the Zap.
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Adding paths
To add a path, just add an action and select âPathâ from the menu that pops up.Â
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Once youâve added a path module, you can add up to 5 paths to that module by clicking on the black plus sign.Â
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Then, you can add several actions within each path. If youâd like, you can even add paths within each path.Â
Configuring actions
When you add a new action, the configuration window will automatically open up. To configure an existing action, just click on it to pull up the configuration menu.Â
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The configuration menu in the Visual Editor is almost identical to the menu from the Classic Editor. The key difference is that the configuration menu will open in a panel on the right, which you can drag to resize.Â
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Youâll see all the same options that have always been present in Zapier: you can choose the app you want to use along with the specific event you want to automate; youâll be prompted to sign into the app or choose an existing connection; you can set up the action; and you can run a test once itâs all set. Â
Rearranging actions
With the Visual Editor, you can now rearrange actions in Zapier by dragging and dropping them into a different spot in the automation.Â
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You can move nearly any action to any other place in the automation. However, Zapier will usually warn you if moving the action might cause the action to lose access to necessary data.Â
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For instance, imagine you have an automation that creates a Google Drive folder, then sends that folderâs URL in a Slack message.Â
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If you try to move the Slack step before the folder creation step, Zapier will give you a warning.Â
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The step will need to be reconfigured, since the folder URL (or âalternate linkâ) it uses comes from the folder creation step.Â
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Youâll also see similar warnings if you try to move actions out of paths when those actions contain data that only lives in that path.Â
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Adding notes to your Zaps
Finally, letâs take a look at another newly updated feature: notes.Â
Notes have been available for a while in Zapier, but they were previously not very easy to find.
Now, theyâve been added to a much more prominent spot in Zapierâs UI.Â
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With notes, you can add custom detail to each step. Just click on the comment icon next to the name of any step.Â
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Then, enter any note youâd like. Once youâve saved it, every note youâve added to the automation will be visible in this menu whenever you select a note.Â
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In addition to adding notes for each step, you can also provide a note that describes the automation as a whole. In this section, youâll also see an option to generate the note with AI.Â
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AI-generated descriptions appear to use your other notes and the names of each step as the basis for their output. Providing more notes and custom step names should help to improve the AIâs responses here.Â
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Notes are available in both the Visual Editor and the Classic Editor. Much like the Visual Editor, the newly updated notes are a great feature for anyone whoâs building with a team.Â
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Whoever builds the Zap can explain how it works in their notes. Then, different team members can then maintain and update the Zap more easily by referencing convenient, inline documentation.Â
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Notes can also be useful as reminders for solo builders. After all, itâs not always easy to remember what each step does in a Zap you built a year ago.Â
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Ultimately, notes are simple but versatile feature that make it much easier to document your Zaps with helpful detail.Â
Build more effectively with Zapierâs latest updates
Tools like Zapier are constantly being updated.Now, with the new Visual Editor, itâs easy for anyone to visualize complicated Zaps with nested paths and understand exactly how they work.Â
Plus, with easily accessible notes, you can add key detail to each step to make sure your team stays in the loop.Â
If youâre building automations for your team, or just want to keep your own Zaps more organized, open up Zapier and give these new features a shot.Â
If youâd like to learn more about automating your work with no-code tools like Zapier, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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AI tools like ChatGPT are an extraordinary resource for streamlining your every day work.Â
But if youâre still entering all of your prompts directly into ChatGPT, youâre missing out on some huge time savings.Â
AI becomes even faster and more convenient when you start automating all of your commonly used prompts.Â
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In this post, weâre going to show you how to automate your OpenAI prompts using Make (formerly known as Integromat).Â
Weâll demonstrate how to start automating your OpenAI prompts in Make using a simple example that summarizes emails in your Gmail inbox. Once you learn how the OpenAI module works in Make, youâll be able to connect to any other app that youâd like.Â
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Letâs get started!
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Overview: how to automate OpenAI prompts in Make
First, weâll give you a brief overview of how to use OpenAI prompts in Make. Then, weâll walk you through the whole process in detail with an example scenario.Â
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1. Create a new scenario and add a trigger module.Â
2. If you need additional data for your prompt, add search modules as needed.Â
3. Add an OpenAI module. Choose âCreate a completionâ as the event.Â
4. Configure your prompt. Include dynamic data retrieved from earlier steps as desired.Â
A. Choose a language model.Â
B. Add a system message if desired to give the AI general directives.
C. Add a user message containing your specific prompt.Â
D. Adjust the modelâs creativity with temperature and Top P.
5. Add additional modules to send the AIâs output to other apps.Â
What youâll need to follow along with this tutorial
To follow along with this tutorial, youâll need accounts in Make and OpenAI.Â
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Note that sending requests to the OpenAI API will incur a small charge.Â
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You can see all the details on the API pricing page, but in general, youâre looking at charges of a few cents per request â or less.Â
Additionally, every new OpenAI account includes a $5.00 credit for API usage. If youâve already used up your complementary $5.00, log into the OpenAI API portal, go to âbilling overviewâ, and add a payment method.Â
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Thereâs no set monthly fee to use the API; instead youâll just be charged for your usage each month.Â
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Youâll also need a free Gmail account if you donât already have one.Â
Our example scenario: AI-generated email summaries
Hereâs the full automation that weâll be building today:
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Whenever we add the âSummarizeâ label to an email in Gmail, the automation sends the contents of the email to OpenAI and requests a summary. Just for fun, weâll ask for a sarcastic and snarky summary. Once itâs generated, that summary is emailed back to us. Â
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This scenario weâre working with in this video is just an example to help you get started. As we go, weâll explain the general purpose of each step, so you can switch out specific apps for different software, or add additional actions to your scenario.Â
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However, if this is your first time working with OpenAI and Make, youâll probably want to follow along step by step to get familiar with all of the options.Â
Adding a trigger to gather data for your prompt
To begin, youâll need to open up Make and create a new scenario.
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The first element of any automated scenario is the trigger. The trigger determines when your automation will run.
When you make a new trigger for your AI automation, you need to consider when you want to run your prompt, and what app you want to get data from when you build your prompt.Â
These choices will determine which app you use for your trigger, and which specific event you use.Â
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For our example, we want to run our prompt whenever we get a new email in Gmail with the âsummarizeâ label. That means weâll be using a âWatch emailsâ trigger in Gmail.Â
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But first, we need to create the âSummarizeâ label in Gmail and apply it to a message so we have some test data to work with.Â
Creating test data: add a new âSummarizeâ label in Gmail
Go to Gmail and open up an email to summarize. Pick an email to use as a test.Â
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Click on the tag icon at the top of the email, create a new âSummarizeâ label, and add it to the message.Â
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Now your test data is all set. Letâs go back to the scenario builder in Make.Â
Configure your trigger
Select the app you want to use for your trigger. In our case, weâll use Gmail, and weâll choose âWatch Emailsâ as the event.Â
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Choose your Gmail account, or add a new connection if you havenât connected Gmail to Make already. Whenever you automate an app using Make, youâll need to create a connection to authorize Make on your behalf.Â
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With Gmail authorized, we can now start configuring the trigger.Â
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We donât want the automation to run for every new email - just for emails that have our âSummarizeâ label.
Gmail creates folders for your custom labels, so we can choose the corresponding folder by clicking on this âClick here to choose folderâ button.
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Select the âSummarizeâ folder from the list that appears. This will ensure that the automation only processes emails that are in the summarize folder.
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As youâre configuring your trigger, make sure that your settings are as specific as possible to avoid having your automation run when you donât want it to. Â
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Next, Make provides an option to set the âFilter typeâ.
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You could change this to âGmail filterâ if you wanted to enter a query and further limit the emails that Make watches for. However, for our example, weâll leave it as a âSimple filterâ. Limiting the trigger to the âSummarizeâ folder is enough.Â
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In the âCriteriaâ dropdown, you can choose whether the trigger will run for all emails, unread messages only, or read messages only. In our example, weâll choose âAllâ
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Finally, you can set a maximum number of results.
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As Make notes in the warning message at the bottom of the configuration window, setting this number too high could cause apps to time out as they wait for Make to process several results.Â
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For the sake of easy testing, weâd recommend using a limit of 1, so your scenario will only process one email at a time. Â
Testing the trigger
Once your trigger is fully configured, you can click on âOKâ to close this window.Â
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Now youâll need to test the trigger. Testing the trigger will prompt the scenario to search for data that matches your configured settings. In this case, that means Make will search for an email in your Gmail inbox with the âSummarizeâ label. You can then use the data from that email to build the rest of your automation.Â
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To start testing, right click on the module, and select âChoose where to startâ. Note that you may also be automatically brought to the âChoose where to startâ menu the first time you close the trigger window.Â
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Click âSelect the first emailâ. This means that youâll choose the email you want to use manually, rather than letting Make select one by default.Â
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Then, choose an email from the list that appears. You should see every email from your inbox with the âSummarizeâ label, which may only be one email if youâve just created the label.Â
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Click OK to confirm your selection and close this window.Â
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Then, click ârun onceâ in the bottom left to run your trigger module.Â
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After the test runs, you should see a number over your trigger module indicating how many bundles of data it retrieved. A âbundleâ refers to whatever object the module processed. In this case, each bundle is an email in Gmail, but with other triggers, these could be rows in Google Sheets, products in Shopify, messages in Slack, etc.Â
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Click on the number to see more info about the data, and confirm that the trigger processed the right email.Â
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If everything looks good, you can start adding automated actions to our scenario. If you werenât able to find the email you wanted, make sure you applied the correct label and chose that same label as the folder in your trigger.Â
Adding optional searches to gather more data for your AI prompt
With this Gmail trigger module in place, we have all the data we need for our example scenario.
To build our prompt, we just need the email, and some other directions that weâll enter directly into the OpenAI module.Â
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However, if you need any additional data to inform your own custom prompt, you can add steps to search for that data now.
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For example, you might want to look up the emailâs sender in your CRM or in an Airtable database.Â
Just add a new module, choose the app you want to search in, and select an appropriate search action to find the data you want to include in your prompt.Â
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However, since we have all the data we need for our example, weâll continue on and add the OpenAI prompt.Â
Send an automated prompt to OpenAI
Now, weâll build the part of our scenario that actually sends a prompt to OpenAI.Â
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Add a new module, and search for âOpenAIâ. In Make, the OpenAI module is currently named âOpenAI (ChatGPT, Whisper, DALL-E)â.
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For the action, choose âCreate a Completionâ. This action will allow the scenario to send a prompt to OpenAI and get the AIâs response.
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Choose your OpenAI account or connect a new one to Make.Â
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OpenAI API pricing
Just as a reminder, you will need to have a payment method on file to use OpenAIâs API, and each request â including tests in Make â will incur a charge. However, you may still have a $5.00 API credit from opening a new OpenAI account.Â
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Based on OpenAIâs current pricing, each request in this scenario should only incur a charge of a few cents or less, if you use all the same settings we do.Â
Configuring your OpenAI prompt in Make
Once youâve chosen your account, you can start configuring the module.Â
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First, youâll need to choose the language model you want OpenAI to use. Different models have different pricing, different speeds, different amounts of context they can use, and other unique aspects to consider
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You can learn more about the details of each model in OpenAIâs API docs.Â
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For this tutorial, weâd recommend using GPT3.5 turbo 16k. This model charges very low rates, and features a high amount of context, so itâs good for building and testing an automation summarizing long text.Â
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GPT4 is generally a better model, of course, but itâs also about 10 times more expensive, so weâll stick with GPT3.5 turbo.Â
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Define the AIâs identity with a System message
Next, you can tell the AI how to behave and give it a prompt to complete. Click on âAdd itemâ under âMessagesâ.Â
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The first item will be a âSystemâ message that instructs the AI how it should behave in general.Â
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This is not strictly necessary. If you donât provide a system message, the AI will default to the identity of a âhelpful assistantâ. But if you want a more specific style or tone, you can define it with a system message first.
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Choose âSystemâ as the role.Â
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In the âMessage Contentâ field, describe how the AI should respond to requests and what identity to assume. You can enter anything youâd like here. Â
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For instance, weâll say âYou are a sassy assistant. You respond accurately and helpfully to requests, but your tone is sarcastic, flippant, and playful.â Thereâs no harm in giving our AI answers a little more personality.Â
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Craft your prompt with a User message
After the optional system message, you can provide your specific prompt.
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Add another item, and set the âRoleâ dropdown to âUserâ. In other words, we want the message to take the role of a user entering a prompt into ChatGPT.
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In âmessage contentâ, you can enter your full prompt. Be sure to include data from your trigger or optional searches as applicable.
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In our example, weâll enter a prompt asking to summarize an email. Then, weâll provide key pieces of data from the email that triggered the automation: the subject line, the sender name and email, and the body, which is called âtext contentâ in Make.Â
Adjust your OpenAI automation with advanced settings
If you click on âShow advanced settingsâ, youâll see a few more options for configuring your OpenAI prompt.Â
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First, you can limit the length of the response by defining a maximum number of tokens that it should use. Note that 1,000 tokens are equal to about 750 words.
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NOTE: While we were preparing this tutorial, we noticed that this field may not work exactly as described. Even though the default is listed as 16 tokens, the automation still provided an answer consisting of over 200 tokens. Itâs possible that â16â here means 16,000, as 16 tokens would be a very short response.
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Hopefully, Make will update or clarify this option soon.Â
Dial in the AIâs creativity with Temperature and Top P
With âTemperatureâ and âTop Pâ, you can set how creative the AI will be with its answers on a scale of 0 to 1. A lower number in either of these settings will result in more factual and less creative answers.Â
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They both default to 1, so you may want to lower these to around 0.7 if you want to get somewhat more accurate answers.Â
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Just note that even if you set these to 0, thereâs never a guarantee that AI will be 100% accurate. Hallucinations are just a risk we take with this tech.Â
Choose how many responses are generated
In the âNumberâ field, we can determine how many answers the AI will provide to our response. This defaults to 1, but you can raise this number if you want it to make multiple attempts.Â
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With âEchoâ, you can choose whether or not the AI will echo back the prompt that you entered at the start of its response. Weâll choose ânoâ.Â
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Finally, you can add additional custom parameters under âOther Input Parametersâ if youâd like, but this is a bit more advanced and wonât be necessary for most prompts.Â
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Once your message is ready, click OK, and test the full scenario. Just as a reminder, testing will consume operations in your Make account, and will incur small charges from OpenAIâs API.Â
Testing your OpenAI prompt
Repeat the same testing process as before. Right click on the trigger module, select âChoose where to startâ, and click âSelect the first emailâ.Â
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Pick your email, click OK, then click âRun onceâ. You should see a number over your OpenAI module.
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Click on it to see the message that OpenAI generated in response to your prompt. Youâll have to dig into a couple of menus first - you can find the output under âChoicesâ, â1â, and âmessageâ.Â
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Above, you can see the response we got. Definitely a bit of sass, just like we asked for, but still a pretty good summary.Â
Send OpenAIâs response to any other app
Your âCompletionâ action should have correctly generated a response to your prompt. Now, you can send that response anywhere youâd like.Â
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You can put it in a Slack message, save it to an Airtable database or Google Sheets, add it to a Notion page - whatever you want.Â
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For our example, we want to email the AIâs output back to the original recipient of the summarized email.Â
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So weâll add a new module, and search for Gmail. Then, weâll choose âSend an emailâ as the action.Â
In the âToâ field, we could either enter a static email address or choose to send the email back to the recipient of the original email.Â
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For the subject line, weâll enter: âYour AI summary of: [original email subject line]â. Weâll use data from the trigger to dynamically generate the correct subject line from the original email.Â
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Finally, we can compose a message.Â
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âHere is your AI-generated summary of the "[subject]" email:â
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Weâll replace [subject] with the actual subject retrieved in the trigger. Then, after this brief message, weâll add the AIâs output. You can find that under Choices > Message > Content.Â
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Once youâre finished configuring the module, click OK to close it.Â
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Test one more time, again using the same manual process as before. Now, when we check our inbox, we can see the message complete with our sassy AI summary.Â
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Everything looks good, so weâll go back to Make, save the automation, and turn it on so I can start using it.Â
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Create consistent, reliable workflows with AI and automation
For many of us, AI is rapidly becoming an integral part of our daily workflows. Like with any other app we rely on every day, automation can make our workflows faster, more consistent, and more reliable.
Build on this quick example that weâve shown you today, and explore what you can do when you combine tools like Make and ChatGPT.Â
If youâd like to learn more about workflow automation and AI tools, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Airtable has recently added a new feature to give you even more direct control over your automations.
With the new actionable Slack messages in Airtable , you can add seamless human checkpoints to approve or reject automations before they run critical actions.Â
In this post, weâll show you how to use actionable messages in Airtable automations step by step.Â
Weâll explain what actionable messages are, how to add them to your Airtable automations, and demonstrate an example automation that you might build with actionable messages.Â
What is an actionable message in Slack and Airtable?
First, letâs cover the basics of actionable messages. An actionable message is an automated message sent in Slack and configured in an Airtable automation.Â
Unlike typical Slack messages that you might create with your Airtable automations, actionable messages include customizable buttons.Â
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When the message recipient clicks on one of the buttons, a record in Airtable can be instantly updated based on your specifications.Â
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How to create an actionable Slack message in Airtable
Now letâs go over the entire process of creating an actionable message. Weâll start with a brief overview, then explain each step in more detail.Â
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1. Create a new automation in your Airtable base. Choose any trigger that youâd like.Â
2. Add an action, and scroll down to âSlackâ.Â
3. Choose âSend an actionable messageâ.Â
4. Configure your actionable message.Â
A. Provide a title and a message.
B. Choose the table and record you want to update.Â
C. Create one or more buttons to update the chosen record.Â
D. Choose the fields you want to update, and the values to update them to.Â
5. Test your actionable message. Currently, generating a preview is not possible.Â
6. Add any additional steps to your automation that youâd like.Â
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Read on for more specific information.Â
Our example automation: approving automated follow-up emailsÂ
To illustrate actionable messages in more detail, weâll show you each step of the process with an example Airtable automation.Â
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In this automation, weâll send an email to any lead that hasnât responded in a week or more. By adding an actionable Slack message, we can enable one-click approval for every email before it gets sent.Â
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This way, we can ensure that the lead wasnât contacted through a channel that isnât reflected in our Airtable base.Â
Ideal use cases for actionable messages
You can follow along with our example, or choose something that fits your needs better.Â
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However, when youâre planning an automation with an actionable message, youâll generally want to create approval flows like the one weâre demonstrating in this post.Â
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Actionable messages can technically update any field in Airtable, but they work best with single- or multi-select fields, linked records, and checkboxes - essentially, any field with a limited number of options.Â
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You canât enter text in response to an actionable message. Instead, youâll have to update the field to use the same value every time, which is why fields with limited options are the best choice.Â
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In other words, you can easily configure a field to be marked âApprovedâ or âReadyâ, but youâll have a hard time entering a new email address or custom notes.Â
Create a new automation in Airtable and choose a trigger
To get started, create a new automation and choose the trigger youâd like to use.Â
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In our example, weâll choose âWhen a new record enters a viewâ. Weâll configure the trigger to watch our âNo Response - Initial Outreachâ view.Â
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This view has a filter so that it only shows leads who havenât responded to our outreach in one week or more.Â
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Each record that enters this view will be the record that our actionable message updates. In most cases, youâll probably want to retrieve the record you want to update in your trigger. Otherwise, youâll need to find it with a search step.Â
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Once your trigger is ready, give it a quick test.Â
Add an actionable Slack message
Once youâve tested your trigger, add a new action to your automation. Scroll down to Slack and choose âSend an actionable messageâ.Â
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Select your Slack account, or connect a new one. Then, choose the user or channel you want to send the message to.Â
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Configure your title and message
Next, youâll need to provide a title for your message. Unlike typical messages, actionable messages begin with a large, bold title. This is a good place to add some key context for your message and the automation.Â
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Weâll title ours âAutomatic Lead Follow-up Approvalâ.Â
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Then, you need to compose a message. This part is like any other Slack message that you might send with Airtable. You can enter any combination of static and dynamic text that you want.Â
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Weâd recommend providing some useful information so the recipient knows what the message is about and what theyâre expected to do.Â
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In our message, weâll include the name and email from the record so that the recipient knows who the lead is without needing to open Airtable.Â
Configure the table and record to update
Now, you can set up the âactionableâ part of the actionable message.Â
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Choose the table that you want to update with your messageâs buttons. Weâll choose our âLeadsâ table.
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Then, provide the ID of the specific record that the buttons should update. In most cases, this will likely be the ID of the record that triggered the automation to run, or the record that you found in an earlier search step.Â
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Weâll choose the ID of the record that triggered our automation.Â
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Adding a button to your actionable message.Â
Next, you can add the buttons that will update your chosen record when theyâre clicked.Â
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As we noted earlier, these buttons can update any field, but theyâll work best when attached to fields with limited, pre-defined options: single-select fields, multi-select fields, linked records, or checkboxes.Â
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Click âAdd buttonâ to create your first button. Then, configure the button by clicking on the pencil icon.Â
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Choose an appearance and a label for your button. Airtable provides three appearance presets: Default, Primary, and Danger.Â
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Weâll call our button âSend Follow-upâ and select the green âPrimaryâ option.Â
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Next, you can choose the field that the button should update. Weâll choose the âSend Follow-up?â field, which is a single-select that includes options like âSendâ and âDonât Sendâ.Â
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Then, choose the value that the field should be updated to when this button is clicked. Youâll be able to set each button in your message to update the field to a different value.Â
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Note: if you leave the value blank, then clicking on the button will clear any value thatâs already in the field.Â
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Since this button is called âSend Follow-upâ, weâll choose the matching âSendâ value. Now, whenever this button is clicked in Slack, the related Airtable record will have its âSend Follow-up?â field to âSendâ.Â
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When your button is configured, click outside of the modal to close it.Â
Adding additional buttons
Follow the same process to create additional buttons. Additional buttons should update your field to different values.Â
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Weâll add another button to our example that updates the âSend Follow-up?â field to âDonât Sendâ.Â
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Testing your actionable message
Once all of your buttons are added and configured, you can give the step a test. Note that you wonât be able to use the âgenerate previewâ feature; instead, youâll have to run a live test that will actually create and send a message.Â
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Click on âTest actionâ.Â
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Then, check Slack. You should see your message there. Click on any of the buttons, then wait a moment.Â
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Slack will then notify you once Airtable has been updated.Â
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Return to Airtable to confirm that the record was updated correctly. In our example, the test record was correctly updated to âSendâ after we clicked on the âSend follow-upâ button.Â
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NOTE: You should run a test for each button in your actionable message. Between each test, be sure to reset the record to its original state, or create a new test record.Â
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That covers everything you need to do to send an actionable message. Now, letâs see how the actionable message works in the context of a full workflow with a bit of conditional logic
Adding conditional logic to your automation
To make full use of an actionable message, youâll need to add further steps that perform different actions based on which button was clicked. You could also set up subsequent actions in separate automations.Â
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Right now, weâll quickly demonstrate an example of using conditional logic to perform different actions based on which button was clicked, and which value the associated field now contains.Â
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If the âSend Follow-up?â field is set to âSendâ, then our automation will send an email followup to the lead and update their status in Airtable.Â
Otherwise, the automation will not continue at all.Â
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Use a search step to retrieve the updated record
Before we can add a âconditional logicâ step to evaluate the record, we need to make sure we have an up to date version of the record.Â
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When it retrieved the record in the trigger, Airtable logged all of the recordâs attributes at that time.Â
So if we refer to the record from the trigger, weâll likely have out of date information, since the record was just updated by our actionable message.
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When youâre using actionable messages, bear in mind that your data will change while the automation is running, so you may need to use a search step like this to keep everything up to date.Â
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To find the latest version of our record, we can just do a quick search in the leads table for the initial recordâs ID (selected as dynamic data). This is a unique ID that will only apply to the record in question, so the search will always return the correct record.Â
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Adding a âconditional logicâ step
Once youâve retrieved an updated version of the record in question, you can add conditional logic to the automation. Â
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Then, set the condition that you want to check for. In our example, we want to check the newly retrieved recordâs âSend follow-up?â field.
If itâs set to âSendâ, then the automation will send an email. Otherwise, the automation will stop. So weâll configure our condition accordingly.Â
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Next, test your condition. After you test, Airtable will tell you whether or not the automation would have continued based on your chosen record.Â
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Our follow-up field was updated to âSendâ by the actionable message, so after we test the condition, our record passes.
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Adding actions in the conditional group
Once your condition is set up, you can add any actions youâd like. Weâll add two actions: one that sends an email to the lead, and one that updates the record in Airtable to indicate that a follow-up message was sent.Â
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Testing your full automation
Once youâve added every action that you want to your automation, give your full automation a test with a new record (or a record thatâs reset to the right values).Â
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Click on âTest automationâ and choose a record.Â
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Then, respond to the message in Slack.Â
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You should see your Airtable record updated accordingly. Youâll probably want to run a full test for each button in your automation.Â
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Once youâre finished testing, turn your automation on to start using it.Â
Easily adding human checkpoints to your Airtable automations with actionable Slack messages
Adding human checkpoints is a great way to ensure accuracy with automations, and to make sure they donât run when they shouldnât, and actionable Slack messages are a quick and easy way to add those human checkpoints to your Airtable automations.
If youâd like to learn more about using low-code tools like Airtable, Notion, Zapier, and Make, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Airtable forms are a great way to collect data for your base from anyone on the web. Plus, once you have a form set up, you can use it as the basis for helpful, time-saving automations.Â
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In this tutorial, weâre going to explain how form views work, and weâll show you how to set one up step by step.Â
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Then, weâll show you how you can use form views to trigger automations, and weâll give you a peek at how you can organize your forms and other resources using XRay Workflow.
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Letâs get started!
What is a form view in Airtable?
First, letâs cover the basics of form views in Airtable.Â
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A form view is a unique view for your data in Airtable. Once youâve created a form view, a functional form can be shared and accessed with a URL.Â
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When the form is filled out, it adds a record to its associated table.Â
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Any form view can be configured with several useful options. You can set certain fields to ârequiredâ, you can hide extraneous fields, provide custom descriptions and help text and a whole lot more.
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In the next sections of this blog post, weâll explain all of your options in detail. But first, letâs take a look at getting started and creating a form view.Â
How to add a form view to your table in Airtable
Setting up a form view is very simple.Â
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1. First, go into Airtable and open up a table you want to add a form view to.Â
2. Then, in the bottom left of the interface, open up the âCreateâŠâ menu. Here, you can add any type of view that youâd like to your table.
3. Click on âFormâ to add a new form view to this table.Â
4. Give your form a unique name if you want. Then, click âCreate new viewâ.
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Youâll then see a new view where all of your tableâs fields are arranged as a form. In these screenshots, weâve added a form view to our âContactsâ table.Â
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When you select the form view in your table, youâll be able to configure and edit your form through a simple form builder. However, you wonât be able to submit data from the builder.Â
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To submit data, you can click on âOpen formâ at any time to access your published form.Â
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Open your form and test it out
Try filling out your form to see how it works in action. After you click submit, a new record will be created in your base.Â
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When you return to your Airtable base and select a grid view, you should see the record that you just entered through the form.Â
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With just a couple of clicks, you can create a fully functional form in Airtable, but thatâs just scratching the surface of what you can build.Â
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Next, letâs return to the form builder and go through all of your options for customizing and configuring your survey.Â
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Add a logo or cover image to your form
At the top of the form view, you can add a custom cover image and logo.Â
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When you click on âAdd a cover imageâ, youâll see a modal pop up with several options.Â
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You can upload an image from your computer, you can search the web to find an image, or you can retrieve a photo from several different apps - Google Drive, Facebook, Dropbox and more are all included.Â
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In our example, weâll upload a Pexels stock photo from our computer.Â
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Once youâve selected your image, you can crop or rotate the picture to your liking. Then, click upload to apply the cover to your form.Â
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To add a logo to the form, click on âAdd a logoâ. Just like with the cover image, a modal will pop up giving you the choice to upload a file or find a picture from a different app.Â
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Weâll add XRayâs logo to the form.Â
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Change the formâs title and add a description
To change your formâs title, just click on the title and enter any text youâd like. Weâll call our form âNew Contact Formâ.Â
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Note that changing the name of your form here will also update the name of the form view.Â
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To add a description to the form, just click on âAdd a description to this formâ and enter any text youâd like.Â
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Note that updating your formâs description will not update the viewâs description.Â
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So while the form name and view name are linked, the form description and view description are separate.Â
Configuring the fields in your form
Now letâs cover your options for configuring each field. Each individual field can be customized with a unique name, help text, conditional logic settings, and more.Â
Changing question names and adding help text
Every question defaults to using the name from its associated field. If youâd like to customize the text, just click on the name and enter whatever youâd like.Â
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Editing the name of a question in your form will not change the title of the related field in your other views. As you can see below, even after weâve changed the title of âFirst Nameâ to âWhat is your first name?â, the field is still called âFirst nameâ in the grid view.Â
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Similarly, you can add help text by clicking on the field directly below the question and entering any text youâd like.Â
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The help text will appear in the form, but will not appear in any other view or in the fieldâs description.Â
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Make certain fields ârequiredâ
Any field in your Airtable form can be set to required by simply activating the toggle that says ârequiredâ when you select the field in the form builder.Â
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When a field is marked as ârequiredâ, users will have to provide a response to that question before theyâre able to submit the form. You can set as many as fields to ârequiredâ as youâd like.Â
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Add conditional logic to choose when fields are displayed
With conditional logic, you can ensure that a field is only shown to the user when certain conditions are met. Airtable allows you to configure custom conditions based on the userâs response to other questions.Â
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For instance, we could set our âCompany Nameâ form to only display when the user has selected either âClientâ or âPartnerâ in response to the âContact Typeâ question.Â
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To set conditional logic for a field, select the field in the form builder and enable âShow field only when conditions are metâ.
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After you enable conditional logic on the field, Airtable will automatically create a blank condition that you can configure.Â
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First, you need to choose a field that will be assessed for the condition. By default, this blank condition will choose the field immediately before your selected field. You can choose any field that comes before your chosen field in the form. If you need to rearrange the order of your fields, just drag and drop to move them around.Â
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Then, fill out the rest of the condition. You can set the operator to is, is not, is any of, is none of, is empty, or is not empty.Â
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In our example, weâll set the condition for âCompany Nameâ to:Â
Contact Type is any of⊠Client, Partner.Â
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After setting a condition, open your form to test it out. In our example, we can see that âCompany Nameâ isnât shown until we select âClientâ or âPartnerâ for company type.Â
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When we select âInternal Teamâ instead, the âCompany Nameâ field is hidden again.Â
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Users will be unable to submit answers to hidden fields. Additionally, if a conditionally hidden field is set to ârequiredâ, users will be able to submit their response without providing an answer for the hidden and required field.Â
Unique options for specific field types
Itâs important to note that specific field types in Airtable will often have unique configuration options in the form view.Â
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For instance, youâll see a couple of unique options for multi-select fields. You can choose to display the options as a dropdown or a list, and you can limit the choices to specific options.Â
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For instance, in our multi-select âLocationsâ field, we can exclude any options weâd like. Weâll take out âDenverâ and âOtherâ.Â
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When you exclude an option, users wonât see these choices when they open the form and wonât be able to select them.Â
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As youâre building your form, always check for additional options with each field type.
Add and remove fields from your Airtable form
Any field in your table can be added to or removed from a Form View.
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To remove a field from the form, you can either click on the visibility toggle or simply drag the field out of the form section and drop it into the âfieldsâ panel to the left.Â
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Removing a field from the form will not remove it from your table, or hide it in any other views.Â
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Fields can be added to the form by dragging and dropping or clicking on the visibility toggle.Â
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Note that any fields added to your table after the form is created default to âremovedâ in that form.Â
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For example, weâll add a âDateâ field to our table using our main grid view.Â
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When we return to our form view, âDateâ is in the âfieldsâ column, and is not included in the form. We can just drag and drop it to include it in our form.Â
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Configuring general settings for your Airtable form
That covers all of your options for each individual field. Now, letâs review some of the general settings that youâll find at the bottom of the form builder.Â
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Your first choice is âSee who submitted a responseâ. Enabling this will let you see who submitted each response, with the user identified by their Airtable account. As such, enabling this setting will require users to sign in with Airtable to use the form.Â
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When âSee who submittedâ is enabled, youâll also have the choice to allow users to request a copy of their responses.Â
Hide Airtable branding and set up a URL redirect
Next, you'll have an option to âShow Airtable brandingâ. If youâre using a free Airtable account, this choice cannot be disabled, and Airtable branding will appear on all of your forms. If you have a pro account, you can disable this option to remove Airtable branding.Â
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Below the branding toggle, youâll see a choice to âRedirect to URL after the form is submittedâ. If you enable this choice, a window will pop up where you can provide a URL to redirect to. When users complete the form, theyâll be taken instantly to this URL.Â
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Enabling a URL redirect will automatically disable the remaining options found under âAfter the form is submittedâ.Â
Configure what happens after an Airtable form is submitted
At the bottom of the form builder, Airtable provides several options for controlling what happens after a form is submitted.Â
Ensure that the URL redirect options is disabled before exploring these options.Â
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First, you have a choice to customize the message displayed after the form is submitted. By default, this message will say âThank you for submitting the form!â. Just enter any text youâd like into that field to edit it.Â
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Next, youâll see a toggle to âShow a âSubmit another responseâ buttonâ. This will give users the choice to open up a fresh form by clicking on the button.
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You can also enable âshow a new blank form after 5 secondsâ to give users an easy way to submit multiple responses.Â
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Finally, you can choose whether or not you want to receive email alerts for new form submissions. This email option is specific to every collaborator on your base. Enabling the option for yourself will not enable it for anyone else in your workspace.Â
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How to trigger Airtable automations with forms
Once your form is set up, it can also be used to trigger automations in Airtable in just a few steps.Â
For example, you might want to send a Slack alert to a relevant channel whenever a new contact is added with the form.Â
Create a new automation and choose a trigger
To start building an automation in Airtable, just select the âAutomationsâ tab.Â
If you havenât added any automations to this base yet, Airtable will instantly create a new automation and prompt you to select a trigger.
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If you already have one or more automations in the base, youâll need to click on âCreate automationâ to add a new one.Â
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Set the trigger event that will prompt your automation to run. To connect an automation to a form, choose âWhen a form is submittedâ.Â
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Then, select the table and form you want to use.
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Give the trigger a test. Youâll need to have at least one record already in the table for the test to work. Â
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You should be able to retrieve a record with the test. If not, just make sure youâve chosen the right table and form, and ensure there is at least one record in the table.Â
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Add an action to your automation
Next, add an action to your automation.Â
For our example, weâll choose Slack, and select âSend messageâ.Â
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When you build Airtable automations that connect to other apps, like Slack, youâll have to sign in to that app and authorize Airtable to perform automatic actions with it.Â
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Next, configure your action with all required information. To send a message in Slack, we need to select the channel or user we want to send the message to. Weâll send this to our dedicated âTutorialsâ channel.Â
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Then, we can compose the automated message.
Using static and dynamic data in Airtable automations
In any text field in AIrtable automations, you can use a mix of static text and dynamic data retrieved from the Airtable record that triggered the automation to run.Â
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Static text will be the same every time the automation runs. Dynamic data will reflect the record that triggered the automation to run.Â
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Static text can be entered directly, so weâll just enter a simple message that reads: A new contact was created:Â
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Next, let's provide some details for the new contact using actual data from Airtable. To find and enter dynamic data in an Airtable automation, just click on the blue plus sign in the relevant field.Â
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Weâll add in the contactâs full name and the record URL.Â
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All of these pieces of data will reflect the record that triggered the automation. So if the contactâs name is âMike Johnsonâ, it will say âMike Johnsonâ for full name. If itâs John Smith, the Slack message will say âJohn Smithâ.Â
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Note that as weâre composing this message, weâre also using some markdown notation. Airtable offers a small explanation and cheatsheet for markdown notation right above the âMessageâ window.Â
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Weâll use markdown to make some text bold by enclosing it in asterisks, and weâll create a hyperlink to the record URL that reads âCheck out the record hereâ. This markdown formatting will apply to dynamic data and static text alike.
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You can see our fully composed message complete with markdown formatting below:
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Now that the message is all set, we just need to finish configuring a few additional settings.Â
Configuring and testing your automated action
Automated actions in Airtable will typically include several optional and required settings in addition to the main message or other item youâre creating.Â
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For instance, with a Slack message, we can provide a customized bot name and icon to give the message a little more personality.Â
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Weâll call our bot âNew Contacts Callumâ, and weâll set the icon to the â:card_index:â emoji.Â
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Weâll also set âunfurl linksâ to ânoâ. Callum doesnât need to take up that much space in our feed.Â
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Once your automated action is fully configured, itâs time to give it a test.
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Start by clicking on âGenerate a previewâ. This will show you a preview of the message without actually performing it. In other words, generating a preview of a Slack message will show us what the message looks like, but wonât actually send a message.
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If the preview looks good, you can move on to performing a full test. Click on âTest automation.â This will actually run the automation with your chosen record
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Thatâs why weâre sending this to the tutorials channel. We donât want Callum here blowing up one of our shared client channels.Â
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Once you run the test, you should see your Slack message in the specified channel.Â
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Note that in our Slack message, our markdown formatting has correctly produced bold text for the contactâs name, and a hyperlink for the URL.Â
Activating and organizing your automation
To wrap things up with your Airtable automation, give your automation a name, turn it on, and copy the automationâs URL.
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Then, paste that link into the form view description.Â
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Keeping automation URLs in view descriptions will help you keep track of what automations your views are connected to.Â
Embed Airtable form views in XRay Workflow
As you keep using Airtable, youâll quickly find that you have lots of forms, lists, kanban boards, and other views that you need to keep straight.Â
If youâre struggling to keep Airtable and your other apps organized, you should give XRay Workflow a shot.Â
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With XRay Workflow, you can build your own personal home screen for all the web apps, and other resources you use every day at work.Â
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Itâs also a great tool for no-code freelancers who need to deliver workflows to clients. Instead of sharing a long list of links in an easily lost email or Slack message, you can compile everything they need onto one board and just share one link.Â
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For instance, in this board, you can view resources weâve compiled for this tutorial.
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In the âLive Survey & Shared Viewsâ stitch, you can fill out the form we created and check the grid view to see submissions.Â
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You could use a similar setup to share an onboarding workflow with your client, creating pins where your client can add a new employee, view onboarding tasks, and more.Â
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Just go to www.xrayworkflow.com to download the app and try it for free today, while weâre still in beta.
Quickly gather data for your Airtable base with a form
Airtable forms are an easy, convenient way to let anyone submit data to your base. Just add a form view to your table, configure your settings, and copy the link to share your form and gather data from anyone on the web.Â
Then, use tools like Airtable automation and XRay Workflow to do even more with the forms that youâve built.Â
If youâd like to learn more about organizing and automating your workflows with no-code tools like Airtable, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Airtable is an amazingly versatile tool for organizing and automating your data. However, itâs not limited to just creating basic spreadsheets.Â
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With Airtable, you can build nearly any system that you want. And if youâre not satisfied with off-the-shelf task management apps, like Monday.com or Asana, you may want to build your own in Airtable.
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In this post, weâre going to show you how to start tracking tasks and projects with a simple Airtable base. Â
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Weâll walk you through setting up an Airtable base for task management step by step. Then, weâll show you some helpful data views you can add to your task management base to track your teamâs progress.Â
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Next, weâll take a look at building interfaces that your team can use to add new tasks and update their status without needing to edit the database itself.Â
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Finally, weâll demonstrate a simple automation that you can add to your base to create automatic alerts for urgent, incomplete tasks.Â
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Letâs get started!
Overview: what the finished base looks like
First, letâs take a quick look at the finished base. After a brief overview, weâll walk through each component in more detail so you can set it up for yourself.Â
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Note that the base that weâre going to show you today is just an example of the kind of setup you might use for tracking tasks in Airtable.Â
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Ideally, it should be a great starting point, but weâd encourage you to customize the fields, views, and interfaces to match you and your teamâs preferences.Â
Customize your task management base to your liking
One of the key advantages of using Airtable for task management instead of an out-of-the-box solution like Asana or Monday is that you have precise control over the format of your interface as well as any workflow optimizations you want to include.
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You can make the system you want to use, instead of being stuck with someone elseâs design.
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With this article, we just want to give you a solid jumping-off point, and show you some of the key options you have for customizing your base.Â
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Additionally, if youâre not familiar with basic Airtable functionality, like creating and modifying fields, then you should check out our Airtable beginnerâs guide before following this tutorial.
Basic setup for the âTasksâ table
With all of that in mind, letâs go through the full base that weâve set up here.Â
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In the grid view of our âTasksâ table, you can see all of the fields and every task that weâve created. As you can see, every key piece of information is covered here: Task summary, project, due date and other attributes like that.Â
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The project field is actually a linked record, which refers to our âProjectsâ table in the same base.Â
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On the left of the main âTasksâ table, you can see a list with a few different views.Â
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Every view is based on the same data, but each one has different filters and sorts to make the most relevant information visible easily.Â
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The âView all tasksâ view is a basic grid view that has all of the information you need for your tasks, but itâs a lot of data to look at all at once. To make it a little easier to get some key takeaways at a glance, weâve added a few custom views.Â
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The timeline will give you a high-level overview of your teamâs progress.
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The âurgent tasksâ view lets you see any outstanding to-dos approaching their due date.Â
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When youâre accessing your base under the âDataâ tab in Airtable, you can manage your entire tasks database. This is where youâll be able to edit or update any fields, but itâs probably not what you want to share with your whole team.Â
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Instead, weâll show you how to create a simple interface where your team can add new tasks with a form, and update each taskâs status on a Kanban board.Â
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To start automating these task management workflows, weâve configured a quick automation that just sends an email alert whenever a task enters the âurgent tasksâ view that we highlighted earlier. At the end of this tutorial, weâll also show you how to set up that automation.Â
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If youâd like to copy this entire finished base, just check out the template base that weâve prepared here.Â
If youâd prefer to build the base yourself and customize as you go, you can follow along as we break this base down step by step.Â
Create your base and customize your fields
Create a new base, or copy our base to your workspace.Â
In the âTasksâ table, weâve added several fields that will be useful for creating and managing tasks.Â
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Thereâs a primary field which creates a name for each task by combining the contents of a couple of other fields. Weâll explain this field more in a moment, but letâs go over the other fields first.Â
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Fields in the âTasksâ table:
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âą Task summary | Single-line textÂ
âą Assignee | âUserâ field type
âą NOTE: the âUserâ field type is necessary for the automation at the end of this guide.Â
âą Start Date, Due Date | Date fields
âą NOTE: Youâll need both to use a timeline view
âą Status | Single-select
âą Options: To-do, In progress, Done, Archived
âą Priority | Single-select
âą Options: High, Medium, Low
âą Client | Single-select
âą Options: add clients as needed.
âą Notes | Long text
âą Rich text formatting enabled
âą Attachments | Attachment field type
âą Project | Linked record
âą Links to the âProjectsâ table
âą Project Due Date | Lookup
âą Retrieves due date field from âProjectsâ
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Using a formula in the primary field
In any Airtable base, the primary field acts as the title or label for every record. You can use any field type youâd like, but at XRay, we always prefer to generate the primary fieldâs content with a formula. Â
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Typically, we just use a simple âconcatenateâ function that combines the text of a ânameâ or âtitleâ or âsummaryâ field with another piece of important data, like the due date.
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For this tableâs primary field, weâve also added a âDateFormatâ function to set an easily readable format for the date. A simple âifâ statement also ensures the field displays some help text when either dependent field is empty, rather than just showing an âERRORâ message.Â
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By using a formula field, you can ensure that every single task uses the exact same format for its label. We wonât have some tasks that start with a date, and others that start with a summary. And you wonât see any other inconsistencies from human error when people create tasks.Â
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Plus, if you ever want to change this primary field, we can just update the formula once, and all of the records will instantly use the new format. Ultimately, itâs your choice, but weâd really recommend using formulas in your primary field whenever youâre building a new base.Â
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That covers our basic table setup. Next, weâll show you how to add some additional views to get more utility out of the task management base.Â
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NOTE: The views and interface are already complete in the template that we shared. Weâll describe how to build them step-by-step if youâd like to start from scratch instead.Â
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The automation canât be included in the shared base, so you will need to build the automation from scratch if youâd like to use it. Donât worry; weâll include a detailed tutorial for that, too!
Adding custom views and filters
In Airtable, every table can include several different customized views. Views let you arrange the same data in different ways.Â
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The default grid view that every table starts with is useful for seeing all of your records, and for managing all of your fields in a familiar spreadsheet format.
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If you want to add or edit fields, youâll probably want to do that in a grid view that displays all of your tableâs records. Weâve titled that default grid view âView All Tasksâ.Â
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However, many of the other available view types are often better suited to quickly surfacing important data and helping people get work done. Views can also be extremely useful for managing automations, since you can trigger automations in Airtable, Zapier, or Make whenever a new record enters a specific view. Â
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To create a new view, just click on the view type you want to use from this menu in the bottom left. Â
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First, try creating a new grid view that only displays urgent tasks. To do that, click on âFilterâ at the top of the table, and configure 3 conditions:Â
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âą Priority is âHighâ
âą Due Date is within the next 3 days
âą Status is not âDoneâ or âArchivedâ
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This will let you see urgent and incomplete work at a glance, and will be the basis for an automation weâll build later on.Â
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Next, letâs take a quick look at adding a timeline view. A timeline view will create a timeline with your records. For this view to work, youâll need to have two dates that you can use as a âStartâ and âEndâ date. Â
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Once the Timeline view is set up, you can see all of your tasks on a timeline. Timeline views are a great way to get a birdâs eye view of your tasks, and see how your progress is stacking up against your projectâs calendar.
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However, timeline views do require a Pro account, which currently costs $20 per seat per month.Â
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The views that weâve covered here are a great starting point, but theyâre just a sample of the views that Airtable offers. You can check out our Airtable beginnerâs guide for more info, or just add views to your table and try them out for yourself. There are tons of options that can completely transform the way you view and edit your data.Â
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Sharing your base
With all of these fields and views set up, youâre almost ready to start using your task management base with your team.Â
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There are two main ways you can share this base with your team. You can either invite them as collaborators on the base, or you can create an interface for everyone to use.
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To allow team members to access and edit your base directly, click on the âShareâ button in the top right of the screen. Invite everyone on your team that you want to include in your Task Management system. Just make sure theyâre part of your organization in Airtable.Â
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For each person or group that you invite, you can set a unique permission level: Creator, Editor, Commenter, or Read Only. A âCreatorâ has full edit access to the entire base. An âEditorâ can create or edit new records and views, but canât edit the baseâs fields. A âCommenterâ can only comment, while a read-only user canât edit the base or records at all.
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For this task management system, you may want to make some of your team âeditorsâ. That way, theyâll be able to add and update tasks, but they wonât be able to add or delete fields. Â
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However, there is another way to let users access your base which can keep things much simpler for your team: interfaces.Â
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Build a custom interface for your tasks
With interfaces, you can create simple layouts that allow your team to view selected data and edit specific records or fields without accessing the entire base. That way, your team can see the limited, relevant fields that they need access to, without feeling overwhelmed by detailed data views that they donât really need to see.
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You also donât need to worry about them editing your tableâs configuration or going through the tedium of adding permissions to every field in your data. Interface users also wonât count as âcollaboratorsâ in your Airtable subscription.Â
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Weâll show you how to create an interface with two useful pages: a form view where your team can create tasks, and a Kanban board where they can view tasks sorted by status and update a few key fields.Â
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This might seem like a bit of an unconventional approach, but thereâs a reason we want to employ this setup. One of the biggest challenges in using a task management system with your team is making sure that everyone uses the system consistently and correctly. Â
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Giving everyone a massive database with a ton of customized views will often just be confusing. Additionally, if you just grant your team access to the base directly, they may often accidentally create incomplete tasks, missing key fields like a due date. Â
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Instead, by using the streamlined pages in this interface, your team can quickly accomplish what they need to do. And by using a form view, you can ensure that every new task has all of the required fields filled in.
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Of course, if youâd like to use a different approach, you can customize your drag and drop interface however youâd like.Â
Creating an interface
To get started, just click on âInterfacesâ at the top of your base. Then, click on âStart Buildingâ to create a new interface. Â
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Give your interface a name. For instance, weâll call ours âTask Management Portalâ.Â
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Then, choose a layout. Youâll see several choices that are pretty much identical to views that you can use in the data tab. However, there are a few that are unique to interfaces, like dashboard and record review. Â
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Youâll also see âblankâ as an option down at the bottom. If you choose âBlankâ, you can add any view option that youâd like to your page. Youâll also be able to add additional elements to the page.
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So, for instance, you could customize your blank page to include both a Kanban view element and a grid view element.
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If you just choose a pre-made configuration like âKanbanâ, you either wonât be able to add any additional elements at all, or will only be able to add limited elements like a text field. Different layouts have different limitations regarding the other elements you can add to the page.
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It's a little unintuitive, but we expect this functionality to change and be more consistent across different page types soon. Â
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To start, choose a preconfigured Kanban view to keep things simple. Then click on ânextâ.Â
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Now, youâll need to pick the table that you want to get data from, and the stacking field you want to sort by. In this case, youâll probably want to sort by âStatusâ. Click âFinishâ to create a new interface with a single page for your Kanban layout. Â
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You can configure this page in the menu on the right. Here, you can add filters, change the view into a different layout, edit visible fields and sort options, or modify permissions. For instance, you can control whether or not users can edit records. Â
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You can even click on a record to set permission for each individual field. From there, you can make each field view-only or editable. Note that every field in an interface page will default to view-only.Â
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For our example, weâll change the âStatusâ, âassigneeâ, âsummaryâ, âdue dateâ, and âattachmentâ fields to âEditableâ. Weâll leave everything else as âRead-onlyâ. Â
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Thereâs an option to allow users to add records, but weâll leave that disabled. Youâll want to encourage a single method for creating tasks, and that method will be the form that we create next. Â
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To stick with our system, you should also keep âEdit inlineâ disabled. Unfortunately, that will disable editing status by dragging and dropping the Kanban cards, but enabling it would allow users to create records here. Instead, we want to have users create tasks strictly with the form.
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Once your page is all set, click on âPublishâ to commit your changes and create a shareable interface.
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Sharing your interface
To share the interface with your team, click on âShareâ, then invite users by email or with a link.Â
With either option, you can set your invited users to âEditorâ, âCommenterâ, or âRead-onlyâ.Â
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If you create an invite link set to âEditorâ, anyone you share this link with can access the interface and edit the fields that youâve specifically configured to be editable. Granting users âEditorâ access will not allow them to edit any fields that youâve set to âRead Onlyâ.Â
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Note that you can also restrict access to users with an email address from your organization. Once youâve configured your settings, copy the sharing link and open it up while signed into another account.Â
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You should be able to view every task thatâs already been created, and can click on any of them to edit the fields selected earlier. You should also see that thereâs no way to create new tasks on this page, just as intended. Â
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Create a form to let users add tasks
To give our users a way to add new tasks, letâs go back to the interface and add a form.Â
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Open up the interface on your own account again. To edit the published interface, click on the interfaceâs name at the top of the left hand panel, and select âEditâ. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut âoption 1â on Mac or âAlt 1â on windows to return to the editing view.Â
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Now youâll need to add another page to contain your form view. You can do that in the right hand panel by clicking on âAdd Pageâ. If you donât see âAdd Pageâ, just click on âAll Pagesâ first.
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Choose âFormâ as the view type. Then, click next and choose the table you want to use. Youâll then be able to select all the fields you want to include in the form. Just uncheck any field to leave it out of the form. Once youâve made all your selections, click ânextâ. Â
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Give the form a name and a description, and click âFinishâ. Â
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Now your interface has two pages: one with the kanban view, and one with the form. You can reorder your pages in the panel on the right.Â
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Once your form is all set, click on âPublishâ to commit your changes. Once again, open the same sharing link from before with another account.Â
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Submit a task in the form. Then, when you open up the Kanban page, you should see the new task on the board. When you open up the task, you can edit all of the fields that you set to âeditableâ. Â
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Now, with this interface, your team has two clearly defined pages to use; one for adding tasks and one for editing tasks.
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If youâd prefer to let your team add and edit tasks in a more conventional layout, you can always add list or grid view elements to a blank page. Then enable the âEdit records inlineâ and âAdd recordsâ settings.Â
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Why we recommend separate pages for adding and editing tasks
However, by splitting the actions of adding tasks and editing tasks, you can ensure that everyone creates complete tasks with the form, and only edits the data you want them to edit. Ultimately, itâs up to you.Â
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Again, one of the main benefits of using Airtable for task management is that you can use any format that youâd like - whether thatâs a Kanban, a form, a list, a timeline, or something else. Â
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You can also add filters to any view in an interface to create views that are specific to each department, or specific to each project.Â
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This base is just a starting point, and everything can be customized to your liking. Try out a few different views and settings and see what works best for you.Â
Automating your tasks table
Finally, to wrap up the task management base, letâs take a quick look at enhancing your task management system with no-code automation.Â
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Airtable is an ideal app to use as an operational database for your automations. You can build useful automations with Airtableâs native automation builder, or you can use third-party providers like Zapier and Make to integrate Airtable with thousands of other apps.Â
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The possibilities with Airtable automation are endless, so we wonât be able to give you a comprehensive guide to everything you can automate.Â
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Instead, weâre just going to give you a simple example to show you how you can start building automations in your task management base. Â
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Create a new automation
In this example, we will show you how to build an automation that sends an email alert to the assignee of any incomplete and urgent task.Â
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As noted before, this automation will only work if youâre using the âUserâ field type for assignee. Thatâs how youâll get the userâs email address.Â
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Alternatively, you could use a Linked Record if you want to set up an additional âteamâ table, and include each userâs email address in that table. You could also include other contact info there, like Slack IDs.Â
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However, using the âUserâ field type will be much faster for this example. Â
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To create a new automation, click on the âautomationsâ tab. If you havenât added any automations to your base, this will immediately create a new automation and prompt you to pick a trigger.Â
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If you already have an automation in the base, click on âCreate automationâ to add a new one, then choose a trigger.
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Whenever your trigger event occurs, your automation will run.
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For this automation, choose âWhen a record enters a viewâ, so that the automation will only run when a record enters the âUrgent Tasksâ view that we created earlier. Just as a reminder, that view has a filter that checks for tasks that are incomplete, high priority, and due within 3 days. Â
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Next, youâll need to identify the table and view that you want to use for this automation.
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Then, test the trigger by choosing a record. Â
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If the test is successful, you can now add an automated action. Click on âAdd advanced logic or actionâ, and choose the âSend emailâ action. Â
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To populate the âtoâ field, use the âAssigneeâ field from your Tasks table. To use dynamic data from your Airtable base in an automation, click on the blue plus sign in the field youâre configuring.Â
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In the window that pops up, you can see that weâre using data retrieved by the automationâs trigger, so we have access to every field thatâs part of that record. Select âassigneeâ.Â
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Since âAssigneeâ is a âUserâ field, it has several pieces of data: ID, email, name, and profile picture. In this case, youâll just want to select the email address.Â
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Now, your automation is set to send an email to whoever the assignee is on any task that enters the âUrgent Tasksâ view.Â
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Next, add a generic subject line for the email, such as âReminder: {task Name} is due soon!â. You can also use some dynamic data here to insert the actual taskâs name.Â
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Then, you can fill out the email body with more static and dynamic detail. For instance, youâll probably want to use the ânameâ from the âAssigneeâ field to personalize the message, and add a title and link for the task for easy reference.Â
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To test the step, start by generating a preview. This will show you what the finished message will look like, but wonât actually send an email.Â
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If the message looks good, click on test automation. Then, select a record, and click on ârun automationâ.Â
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When you check your inbox, you should see a new email from Airtable Automations, complete with the message you configured.Â
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Finally, give the automation a descriptive name and turn it on, so it will run whenever a task enters the âUrgent Tasksâ view.
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Weâd also recommend copying the automationâs URL and adding it to the description of the Urgent Tasks View so everyone can see that thereâs an associated automation.Â
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More automation possibilities
Again, this is just an example of the sort of automation you could build with your tasks. You could also configure additional alerts for any newly created task, or configure automations to create specific onboarding tasks whenever a new deal is marked as closed/won in your CRM.Â
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You could even set up an automation to create a task by simply responding to a message in Slack with a custom emoji. Weâve built a Slack task maker for our team at XRay, and we use it every day to quickly create tasks right alongside our key conversations.
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Every channel is mapped to a project, and every team member has their own emoji. Note that the specific apps used in this automation could always be changed. For instance, you could swap Slack for Teams or any other messaging software.
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The beauty of low-code automation is that the pieces are usually interchangeable. Any SaaS tool can usually be swapped out for a similar alternative.Â
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If youâre interested in building a Slack Task Maker automation for your team, just reach out to XRay for a free consultation, and weâll explore your options. And if youâd like to learn more about automating with Airtable, be sure to check out some of the other blogs on our website.Â
Craft your own task management system in Airtable
Airtable is an excellent tool for no-code builders. Using Airtableâs customizable fields, views, interfaces and automations, you can create any system youâd like for managing your tasks and projects. Copy our base or build your own to get started today.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code tools like Airtable, Notion, Zapier, and more, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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No-code and low-code tools let anyone automate their workflows, prototype ideas, and even create fully functional web apps.Â
One of the best names in the no-code/low-code space is an app that often doesnât get the recognition it deserves in an industry thatâs dominated by Zapier.Â
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In this post, weâre going to show you how to get started with Make.Â
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Formerly known as Integromat, Make is a powerful and affordable platform for no-code and low-code automation.Â
Weâll show you how to start automating your work with Make today, with absolutely no coding experience required.Â
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Weâll explain what Make is, weâll show you how to build your first automated scenario step by step, and weâll give you a preview of Makeâs unique features that simplify complicated automation logic. Â
What is Make, and what is no-code/low-code automation?
First, what is Make?
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Make is a no-code and low-code automation provider. As weâve already alluded to, you might recognize it by its previous name, Integromat.
They rebranded the app over a year ago and made some changes behind the scenes. However, for users, the platform works in the exact same way.
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If youâve used Integromat in the past, you can think of Make as the same thing with a new coat of paint.
Connecting and automating your apps with Make
For those who never used Make under any name, hereâs how it works:
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Make lets you connect two or more web apps to automate actions in those apps with scenarios. Â
In your scenarios, you can specify that whenever a certain event occurs in one app, Make should automatically perform one or more actions with another app.Â
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For example, a scenario might look like this:
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Whenever a new event is added to Google Calendar, create a new spreadsheet row in Google Sheets with the details of the event.Â
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The first circular module is our Google Calendar trigger, and its parameters specify exactly what the scenario should watch for - new events in our chosen calendar.Â
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The second module is our Google Sheets action, detailing which data should be added to which column, and pulling that data from the Google Calendar event retrieved in the trigger.Â
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Automate multiple actions in the same scenario
You might also build a scenario with Gmail, OpenAI, and Slack.Â
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Whenever a new tag is added to an email in Gmail, summarize the contents with an OpenAI prompt. Then, send the resulting summary as a DM in Slack, our teamâs messaging software.Â
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You can see a very similar setup here compared to the first example: a Gmail trigger, an OpenAI action, and a Slack action.Â
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Automations like this can all be built without writing any code at all. Everything is built with a drag-and-drop visual interface.
Low-code features in Make
However, compared to competitors like Zapier, Make is also great at supporting low-code automation
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A low-code automation augments a no-code workflow with very small amounts of code, like an API call to perform an action that isnât natively supported in Make, or a Regex script for precise text parsing and replacement.Â
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So if you have some coding experience, or want to learn a bit about coding, Make is a great platform to use for automation.Â
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However, coding knowledge is not necessary at all to use Make, and this tutorial will not require writing a single line of code.Â
The anatomy of an automated scenario in Make
Before we build our first scenario, letâs take a look at how scenarios in Make work.Â
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As youâve already seen illustrated with a couple of examples, every automation in Make is built on the same basic structure
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Every scenario consists of a trigger module, and any number of actions and searches that follow that trigger.Â
Letâs add a little more context to those terms.Â
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Launch your automation with a trigger
In an app like Make, a trigger is the event that prompts your automation to run. A trigger can be based on an event in any app that Make supports.
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For instance, your trigger can be configured to run when you add a new contact in Hubspot, when you get an email in Gmail, or when a new record is added to a view in Airtable.Â
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Create a schedule for your trigger
You can even schedule the automation to run at a specific time, rather than waiting for a particular event to occur in a designated app.Â
For instance, you might schedule a Slack message to send in your #general channel every Monday at 9:00AM that asks your team to share their focus and their goals for this week.Â
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Perform automated actions in thousands of web apps
Once the trigger event is fulfilled, your automation needs something to do.Â
An action module will automatically perform any action that you configure.
This could be something like creating a new document from a template in Google Drive or Notion, adding or updating rows in spreadsheets, sending messages through email, Slack, or teams, and much much more.Â
Run automated searches to find key data
You can also use modules in your Make scenarios to find data instead of creating it. This is what we call a search module.Â
For instance, you might want to look up a record in a spreadsheet app like Google Sheets or Airtable, or you might want to find a contact in a CRM like Hubspot or Pipedrive.Â
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You can use a search module to find those records, then use an action to send that data to another app.Â
Discover what you can automate with XRay.Tools
There are thousands of apps and countless events that can be automated with Make, so we canât cover them all with an exhaustive list in this guide.Â
However, we do have an easy way for you to find out if Make supports the apps that youâre already using.Â
Just go to www.xray.tools, and search for the software that you use today, like Google Drive, or Microsoft Teams, or Shopify â any web app thatâs part of your day-to-day work.Â
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Then, XRay.Tools will return a list of every available trigger, action, and search for your app in Make, Zapier, Workato, and other platforms.Â
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Go beyond linear automations
While every automated scenario in Make begins with a trigger and at least one action, youâre not limited to a strictly linear flow.Â
With tools like routers, filters, and various functions, you can build versatile scenarios that respond appropriately to different input.Â
Weâll give you a preview of these options a bit later on in this guide, but you can also check out our other Make tutorials for more detail.Â
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For now, letâs start building our first scenario.Â
Building your first automated scenario in Make
Our example scenario: send Slack alerts for Google Calendar events
For our example, weâll build a simple automation that sends an alert in Slack whenever a new event is added to our Google Calendar.Â
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Once weâve built and tested the basic automation, weâll add a simple function to improve the formatting of our scenarioâs output.Â
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Complete this tutorial with our recommended free software, or use any apps youâd like
Weâve chosen these apps because they both offer free signup, and theyâre very simple to use for this tutorial. You can use different software in your scenario if youâd like.Â
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Make uses a similar configuration setup for most apps.Once you learn how it works with a couple of tools, youâll be able to apply those same concepts to nearly anything else you want to automate in Make.Â
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Some of the specific configuration options might not be relevant to your apps, but the same principles will still apply.Â
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Everything weâll do today can be built with a free Make plan.Â
Makeâs paid plans unlock additional features, which you can learn more about in our Zapier vs. Make comparison article.Â
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Log into Make and create a new scenario
To get started, youâll need to sign up for Make if you havenât already, and log into your account. You should also log into Google Calendar and Slack.Â
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Open up Make and click on âScenariosâ on the left hand panel.Â
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Next, click on the plus sign next to âFoldersâ to make a new folder where you can store your scenario.Â
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Give your folder name like âMake Beginnerâs Tutorialâ, and click âSaveâ.Â
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This isnât strictly necessary. You could always just make a new uncategorized scenario. However, weâd always recommend staying organized from the very beginning.Â
Building the habit from the outset will make it much easier for you to find and maintain your automations later.Â
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Select your newly created folder, then click the âCreate a new scenarioâ button to make a new scenario within that folder.Â
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Make will now open up the scenario builder. Right away, you should give your scenario a descriptive name. Weâll call ours âSend Alerts in Slack for New Calendar Eventsâ
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Create a test event in Google Calendar
Before we start building, we need to have some data to test our scenario with. Whenever youâre building an automation in Make or similar platforms, you always need to have test data to confirm your automations work correctly every step of the way.Â
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In this case, that means you need to have an event already on your calendar. Create an event that you can use as test data.Â
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In our example, weâll create an event called âTest Event - Meet with Mattâ.Â
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Now, we can go back to Makeâs scenario builder and add our trigger.Â
Add a trigger and authorize Make to connect with Google Calendar
Click on the plus button in the middle of the screen to add a new trigger module. Then, search for the app you want to use. For our example, weâll search for Google Calendar.
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Click on your app when it pops up in the list of search results.Â
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Next, youâll need to choose the exact trigger event you want to use. Each event will include a short description of what it does and how it works.Â
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Unlike Zapier, Make doesnât always sort events into separate âtriggerâ and âactionâ categories. Youâll see triggers, actions, and searches all in the same spot.Â
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Triggers usually start with âwatchâ or ânewâ, rather than âcreateâ, âfindâ, or âgetâ.Â
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Weâll choose âWatch Eventsâ to watch for new events added to the calendar
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Once youâve chosen your trigger, youâll be prompted to create a connection.
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To automate any app in Make, you need to log into that app and authorize Make to act on your behalf. To start, just click âCreate a connectionâ to authorize Make with your app.Â
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Next, youâll see this warning about Makeâs rebrand.
Since Make used to be called Integromat, your app may still use that name during the authorization process.
This is nothing to worry about. Make and Integromat are the same product made by the same company, so itâs still safe to authorize the app even if itâs using the name âIntegromatâ.Â
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Give your connection a descriptive name, and sign in with your credentials for the app in question. Youâll then see a list of the permissions Make requires.
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Click âAllowâ to authorize and continue.Â
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Once youâve authorized your app, youâll be returned to the scenario builder, where you can configure your trigger
Configure your trigger
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With âwatchâ triggers like this one, youâll typically need to specify what you want Make to watch â which workspace, which folder, which spreadsheet view, or in this case, which Calendar.Â
That way, Make will only run for the Calendar youâve specified, instead of running for every calendar in your account.Â
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First, select the calendar you want Make to watch. This should be the calendar where you added your test event. Weâll select our primary calendar.Â
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Next, youâll see a couple of fields for âQueryâ and âLimitâ. Both of these are often included in many âWatchâ triggers in Make.Â
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By providing a query, you can ensure that your scenario only runs for items that match your search. Your search will need to use any special syntax required by the specific app.Â
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To get started, weâd recommend leaving the query field blank, but you can always go back and add a query later if you want.Â
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âLimitâ lets you determine how many new records this scenario can process at one time. It defaults to â2â, but you can set this to any number youâd like.Â
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For this tutorial, weâd recommend setting it to â1â. Otherwise, the automation may run twice every time you test it, and youâd just be burning operations needlessly.Â
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Weâll discuss Makeâs operation limits in more detail later on - for now, just know that testing your scenarios will use up operations, and youâre limited to 1,000 operations each month on the free plan.Â
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With all of these options configured, you can click âOKâ to finish setting up the trigger.Â
Testing your trigger
Now, you need to test the trigger to make sure it can find your data.Â
After closing the configuration window, you should see this âChoose where to startâ dialogue. If it doesnât appear automatically, you can right-click on the trigger module and select âChoose where to startâ from the list.Â
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Select âChoose manuallyâ, and you should see some data appear. If you donât see the event you created earlier, make sure itâs in the right calendar, and make sure that your trigger is set to watch the right calendar.
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If your test data is there, select it and click âOKâ.Â
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By selecting where to start, youâve now told the trigger module to start with your test data when it runs, but it hasnât actually run yet.Â
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To run your trigger and have it gather your test data, you can either right-click on the trigger module and select ârun this module onlyâ, or click on ârun onceâ in the bottom left to run the entire scenario (which, for now, is just a trigger).Â
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Once you run the trigger, you should see a green check and a number appear above the module. This number indicates how many âbundlesâ of data the trigger module processed in its test. If youâve set the limit to 1, you should only see 1 âbundleâ here. Â
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You can click on it to see more information about the data retrieved, and confirm that your test data is there.Â
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Now, your trigger is set to run every 15 minutes and watch your specified calendar for new events. Each new calendar event will prompt the automation to run.
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Close this window to continue.Â
Add an action to your scenario
The first step of our scenario is complete, but now we need to add a module that will send us a Slack alert for this calendar event.Â
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Hover over the trigger module, and click on the plus sign.
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Search for the app you want to perform an action with. For our example, we want to use Slack to send a message, so weâll search for Slack and select it from the search results.Â
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Then, choose the action you want Slack to perform. Whenever youâre trying to pick an action in Make, just look for whatever phrasing is closest to the action you want to perform.Â
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Since we want to send a message, weâll select âCreate a Messageâ.Â
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Just like with Google Calendar, youâll need to authorize Make to automate Slack with your account.Â
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But first, Make requires you to choose a connection type. This is particular to Slack, and isnât something youâll always need to do.Â
Since we want to send messages with this automation, weâll need to choose âBotâ, not âUserâ.
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Now, you can follow the same steps as before to authorize Make to use Slack.Â
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Note that in Slack, Make is still referred to as âIntegromatâ, just as we had warned it might be. But again, this is nothing to worry about - just a simple rebrand.Â
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Click allow to authorize Slack and continue.Â
Configure the Slack action module
Just like with a trigger module, every action module needs to be precisely configured so Make can perform the action you want.Â
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Youâll typically need to identify where you want to create or update an item, the name of the item, the text to use for the message or body, and other similar attributes.Â
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Make will describe each one and let you provide it in this simple form layout.
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For Slack, we need to select the channel or user we want to send a message to.
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This first option gives us the choice to enter our channel manually or select it from a list. This is a common choice youâll see in Make modules. You can identify objects in your app by using their ID, or by finding its name in a dropdown menu.Â
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Whenever possible, weâd recommend entering the objectâs ID manually. The ID is a fixed value that wonât change, so itâs more precise and reliable than a name that might be updated at any time.Â
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If you need the ID of something in a web app, you can often find it in the URL bar. But if you canât find the ID, then selecting the item from the dropdown menu should work just fine.Â
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In Slack, you can easily find the ID of any channel by clicking on the channel details. You can also find your own user ID to send a direct message to yourself.Â
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Copy the ID of the channel you want to send the message to, and paste it into the channel ID field.Â
Retrieving data from your trigger
Next, you can fill in the text of the message that Slack will send.Â
In any text field in Make, you can enter a combination of static text, dynamic data retrieved from earlier modules, and even functions and custom variables.Â
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To start, enter the static part of the message by typing it directly into the âTextâ field: âThereâs a new event on your calendar!â Make sure to include labels for the Title, Start Date and Time, and the eventâs URL.Â
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Next, you can add some dynamic data to provide the actual title, Start time, and URL for whichever calendar event prompted this automation to run.Â
You can find dynamic data in the panel that appears whenever you select a text field. Data retrieved by earlier modules, like our trigger, will be under the âStarâ tab.
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The other tabs include functions to work with number, date/time, and text â weâll explore them a bit more later on.Â
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For now, letâs look for the data we want to add to this message.Â
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The blue variables (outlined in green above) represent the title of each piece of data Make retrieved, while the gray text (outlined in purple above) indicates the value of that variable for the current test data.Â
Youâll always see the same blue variables for every Calendar event, but the gray text will be unique to each event.Â
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We can see the title of our event next to âSummaryâ: âTest Event - Meet with Mattâ. Every calendar event will have a âSummaryâ, but each event will have a unique name for its Summary.Â
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Add the âSummaryâ object to your text after âTitle: â
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Next, you can see the start date and time labeled as âStartâ, while the URL is called âHTML linkâ. Add both of these to your message in the appropriate spot.Â
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Your basic message is all set, but you should configure a few more settings first before you test it out.Â
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Click on âshow advanced settingsâ to reveal a few more options.Â
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Set both of the âunfurlâ options to âNoâ. That way, the Slack alert wonât show large link previews with every message.Â
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Then, add an icon emoji, like :date:, and a unique username for your Slack bot.Â
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This will give it a little personality, and help to distinguish it from any other automated alerts you might set up.Â
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Now that the action is fully configured, click âOKâ to close the configuration window.Â
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Test the scenario and turn it on
To test a complete Make scenario, we recommend always choosing a manual starting point, just like we did when we tested the trigger alone.Â
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Right click on your trigger module and select âChoose where to startâ. Then, click âChoose manuallyâ.
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Pick the record you want to use. Then, click âRun onceâ.
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Your action should run instantly. When you check Slack, you should see a new alert.Â
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Everything looks correct in our test, but the date and time arenât exactly easy to read.
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Thankfully, Make has an easy fix for that - but weâll cover that in a moment, after weâve finished testing and activating this scenario.Â
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With a successful test, weâre ready to turn on the automation.Â
Activating your automation
First, always click on the âsaveâ icon before switching any scenario to âonâ. Make does not automatically publish your changes. If you turn your scenario on without saving first, it may operate without your latest changes.Â
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Next, you need to set the interval that your scenario runs at. On a free plan, youâre limited to running your scenarios at intervals of 15 minutes or more. On higher tiers, your automations can run every minute.Â
Reducing the operations your scenarios use
Itâs important to note that every run of a scenario will consume at least 1 operation, and the free plan is limited to 1,000 operations per month.
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Even if the trigger doesnât find any data and the subsequent action doesnât run, it will still use an operation for the trigger. Testing your scenario will also consume operations for every module ran.Â
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A 15 minute interval for this trigger means 4 runs an hour, which translates to nearly 100 operations every day, and over 2,500 operations every month for the trigger alone.Â
But there are some simple ways to reduce the amount of operations your scenarios consume.Â
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First, you can set the interval to be less frequent. For instance, you might double the interval to 30 minutes. Just click on the button with a clock icon and a listed interval, like âEvery 15 minutesâ.Â
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In this same menu, you can also select âadvanced schedulingâ to set specific timeframes and days the scenario should run.
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For instance, you could set the scenario to run from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Monday- Friday.
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This results in a bit under 350 operations each month for the trigger. Thatâs still a substantial number, but itâs a fraction of what we had before, and it doesnât waste operations on weekends and nights.Â
Advanced low-code techniques: using webhook triggers in Make
For low-coders, many watch triggers like this can be replaced with webhook triggers. You can check out our tutorial for using webhook triggers in Make, but just note that itâs a bit more of an advanced tutorial.Â
Turning on the automation
Once youâve configured the scheduling to your liking, you can finally switch the automation on.Â
To fully confirm that itâs working as intended, give it a live test by creating a new event in Google calendar.Â
Within your scheduled time frame (which is 30 minutes in our case), you should get your alert in Slack.Â
Once you get the message, youâre all set!
Youâve finished your first scenario in Make.Â
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Click on the arrow in the top left to exit the scenario builder. On this screen, you can view the operations and data that your scenario has consumed to date.Â
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If you need to raise your limits, paid plans will offer more operations and data every month. Ultimately, while the free plan is great for giving Make a try, itâs not ideal if you intend to use Make long-term to automate your work.Â
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Fortunately, Makeâs paid plans are very affordable. You can learn more about them at Makeâs pricing page, or in our Zapier and Make comparison guide.Â
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Just be sure to turn off this example scenario later if you donât intend to keep using it. After all, you donât want to burn all of your operations for the month with this tutorial.Â
Adding a function to your scenario
What weâve built so far is a very simple scenario, but weâve mentioned that Make can do a lot more than a simple linear automation like this.Â
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Since this is a beginnerâs guide, we wonât go into too much depth, but we want to give you an idea of how Makeâs more advanced tools work.Â
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As we mentioned earlier, Make offers several tools and functions for transforming your data.Â
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Reformatting date and time
To finish this guide, weâre going to improve this scenario with a simple function to reformat the date and time in our Slack message.Â
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To add a function, go back to the Slack module, and select the Text field.
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All of these tabs contain several functions to run mathematical calculations, edit text, format dates, and more.Â
Weâll use a function to reformat the date in our message into something thatâs easier to read.Â
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Select the calendar icon for date-time functions.
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Then, you can hover over any function, like this âformatDateâ one, for more info.
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Click on the âformatDateâ function to add it to the text field.Â
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Hovering over any function youâve added to a text field brings up a tooltip that explains the data (or arguments) you need to provide.Â
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Before the semicolon, you need to enter the date you want to format as the first argument. Put the âStartâ date variable there.Â
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Note: it will often be easier to delete any variables you want to use in functions, and add them back in after youâve entered the function.Â
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After the semicolon, you need to provide the format you want to use as the second argument. Hereâs a help page from Make that lists several possible date formats.Â
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Weâll use this format:Â
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MM-DD-YY hh:mm AÂ
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So dates will be formatted with 2 digits each, and the time will be displayed in 12-hour format with AM or PM.Â
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The function is complete.You can click OK to close the module, save your changes to the scenario, and test it again.Â
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Now, when you check Slack, we should see the date is formatted correctly and is much easier to read.Â
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If youâd like to learn more about using any function in Make, you can just hover over it and read Makeâs helpful tool tips.Â
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You can also check out our post about using functions in Make for a step-by-step guide.Â
Flow control, tools, and text parser
At the bottom of the scenario builder, youâll also see these buttons: Flow control, tools, and transformers.Â
Flow control will let you add different paths to your automation, or loop through sets of data.Â
We have some posts about using certain flow control options like routers and repeaters.Â
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âToolsâ are used to add custom variables, text, and more to your scenario.Â
Youâll also see options that let you pause your automation for a set period of time, as well as switch functions for easily handling several different inputs.Â
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Text parser lets you use regular expressions or regex to parse text, or to extract elements from a web page.Â
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We wonât be using these in this beginnerâs guide, but we encourage you to explore them on your own after getting started with Make.Â
Makeâs pricing plans
Now that youâve tried out Make, you might be considering a paid subscription. You can see Makeâs pricing page here for more information.Â
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To give you the main takeaway for Makeâs pricing compared to Zapierâs, Make is way, way cheaper, and generally better for more advanced low-code automation, even if it has fewer integrations.Â
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Try it for free first to see if itâs a good fit for you or your company, then find a plan that works for you.Â
Getting started with Make
Whether youâre new to automation or looking for an alternative to Zapier, Make is a great choice. Just do a quick search on XRay.Tools to see if your apps are supported, and start building.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code and low-code tools like Make, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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If youâre looking to build no-code or low-code automations, you have probably heard of Zapier and Make.Â
However, you might not be sure which one is right for you or your team. To help you make that decision, weâre going to compare both of these prominent automation providers, so you can find out which is the best fit for you.
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Weâre going to compare Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat) across three key categories: integrations with popular software, pricing plans, and ease-of-use for no-coders.Â
Weâll also touch on some of the unique advanced features offered by both platforms, just to highlight some key differences that might be important for you and your organization.Â
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Thereâs a lot to cover, so letâs get started!
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Integrations: Are 1,500 Apps Enough?
Letâs begin by taking a look at the available integrations for both providers.Â
When youâre building an automated workflow, integration support is often the single most important factor to consider.Â
If youâre a no-code builder looking to automate Shopify, for instance, then you need to use a provider that supports Shopify. And if you anticipate automating with dozens of different apps, youâll probably want to find a provider that offers support for all of them.Â
Otherwise, you wonât be able to build the automations at all â at least, not without writing some code for an API call. Â
Zapier: integrations for nearly every app youâve ever used
When it comes to the sheer number of available integrations, Zapier easily beats all of the competition, including Make.Â
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Currently, Zapier boasts over 5,000 available integrations on their website. If youâre using a commercially available web app, chances are that Zapier has an integration for it.Â
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Make: support for over 1,500 popular apps
That said, Makeâs list of integrations is still quite extensive. According to their website, Make currently supports about 1,500 web apps.Â
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While that number is a lot smaller than Zapierâs gargantuan total, thereâs still a very good chance that Make supports the apps you want to use.Â
Like Zapier, Make supports Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Airtable, Notion, Shopify, Quickbooks, Hubspot, Wordpress, and many, many more apps that you probably use every day.Â
Which provider supports your apps?
Ultimately, the most important question isnât necessarily âwhich provider has more integrations?â
Itâs âwhich provider has integrations for the apps you want to automate?â
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As a workflow automation consultancy, thatâs a question that we have to help our clients answer a lot.Â
To skip the trouble of sifting through lists of thousands of apps, we built a simple search engine to quickly find out which automation providers support which apps.Â
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Just go to www.xray.tools and search for the apps you want to use. Immediately, youâll see which automation providers support your apps, like Zapier, Make, Bardeen, or Workato.
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Then, you can click for more detail about the specific triggers, actions, and searches offered by each platform in one convenient view.Â
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In many cases, youâll find that both Zapier and Make have integrations for all of the apps you already use. In that situation, youâll likely want to dive a bit deeper and compare what you can actually do with those integrations.Â
The available options will usually be pretty similar, but itâs not uncommon for either Zapier or Make to offer a specific action that the other is missing.Â
For instance, Zapier never includes a âdeleteâ action within its integrations. If you want to automatically delete items with a no-code automation, youâll need to use Make.Â
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There are a lot of different capabilities offered by each provider, so itâs always a good idea to check XRay.Tools to see what they can do.Â
Ultimately, if you want an automation provider that supports virtually every web app out there, then Zapier is your pick. However, you should definitely check XRay.Tools before making a decision.Â
Pricing: Finding the most affordable automation platform
Next, letâs look at Zapier and Makeâs pricing.Â
Both apps offer several different pricing plans and add-ons, but thereâs a pretty clear winner in terms of affordability.Â
In the vast majority of circumstances, Make will be a significantly cheaper choice than Zapier. You can review Zapierâs pricing page here, or take a look at Makeâs pricing overview, but weâll give you some key takeaways for both.Â
Zapier: Premium pricing for the biggest name in automation
Zapierâs paid plans range from $30 a month for the starter plan up to nearly $150 a month for the Company plan.Â
Note that all these plans set a limit on the number of tasks you can use each month. Â
Understanding tasks in Zapier
In Zapier, a âtaskâ is consumed when any trigger, action, or search runs.Â
For instance, a Zap that consists of one trigger watching a Google drive folder and one action that sends an Email would consume two tasks whenever it runs completely.Â
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However, when the automation trigger checks periodically for new files in the folder, these actions wonât consume any tasks unless Zapier finds a new file and runs the whole automation. Â
If youâre running out of tasks each month, you can also add more tasks to your plans for an additional monthly charge.Â
Zapier pricing breakdown
In general, higher tiers in Zapier include support for more automations, more features, and more tasks.Â
The starter plan can be a good option for Zapier beginners, but it has a lot of limitations. It only includes 750 tasks each month, or 1,500 for an additional charge of $30 each month.Â
Youâre also limited to using just 3 âpremiumâ integrations in your Zaps. Many of Zapierâs most popular and useful apps are considered âpremiumâ, such as Shopify, Quickbooks, and Webhooks.Â
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Individual builders looking to create robust workflows that support their daily work will probably want to consider the Pro plan, which starts at about $73 per month and includes unlimited premium apps.Â
Organizations seeking to connect their whole team with automation will need to check out the Team and Company plan, which start at about $100 and $150 each month, respectively.Â
These plans let you create as many Zaps as youâd like, and offer several features for permissions and collaborating with your team.Â
Zapierâs limited free plan
There is also a free plan, but to be honest, this is little more than a demo.Â
Itâs worth checking out if youâre exploring Zapier for the first time, but you canât really do anything practical with it.Â
Youâre limited to using single-step Zaps, and can only have 5 Zaps active at one time.
Note that if youâre using the free plan, you will be able to build multi-step Zaps with all of Zapierâs premium features, but you wonât be able to turn the Zap on unless you upgrade to an appropriate paid tier. Â
As the biggest game in town, Zapier charges a premium for their product. But if your Zaps help you to save just a few hours each month, then even $150 a month is well worth it.Â
Make: affordable low-code automation
Now letâs see how Makeâs pricing stacks up to Zapierâs.Â
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Base plans range from about $10 a month for âCoreâ up to about $34 a month for âTeamsâ. Enterprise organizations will need to contact Makeâs sales teams for a quote.
Any of these plans can be augmented with additional operations each month for an extra fee.Â
Build basic automations with a no-frills free plan in Make
Much like Zapier, youâll also see a free plan here, but itâs a bit more useful than what Zapier offers.Â
Your scenarios can only run every 15 minutes, you donât have access to premium enterprise apps, and youâll be missing a lot of Makeâs more advanced features like custom variables that you can use in any automation.Â
However, itâs more than enough to try out Make and see how it really works before whipping out your credit card.Â
Operations and data limits in Make
Much like Zapier, more expensive plans offer more features and more automation runs.Â
In Make, your plans are limited to a set number of âoperationsâ each month, which is essentially the same thing as a âtaskâ in Zapier.Â
However, in Make, automations consume operations when they watch for new data, even if they donât actually find any.Â
Youâll also be limited in how much data you can process with your automations. For every 10k operations in your plan, you can transfer 5GB of data. Zapier, on the other hand, doesnât even measure your data usage.
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You can see more info about data usage on the Makeâs Pricing Parameters page in the Resources board.Â
Which Make plan is right for you?
Serious no-code and low-code builders will probably want to use Pro in the long run, but even Core includes most of the key features youâll need to use Make as a solo builder.Â
Organizations will want to use a Teams or Enterprise plan to be able to assign different roles and permissions to their employees.Â
Automating on a budget? Try Make.Â
Ultimately, Makeâs plans are about a third of the cost of comparable Zapier plans, and their lower tiers have fewer restrictions.Â
Plus, with in-line functions instead of separate âformatterâ steps, an automation in Make will probably use fewer operations than a similar automation in Zapier.Â
If youâre looking to automate your workflows on a tight budget, Make will be the better choice â as long as it supports the apps you want to automate.Â
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Ease of use for no-code builders
Now, letâs take a look at the user experience for both apps, and how well they work as âno-codeâ apps.Â
Both are no-code automation platforms, but do they live up to that claim? Are they reasonably easy to use for people without coding experience?
In both cases, the short answer is âyesâ, but there are some caveats.
Weâll dive into the specifics in a moment, but in general, beginners will likely find Zapier easier to use while more experienced users may gravitate toward Make.Â
Zapier: a simple, intuitive interface for builders at any level
Letâs start by taking a look at Zapier.Â
Zapier features a very simple interface designed for building linear automations one step at a time.Â
All you have to do is choose the apps and actions you want to use, and fill out fields in a form-like UI for each action, search, or trigger.Â
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Zapier typically provides clear, concise explanations of the data you need to provide for each field.Â
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For the vast majority of automated actions in Zapier, you wonât have to write a single line of code.Â
If you want to use some more advanced features like Webhooks, some familiarity with coding syntax and principles will be needed, but most Zaps wonât require code at all.Â
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If youâre generally comfortable using modern web apps for work, then Zapier shouldnât pose much of a challenge once youâve picked up the basic concepts. If youâre looking for some help to start quickly building your own Zaps, you can check out our Beginnerâs Guide to Zapier.Â
The limits of a simple, linear layout
However, Zapierâs focus on simplicity can become an issue at times. When building automations for your company, youâll often need to accommodate several different possible inputs with different options or paths.Â
If you add paths to your Zaps to perform different actions for different circumstances, the path will be nested within another module. Adding another path will add another nested module, which will be completely invisible until you select the first path.Â
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At first glance, thereâs no way to tell that an automation even contains nested paths; all youâll see is a single âpathsâ module, making it difficult for your team to understand each otherâs work.Â
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Additionally, Zapierâs error messages are often vague and unhelpful. When something isnât working as planned, youâll often have to turn to basic troubleshooting through trial and error, or post on the Zapier forums for help.Â
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Overall, Zapier is very easy to use and doesnât require any coding knowledge.Â
However, it can be overly simplistic for builders who want to create more advanced automations with several branching paths.Â
Easily build sophisticated automations in Make
In contrast to Zapierâs linear forms, Make lets you build automated scenarios with an interface that looks more like a flowchart.Â
You can add modules anywhere in the building space, and click and drag to move them.Â
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Moving and rearranging your modules becomes particularly important when you start using conditional logic to add several different paths to your automations.Â
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With this flowchart layout, itâs much easier to understand how a complex automation works at a glance than with Zapierâs UI.Â
Edit each module with a simple form
When you open any module in Make, youâll see a form layout thatâs pretty similar to what Zapier employs.Â
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However, Make will often use somewhat more technical language.
You definitely donât need to be a software engineer to understand it, but youâll be seeing terms like âarrayâ, âstringâ, and âvariableâ pretty frequently.Â
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It mostly only touches on some rudimentary concepts, but it helps to have a little familiarity with coding when youâre using Make.
If youâre looking for some resources to help you get started with Make, be sure to check out our beginnerâs guide.Â
Working with spreadsheet-like functions
Youâll also see that functions for working with numbers, text, and dates are formatted like the equations you might use in spreadsheet apps.Â
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Theyâre not quite as plug-and-play as a Zapier Formatter step, where every single piece of data gets its own field. However, theyâre still quite accessible for no-code builders.
Make includes helpful tooltips for every function, and you can check out this post on our blog for more info about getting started with Make functions.Â
Two options for a comfortable user experience
Ultimately, both Zapier and Make are pretty easy to use for no-code builders.Â
More advanced builders, particularly those who want to dabble with low-code, will gravitate towards Make.Â
On the other hand, no-code automation beginners will likely prefer Zapierâs simple, linear setup.Â
In the end, itâs really up to you and your preferences. Both are equally reliable, being built on AWS, so itâs just a matter of your experience and opinion.Â
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Advanced and specialized features
Finally, take a look at some of the more advanced or specialized features that each app offers.Â
Many of these features are used in relatively niche use cases, and often wonât have an equivalent in the other app.Â
If youâre still not sure which platform is the better fit for you, reviewing the unique features included in each might help you to make a choice.Â
Share automations and build chatbots with Zapier interfaces
To start, letâs take a peek at Zapierâs new âInterfacesâ feature.Â
Recently, Zapier has been expanding their platform beyond simply building automations, and is now creating tools to let builders easily share their Zaps with team members and clients.Â
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A Zapier interface is a simple web page created using a drag-and-drop page builder. Every page can include forms and buttons that trigger automations, links to other pages, and even a new AI chatbot component.Â
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If youâd like to learn more about using Zapier interfaces, you can check out our tutorial for creating a custom chatbot with Zapier here.Â
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Interfaces are an appealing feature for anyone looking to build and deliver their automations on a single platform. They are still in beta, so expect to see lots of updates to Interfaces in the coming months.Â
Zapierâs plugin for ChatGPT: Trigger automations with a prompt
While weâre on the subject of AI, Zapier also has a plugin for OpenAIâs ChatGPT.Â
With this plugin, you can run automated actions in Zapier by simply sending a prompt to ChatGPT.Â
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The plugin is still in beta, and there are a lot of kinks to work out, but it has some really exciting potential to change the way we approach automation.Â
Low-code support: Easily manage webhooks and keys in Make
Where Zapier has a lot of interesting standalone tools like the ones weâve mentioned above, Makeâs unique features are more focused on building advanced automated workflows.Â
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Make offers extensive support for using API calls and webhooks in your automations.Â
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For instance, you can create secret keys to manage your application credentials and easily make calls from different accounts.Â
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Makeâs webhooks manager also makes it simple to keep track of all the webhooks youâve created, and lets you view, update or delete your webhooks in a single location.Â
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If youâre a low-code builder relying on API calls and webhooks to create your automations, Make will give you far more resources for generating and managing them.Â
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This is just scratching the surface of the unique features offered by both applications, but they should give you a general sense of what each provider prioritizes, and the kind of features you can expect from both.Â
Choose the right provider for you and your team
At the end of the day, thereâs no one definitive winner between these two apps. Your choice will ultimately depend a lot on your circumstances and preferences.Â
But after building thousands of automations in both platforms as a team, we can tell you there is such a thing as the right tool for the job.Â
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If youâre looking for a very simple, no-code building experience or tons of integrations, then Zapierâs probably the better pick.Â
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On the other hand, if you need a budget friendly solution or a tool with great support for low-code automation techniques, Make is your best bet.Â
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Ultimately, with free plans available on both platforms, you can give them both a whirl before deciding for yourself.Â
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If youâd like to learn more about automating your workflows with Zapier, Make, and other no-code/low-code tools, explore the other posts on our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Recently, major apps like Twitter and Reddit have made drastic changes to their APIs.Â
While they previously offered access to third-party developers and other users for free or a very low cost, theyâve chosen to hike rates dramatically in recent months.Â
In this post, weâre going to explore how AI may be responsible for these changes, and weâll explain how the shifting landscape of API access will have a direct impact on no-code/low-code builders.Â
Understanding APIs and new policy changes
First, if youâre not aware of events weâre referencing, or just arenât sure of the details, weâll give you a quick recap and some background information.
What is an API?
An API, or application programming interface, is a software interface that developers use to let their applications interact with applications built by other companies.Â
If you wanted to include data directly from an app like Twitter in your own application, you would need to use Twitterâs API to request that data.Â
Twitter and Redditâs API price hikes
Back in March, Twitter announced a new pricing plan for its API.Â
Under this new plan, anyone using the API to post more than 1,500 tweets per month will either need to subscribe to the $100/mo âHobbyistâ tier, or shell out a five-figure sum for the Enterprise plan.Â
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Similarly, in June, Reddit announced a new API pricing scheme that charges $12,000 per 50 million requests, resulting in millions of dollars in API fees each year for the most popular third-party Reddit apps.Â
Many of these apps, such as Apollo and RIF have shut down after the API changes took effect on July 1st.Â
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So why have companies like Reddit and Twitter decided to raise their API prices so drastically? And why did they offer free or cheap access in the past?
The traditional benefits of cheap API access
Ultimately, offering easy access to your API has long been seen as a great way to get more people using your app - even if theyâre using it indirectly through some third party.Â
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Remember the phrase âWeb 2.0â? You probably havenât heard that one in a while. One of the key defining features of âWeb 2.0â was the idea that all apps would have a high degree of connectivity and interoperability, enabled in part by easily accessible APIs.Â
For instance, using Twitter as an example, everything from simple âTweet thisâ widgets or embedded Twitter feeds would use Twitterâs API.Â
This always cost Twitter some money, but in the past, they were happy to shoulder that burden, since it meant more eyeballs on their platform.Â
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So what changed?
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There isnât one single answer, and Twitterâs financial situation and new ownership are certainly critical factors - both of which have been discussed at length elsewhere.Â
Meanwhile, Reddit is gearing up for an IPO, and is eager to show potential investors that their business model can be profitable.Â
Raising API charges will directly bring in more revenue for a company thatâs never shown a profit.Â
Additionally, as third-party Reddit apps shut down, more users will be funneled to Redditâs official app, where they can earn more revenue from ads.Â
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But while these factors are certainly an important part of each companyâs strategy, one often overlooked aspect that I want to highlight here is the rise of AI.Â
How AI made web data more valuable
At this point, youâve seen what AI language models can do. Apps like ChatGPT can provide shockingly good answers to nearly any prompt.Â
And it goes far beyond simple questions and answers. Consumer AI can compose essays, blog posts, poems, and even some halfway decent code.Â
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But AI isnât able to generate all of this out of thin air. AI models have been trained on massive amounts of data from around the internet for years.Â
To be able to generate convincing language, AI language models had to learn how we, as people, write and express ourselves.Â
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The largest and most diverse source of data for written language is, of course, the internet.Â
And the best way to process billions upon billions of Tweets, Reddit posts, Tumblr blogs and more is to use each appâs respective API.Â
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By using the API, AI developers and researchers could systematically scrape publicly accessible data much more efficiently. And all of that data would be structured neatly and consistently for their software and team to process.Â
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Charging AI tools for data access
With expertly trained models now making waves in every space from the Healthcare sector to Hollywood, AI is now a multi-billion dollar industry.Â
The data that apps like Reddit and Twitter generate is more valuable than ever, but because of their API pricing, they werenât getting any real compensation for that data.Â
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And the AI models arenât embedding or linking to other platforms the way that we would normally see with traditional API usage.Â
In other words, ChatGPT doesnât tell users that a given answer was âinspired by Twitterâ or anything like that.Â
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Twitter and Reddit arenât getting more people on their platforms from AI apps in exchange for the API usage.Â
So to recoup their costs, and to try to make some money from the emerging AI industry, Reddit and Twitter are now asking for higher fees to access their API.Â
How higher API rates will impact low-code automation
So how is this going to affect those of us who build apps and automated workflows with no-code tools?
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Ultimately, âno-codeâ tools are only no-code on the userâs side of things. Behind the scenes, platforms like Zapier and Make rely on APIs to access all of the apps that they have integrations for.
With API access often being free or cheap, automation platforms can, in turn, keep their prices reasonably low as well.Â
But if more apps start to charge higher rates for their APIs to make some money off of AI data-scraping, then automation platforms will have to raise their rates to keep up.Â
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Why Twitter is now a âpremiumâ app in Make
This isnât just a hypothetical. You can already see some consequences of Twitterâs new rates. On Makeâs pricing page, they indicate that only paid plans can access their âpremiumâ apps.Â
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Makeâs premium apps consist of a variety of enterprise-grade tools, and just one consumer app to date: Twitter.Â
If Makeâs users started automating with Twitter for free through their platform, Make would lose money as they foot the bill for Twitterâs API charges.Â
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Will other platforms raise their API rates as well?
For now, weâre not seeing a lot of other apps follow suit, but it may just be a matter of time.Â
We expect to see Stackoverflow and other vibrant communities make similar changes in time.Â
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Hopefully, theyâll approach the price hikes in a more reasonable or incremental way, such as by targeting the AI companies exclusively instead of saddling all API users with huge charges.Â
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In the end though, we may be stuck paying much higher prices pretty soon, and automators certainly wonât be the only people impacted.Â
Accessibility concerns
Apps and utilities focused on enhancing accessibility were some of the first to sound the alarm when Reddit and Twitter began imposing new API limits.Â
Many accessibility features rely on being able to access application data through an API and not just through a visual interface.Â
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The companies have carved out some exceptions for accessibility-oriented apps, but the developers and the community remain concerned about what may happen in the future.Â
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Donât wait to start automating your work
For the time being, builders like our team at XRay can keep using Zapier, Make, Workato, Airtable and other no-code tools just like we always have.Â
But in the future, these tools could start to become more expensive. If thereâs something you want to automate, waiting could be costly. Itâs best to start building now.Â
If youâd like to learn more about workflow automation, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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ChatGPT is quickly becoming an indispensable tool at work. Whether you need help brainstorming new ideas, want to edit the style and tone of a piece of writing, or just need to quickly draft some social media posts, AI chatbots are rapidly becoming a go-to resource for busy knowledge workers.Â
And all you need to do is give ChatGPT a good question or prompt to get started.
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But what if an AI assistant could handle the entire task with a prompt alone? With the new Zapier plugin for ChatGPT, weâre closer to that future than ever.
In this post, weâll show you how to use Zapierâs ChatGPT plugin step by step, and explore some of the early possibilities with this beta feature.Â
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Letâs get started.Â
Overview
First, weâll give you a brief demo of the Zapier ChatGPT plugin, and a quick overview of how it works.Â
Then, weâll take a closer look at every step of the process.Â
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1. First, sign up for Zapier and ChatGPT Plus. A free ChatGPT account wonât work.Â
2. In your ChatGPT settings, enable plugins.Â
3. Click on the âno plugins enabledâ message to open the plugin store and add the Zapier plugin.Â
4. Authorize ChatGPT to access your Zapier account.Â
5. Create an automated action you want to trigger with a prompt.
6. Enable the action. Return to ChatGPT and ensure that the Zapier plugin is enabled.Â
7. Send a relevant prompt to ChatGPT. Youâll need to check its work and approve each step before it runs. Â
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Thatâs how the Zapierâs plugin for ChatGPT works in a nutshell. Note that you can create several Zapier actions. ChatGPT will choose which to use based on the prompt that youâve entered.Â
Limitations of the Zapier beta plugin
Next, weâll explain each of these steps in more detail, but first, we just want to note that this plugin is still in an early beta.
In its current state, itâs a very interesting piece of tech with a ton of potential, but for now, it has some pretty limited use cases in the real world.Â
Ultimately, all of the actions that you can perform with the plugin can also be performed with normal Zapier automations.Â
No brand-new capabilitiesÂ
Language models like ChatGPT generally canât execute actions beyond generating and formatting text. With this plugin, ChatGPT is relying entirely on Zapier to automate tasks in your other apps.Â
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As such, this plugin doesnât really give you access to any new abilities yet; just a different way to access the same abilities. In most cases, youâll be able to build more reliable and scalable automations with traditional Zaps.Â
This is particularly true if youâre building for an entire team, and not just for personal use.Â
Potential for growth
However, the plugin still represents a lot of exciting possibilities. If youâre a builder, or if you lead your own automation agency, itâs definitely worth checking out.Â
Itâs only a beginning, but itâs easy to see how this could become the basis for a fully-fledged virtual assistant powered by AI. Getting an early peek at this kind of development is well worth it if youâre already using ChatGPT Plus.Â
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And if there are any tasks that youâre already relying on ChatGPT for every day, like drafting messages or summarizing long pieces of text, you may find that the Zapier plugin offers a more convenient workflow for you.Â
With all of that mind, letâs dive in and take a closer look at each step of setting up and using the plugin. Â
Setting up your accounts and installing the Zapier plugin
Sign up for ChatGPT Plus
NOTE: you may see some âBrowse with Bingâ features in our screenshots. Since we created this tutorial, OpenAI has indefinitely disabled the Browse with Bing feature. Itâs not necessary for any of these tutorial steps; it was simply located within the same plugin menu area.Â
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First, youâll need to have a Zapier account and a ChatGPT Plus subscription. Unfortunately, a free ChatGPT account wonât work. Â
The ChatGPT Plus plan will grant you access to beta features, such as this plugin. It also gives you access to the GPT4 model. GPT4 is a more advanced language model compared to 3 or 3.5, and delivers much more creative and convincing responses.Â
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However, it does tend to be a bit slower, and OpenAI will limit you to 25 GPT4 messages every 3 hours.Â
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If you donât have a ChatGPT plus account, go to chat.openai.com, and click on âUpgrade to Plusâ in the bottom left of the screen.Â
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Youâll then see pricing and feature details for ChatGPT Plus. All of the specifics are subject to change, but currently, it costs $20/mo.Â
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Once youâve upgraded your account, go back to chat.openai.com, and start a new chat. You should now have the option to select ChatGPT4 as your language model.Â
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When you mouse over GPT4, a dropdown menu will appear with a couple of options: Default and Plugins [Beta].Â
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If you donât see these options, youâll just need to quickly adjust a setting. Click on your account in the bottom left and select âsettingsâ.Â
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Select âBeta Featuresâ, and enable plugins.Â
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Then return to the chat and hover over GPT4 again. Click on âpluginsâ to allow ChatGPT to incorporate plugins like Zapier into its responses.Â
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At the top of your chat window, youâll see a message that either shows your currently selected plugin, or will say âNo plugins enabledâ if you havenât added any plugins yet. Click on this message, then choose âPlugin storeâ.Â
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Search for Zapier, or select it from the list if it appears as a featured result.Â
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Then, log in to your Zapier account if you arenât already signed in, and authorize it to connect to your ChatGPT account.
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The plugin will then immediately take you to an âactionsâ screen. This is where youâll see any Zapier actions that youâve created for ChatGPT to use. You can also use this page to create new actions, or edit and delete your existing actions.Â
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Add an action to the Zapier plugin
Letâs create a new action so we can set up a task for ChatGPT and Zapier to perform. This action page that Zapier opens up is currently the only place you can manage your actions.Â
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Thereâs no menu item for it yet in Zapierâs main app. If you need to find the page again later, just go to https://nla.zapier.com/openai/actions
Search for your app and action
From the actions screen, click on âAdd a new actionâ. Then, youâll need to search for the automated action that you want Zapier to set up for ChatGPT.Â
This is a little different from your typical Zap setup. Instead of picking an app and then picking an action, youâll have to search for both at once.Â
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In our example, weâll set up a simple action that lets ChatGPT send emails through a Gmail account. Weâll search for âGmail: send emailâ, and select the appropriate action once it appears in the results.Â
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Configure your action: set specific values, or let the AI guess
Once you choose the action you want to use, youâll need to configure it.Â
Zapier will display a small selection of the most important options for configuring the action, but you can click on âShow all optionsâ to see the rest.
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For every field, youâll essentially have the option of providing a preconfigured piece of data or letting AI guess what to use.Â
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How you fill in these fields will depend largely on the action you want to set up. Youâll need to consider the scope of what you want to do with the Zapier plugin.Â
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For instance, if we want to set up an action to always send emails to the same recipient, we could provide that recipientâs address in the âToâ field.Â
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But if I want to be able to ask ChatGPT to send emails to anyone, itâs better to let AI guess what contents to use for the âToâ field.Â
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You can also choose to not include a value for each field if you want to ensure that ChatGPT always leaves it blank.Â
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Weâd recommend trying out a few different settings to see what works best for your scenario. While the plugin is in beta, any tasks it uses wonât count against your total in Zapier, so you should feel free to experiment.Â
However, the messages will still count against your 3-hour message limit in ChatGPT.Â
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For now, weâll stick with a simple setup. weâll just connect our GMail account, and let AI guess for all of the rest of the values.Â
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That way, we can use the prompt to tell ChatGPT who to send the email to, who to CC, and what the content should be.Â
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To finish setting up an action, just click on âEnable actionâ. If you want to edit or delete any of your actions, just return to the actions page.Â
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Send a prompt in ChatGPT to trigger your action
Now that we have an action enabled, letâs send a prompt and try it out.Â
First, make sure that youâre using ChatGPT4 with plugins enabled, and that the Zapier plugin is selected.Â
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Then, send a message thatâs relevant to the action youâve configured. For example, weâll send a prompt that says:
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âSend an email to xraytutorials@gmail.com. Ask XRay to schedule a meeting next week to discuss our next Zapier tutorial. The tone of the email should be professional and friendly.âÂ
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Now, ChatGPT will start processing its response. It can take a few seconds for it to get going, and youâll see this message about using Zapier at least once.Â
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Wait a few moments for ChatGPT to finish composing its response. The exact text will vary, but if youâve asked it to perform an action that youâve configured, it should tell you that it prepared the action with Zapier, but you need to review its output and confirm it first.Â
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Click on the link that ChatGPT provides and check its work. You can edit any of its choices, and click on âRunâ once youâve determined itâs ready to execute.Â
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This message looks good, so weâll click on ârunâ without editing anything.
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When we check the XRay Content inbox, we can see the email that Zapier and ChatGPT just sent.Â
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Asking GPT to create a Zap for you
In many cases, ChatGPT will offer to set up an automation in Zapier to automate the task in the future. Unfortunately, this isnât quite as useful as it sounds.
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While the Zapier plugin for ChatGPT can actually create a new Zap for you, it typically wonât be able to reliably configure the steps.Â
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Weâll ask Zapier to create an automation just as it offered to. Weâll specify that it should be scheduled to run every Monday at 3:05PM.Â
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ChatGPT tells us itâs created a Zap that matches our parameters. Weâll click on the link it gave us to check it out.Â
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As we can see, the automation isnât actually scheduled; the title has just been edited. No other settings have been configured.Â
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As in these examples, youâll usually need to fill in all of the fields, and fix any errors it made in the setup.Â
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Hopefully, Zapier will continue expanding this plugin. It would be awesome to build Zaps entirely with natural language prompts.Â
But for now, it can really only create basic placeholder Zaps.Â
Sending prompts for multiple actions
That covers all the basics of using the Zapier plugin in ChatGPT, but before we wrap up this tutorial, we just want to show you one more thing.
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Weâve already seen how the plugin handles a single action and prompt, but you can also set up several actions and have ChatGPT draw on all of them as needed.
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Letâs see what that looks like in practice.
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Weâll quickly create two additional actions: one to find files in our Google Drive account, and another to send direct messages to a Slack channel.
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Then, weâll ask ChatGPT to search for a file containing this text: âGPT Plugin Testâ.Â
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Just as before, weâll have to click on the link and confirm the operation.Â
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Since this action is a search, weâll also have to manually send a message confirming that GPT should run the action. Once we do, it finds a few files that match our search term.Â
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Now weâll ask it to send those filesâ URLs in Slack.Â
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Once again, weâll need to confirm the action.
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And now weâve got the links in Slack.Â
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With all of the required approvals, the process doesnât necessarily save that much time, but it does prevent needing to open up several different apps to perform the task.Â
Setting up several different actions will definitely make your Zapier plugin in ChatGPT much more useful.Â
Unlocking new possibilities with AI and automation
Exciting new AI tools and use cases are emerging every day. New options like the Zapier plugin for ChatGPT are still in the early days of development, but they hold tremendous potential.Â
It might be a bit clunky today, but with a plugin like this, weâre seeing the beginnings of a legitime virtual AI assistant that can find files, send messages, and perform all sorts of productive tasks. Check it out today to see whatâs possible.Â
If youâd like to learn more about workflow automation, AI, and more, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Airtable automations let you get more out of your data, turning tables and spreadsheets into launchpads for automated workflows.
A recent update to Airtable automations has introduced a simple but extremely useful feature.Â
In this post, weâre going to show you how to use the âRepeating Groupsâ function in Airtable automations, and weâll give you a couple of detailed examples so you can follow along and see it in action.Â
Letâs get into it.Â
Overview
First, weâll give you a quick overview of how it works. Then, weâll walk you through the process in more detail.Â
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1. Create an automation in Airtable. Use any trigger you want.Â
2. With your trigger or another step, retrieve a piece of data that you can use as a list. This can be a linked record, a multiple select field, or a set of records found with a search.Â
To begin, create an automation in Airtable. You can use any trigger youâd like.Â
3. Add an action, and choose âRepeating Groupâ under âAdvanced Logicâ.Â
4. Connect the Repeating Group to the list you want to use.Â
5. Finally, add any actions that you want the automation to repeat for every item in the list.
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Whether your list has 1, 50, or 1,000 items, the actions you add to a repeating group will repeat for every single one of them. This is a great way to build flexible automations that can accommodate a variable number of items.Â
Limitations of repeating groups
Just note that you canât add any individual actions after a repeating group. Any action that you want the automation to only perform once needs to go before the repeating group.Â
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You also canât include a conditional logic module in the same Airtable automation as a repeating group.This will hopefully change in the future as Airtable continues to update their automations, but you should be aware of the limitation for now.Â
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Now letâs dive deeper into repeating groups with a detailed walkthrough and a couple of example automations.Â
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Our first example will explore how you can use repeating groups with linked record field or multiple select fields. The second example will demonstrate how you can use several records returned by a search action in a repeating group.Â
Example Automation: looping through every item in a linked record
For our first and main example, weâre going to build an automation to alert users whenever theyâve been assigned a new task from our task management system.Â
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In this âTeam Tasksâ table pictured below, users are assigned to tasks with a linked record, and more than one person can be assigned to the same task.Â
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The automation will run whenever a new task is submitted through the tableâs form view, and, using the repeating groups feature, will send a separate Slack alert to each person on the task.
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In the automation youâre building, make sure you have a linked record or multiple select field that you can use in the same way that weâre using the âAssigneeâ field in our example.Â
Configuring the automation trigger
To get started, create a new automation.Â
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You can choose any trigger you want. In our example, weâll use a âWhen a form is submittedâ trigger. Weâll select âTeam Tasksâ as the table we want the automation to watch, and âTask Formâ as the form.Â
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Test the step to make sure the automation can successfully retrieve a record.Â
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Ideally, you should choose a record that has multiple items in your linked record or multiple select field.
Itâs not strictly necessary, as a repeating group will work with any linked record or multi-select field, even if it only has one item.Â
However, it will be easier to confirm that the automation has run correctly if you test it with multiple items instead of just one.Â
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With that in mind, weâll choose a task with more than one assignee.Â
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If your trigger test was successful, your automation should have retrieved a record with a linked record field that you can use as a list.Â
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Adding a ârepeating groupâ step
Once your trigger is all set, you can add the ârepeating groupâ function to your automation.Â
Click on âAdd advanced logic or actionâ.Â
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Select âRepeating Groupâ under the âAdvanced Logicâ section at the top of the list.Â
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Next, youâll need to choose the list that the automation should use. Click on the âSelect input listâ button.Â
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A âuse data fromâŠâ window will pop up, letting you select a list from data retrieved earlier in the automation. Since the only earlier step in this automation is the trigger, thatâs the only step we see here on the left.Â
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On the right, youâll see the fields retrieved in that step. Most of them are grayed out and canât be selected, since these field types canât contain lists.Â
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In our example, our only choices are âDepartmentâ, which is a multi-select field, and âAssigneeâ, which is a linked record field. Weâll select âAssigneeâ.Â
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Once youâve picked the field you want to use as a list, click on âTest input listâ. The test should successfully retrieve a list, and you should see 2 or more items enumerated in the list.Â
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When you click on any of these numbered items, you can see more detail about it. In this case, since weâre using a linked record field, we can see the record ID and the recordâs name.Â
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Adding actions to your repeating group
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If your test looks good, then you can add an action to your repeating group. You can add any action that youâd like to a repeating group; just remember that it will run for every item in the list.Â
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For our example, we want to send a Slack alert to each assignee, so weâll select Slack and pick a âSend messageâ action.
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Now, you can configure your action like any other automated action in Airtable. Weâll choose our Slack account, and compose a message, using a mix of static and dynamic data.Â
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Our message will start with some static text: âHello, youâve just been assigned a new task.â Then, weâll insert data from the trigger to include the task title and a link where the user can view the task.Â
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Weâll also insert data from the current item in the repeating group to add the userâs name.Â
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Then, weâll finish configuring this step by adding a name and an icon for the bot.Â
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Once youâve configured your action to your liking, you can generate a preview to see what its output will look like.Â
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However, the preview will only show a sample for the first item in your list. Unfortunately, you also canât use the âtest automationâ function for any automation that includes a repeating group.Â
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Instead, youâll have to run a quick live test.Â
Testing your repeating group and actions
Turn the automation on, then perform whatever event is necessary to trigger your automation.Â
For our example, weâll add a new task with the âtask creatorâ form, and weâll be sure to add two assignees.Â
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After we submit the new task and trigger the automation, we can see two automated Slack messages in the #tutorials channel. Each one is addressed to a different user.Â
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If this were a real automation, we would want to send a DM to each user individually. But by just including the names, we can confirm that the repeating group processed each item individually.Â
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That covers everything you need to know about using repeating groups with Linked Records or Multi-select fields. Letâs wrap up this tutorial with a quick look at using a list of records from a search instead.Â
Example automation: looping through search results
Since we already covered the nuts and bolts of building an automation with a repeating group, we wonât repeat all of that detail again.
Instead, letâs just look at how you can add a search step to your automation to find records, and use the search results as a list.Â
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From there, the automation will work in exactly the same way.Â
Adding a search to your automation
Expanding on our task alert example, letâs say we want to send a message to the whole team every Monday at 9:15 AM alerting them of all the tasks that are incomplete and marked âurgentâ.Â
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Weâve already set up this trigger for an automation that will run every Monday at 9:15. Once again, you can use any trigger youâd like.Â
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Next, add a âfind recordsâ step and search for any records that match the conditions youâd like to search for.Â
In our example, weâll search for any tasks that are marked âHighâ priority and not marked âDoneâ.Â
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Once your search step is configured, test the action, and you should see a list of matching records.Â
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If your search was successful, add a repeating group action. Then, click on âSelect input listâ and use your search results as a list.Â
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Finally, you can add any actions that you want to repeat for each item in your list. In our example, weâll create a similar Slack message and finish building the automation.Â
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Once again, youâll need to run a live test to confirm that everything worked. In this case, since this is a scheduled automation, weâll just change the scheduled time to be a couple minutes from now, turn our automation onâŠÂ
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âŠand right on time, we get a Slack message for every incomplete and urgent task.Â
Build more reliable, flexible automations with repeating groups
Even in the world of no-code, iterating is an essential function for ensuring that our automations are flexible enough to handle variable data. After all, automations that canât respond to real-world circumstances simply wonât be useful for anyone.Â
Repeating groups are easy to set up, and will make your Airtable automations much more effective, so try them out today.Â
If youâd like to learn more about automating your work with tools like Airtable, Zapier, Make, and more, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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No-code automation is a great way to automate repetitive tasks at work.Â
Until recently, though, itâs not been possible to create entirely new data inside of a workflow automation.Â
Using conventional automation techniques, you can only duplicate existing data, or combine existing data to create new values.Â
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But now with AI, your no-code automations can generate summaries, outlines, entire blog posts, and more. In this post, weâre going to show you how to add automated OpenAI prompts to your Zapier automations.Â
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Weâll use an example that updates tasks in Asana, but the same principles apply to any apps that you can automate with Zapier.
The key components in this tutorial are really Zapier and OpenAI; the other apps you use are entirely up to you.Â
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Now letâs get started.
A brief overview of automating AI prompts in Zapier
First, weâll give you a brief overview of the entire process. Then, weâll walk you through each step in more detail.Â
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1. First, you need to create a new Zap and add a trigger event.Â
2. Optionally, you can add actions and searches to gather additional data.
3. Add an OpenAI action, and choose âSend Promptâ as the event.Â
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4. Connect your OpenAI account to Zapier. You will be billed a very small amount to use the OpenAI API.Â
5. Configure your OpenAI action, and enter your prompt. Be sure to include dynamic data where appropriate.Â
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6. Send the AI response to any other app that youâd like. Save it in Drive, update a record in Airtable, send it to Slack, etc.  Â
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Note that you can also use a ChatGPT step instead of OpenAI if youâd prefer.Â
Both apps in Zapier will work in largely the same way, but you will see a few different options for each.Â
For this tutorial, weâll be focusing on the âOpenAIâ app.Â
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Now, letâs look at automating OpenAI prompts with Zapier step by step.
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Add a trigger and gather other required data with actions, searches
First, youâll need to create a new Zap and add a trigger.Â
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Weâll go over this part of the automation quickly, since itâs not really the main focus of the tutorial. However, If youâre not familiar with using Zapier in general, you can check out our beginnerâs guide to learn the basics.Â
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You can select any trigger event that suits the automation you want to build. For instance, If you want your OpenAI prompt to summarize an email, youâd probably use something like a GMail trigger.Â
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In our example, we want OpenAI to generate a new description for every task that we add to an Asana project, using the tasksâ details as a basis for its response.Â
After it generates the description, weâll have it update the task with the new information.Â
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To set up that automation, weâve already created an Asana trigger that watches for new tasks in a specific project.Â
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Once youâve set up the trigger you want to use, be sure to test it and confirm that itâs able to find some data.Â
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Optional actions and searchesÂ
Next, if you want to use any additional data for your prompt that canât be found in your trigger, youâll need to add one or more action or search steps to find that data.
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In our example, weâve added an Airtable search step to look up the client and project associated with the task. This information, which includes attributes like the project start and end date, may help to inform the AI-generated description.Â
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In your automation, you might be able to gather all the data you need in the trigger. But if you do need your automation to grab some extra data that will go into your prompt, just remember to add these steps before the prompt.Â
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If youâve added any additional steps, test them out to make sure theyâre working properly.Â
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Once you have all the data you need to feed into your prompt, itâs time to add an action that will create and send that prompt.Â
Add an OpenAI step to Zapier and configure your account
Add a new action to your Zap. Choose OpenAI as the app, and select âSend promptâ as the event.Â
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Now, youâll need to connect your OpenAI account to Zapier. If you donât already have an OpenAI account, open up a new tab to create one at openai.com.Â
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As we noted in the overview, sending OpenAI prompts through Zapier will incur a charge on your OpenAI account.Â
The exact price will depend on the language model you use, but will ultimately come out to a few cents per prompt at most.Â
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Additionally, new OpenAI accounts include a $5.00 API credit, but this does expire after a few months if it isnât used. In the end, the cost to access OpenAIâs API is very small, but itâs worth noting that it isnât free.Â
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You can learn more about the pricing structure on the OpenAI pricing page.Â
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If youâre comfortable with the charges youâll be responsible for, go to platform.openai.com to finish connecting your account to Zapier.Â
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Click on your account name, and select âView API keysâ.
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Click on âCreate new secret keyâ to generate a key that will let third-party apps like Zapier access your OpenAI account.Â
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Copy that key, and return to your Zap.Â
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Click on âConnect a new accountâ, and paste the key you copied earlier.Â
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The popup should close, and return you to your Zap in progress. Now, you can start configuring all of the necessary settings for your OpenAI prompt step.Â
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Configure the OpenAI step and write your prompt
First, youâll be asked to choose the model that you want to use for the prompt. Zapier defaults to using the âDaVinciâ model, and recommends it for most use cases in your Zaps.Â
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However, there are several other models that you can choose from under the âModelâ tab. If youâd like to learn more about each model and the cost to use it, you can check out OpenAIâs pricing page again.Â
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Write your prompt for the AI to process
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Next, you can start crafting the actual prompt that you want to send to OpenAI. Your prompt can include both static text entered directly into this field, and dynamic data retrieved from the trigger and earlier steps in your Zap.Â
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In other words, you can enter a prompt here exactly like you would with ChatGPT, but you can also replace some words with Zapier data instead of static text.Â
Be sure to note the style and tone that you want the AI to use as well as the content that you want it to generate.Â
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In our example, weâll use this prompt to ask the AI to generate a task description:
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âCreate a description for the following task based on the information provided. Your description should consist of 1-3 short sentences describing the task and its parameters. Include a brief assessment of the taskâs urgency based on the information provided.
Write in the second person, and use a friendly and professional tone, like youâre speaking to a coworker.â
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Add dynamic data to your prompt
After the main part of the prompt, weâll include the taskâs key attributes, identified with simple labels.Â
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By including dynamic data like this, we can ensure that the prompt describes each individual task that runs through the automation
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Note that you may need to go back and adjust your prompt after testing it out. When youâre dealing with AI, itâs often a game of trial and error.
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If you want to avoid the very small charges, you can use ChatGPT to test your prompt. However, ChatGPT may be using a different model than what you've chosen in Zapier.
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Set the modelâs temperature
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Next, you can set the modelâs temperature. The temperature can also be thought of as the modelâs âCreativityâ.Â
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The higher the number, the less predictable the results will be. Additionally, as you set the temperature higher, the likelihood of inaccurate âhallucinationsâ increases as well.Â
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Whenever youâre dealing with AI, thereâs no guarantee of accuracy, but you should probably go for lower numbers (maybe even zero) if you want more accurate but less creative answers.
Choose a maximum length (optional)
The next setting is âMaximum lengthâ.Â
This sets the max length of the AIâs response in tokens. With OpenAI language models, 1,000 tokens are roughly equivalent to 750 words.Â
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You can change this setting to whatever youâd like, but note that most models have a limited number of tokens that they can process as context. Even if you set your max higher than that number, the limit will still apply.Â
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By default, Zapier will attempt to auto-calculate the context limit and use that as a maximum length. You can search for more info about the model youâre using if you want to know more about exactly how it works.Â
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Provide a stop sequence (optional)
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Next, you can enter an optional stop sequence. If you enter a stop sequence, the AI will stop generating an answer once it produces the same characters as youâve provided in your stop sequence.
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For example, your prompt may ask the AI to generate a numbered list of app name ideas. If your stop sequence is â7.â, the model should stop after it produces the characters â7.â
Then, it will remove the stop sequence from its response.Â
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If you donât want to add a stop sequence, and you probably wonât in most use cases, you can just leave this field blank.Â
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Top P, Frequency Penalty, and Presence Penalty
Finally, letâs take a look at these last three settings: Top P, Frequency Penalty, and Presence Penalty.
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These are all advanced options for adjusting the output of the model. You can tweak these options to make the model more or less repetitive, for example.
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You can read the descriptions provided in Zapier for more info, but you probably wonât need to change these for most use cases. You can start by leaving these fields with their default values, and adjusting them later if you want to fine-tune your results.Â
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Test your OpenAI action
Once youâve configured the OpenAI action as desired, give the step a test. You should see OpenAIâs response to your prompt, along with a lot of other data.Â
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Note that if youâre using dynamic data to populate this step, the AIâs answers may be quite different each time.Â
The test should give you a general sense of how it will respond, but expect some variation each time the Zap runs with different data.Â
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Among the other data, you can also see things like how many tokens the prompt used.Â
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After reviewing the test data, you can adjust your OpenAI prompt as needed. Once itâs ready, you can add an additional step to your Zap to share, edit, or otherwise use the AI-generated answer.Â
Send your prompt to other apps
Add a new action to your Zap.Â
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You can add an action in virtually any app that you want to use. You could send the prompt in a Slack message, add it to an email, enter it into an Airtable record, or anything else you want to do with it.Â
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For our example, weâll add a new step to update our original Asana task with this new description.
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To find the right task, weâll enter the ID of the task that triggered the automation into the âtaskâ field. Then, weâll leave most of the fields blank.
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By leaving them blank in this âupdateâ step, weâre essentially telling Zapier to leave those fields as they are. It wonât delete the contents that are already there.Â
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Weâre only going to update the ânotesâ field by adding in the âResponseâ value from the OpenAI step. The âResponseâ is the answer that OpenAI generated for your prompt.Â
If you want to send the AIâs answer to another app, this is the piece of data you need to look for.Â
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Once youâve configured your step to your liking, give it a quick test.Â
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In our example, we get a success message in Zapier.Â
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Then, when we open up Asana, we can see the task updated with a new description.Â
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If your Zap ran correctly, turn it on and publish it. Now, whenever your trigger condition is met, Zapier will automatically send a prompt to OpenAI exactly as youâve configured it to.Â
Discover new possibilities in your Zaps with AI
AI is rapidly unlocking all sorts of new possibilities in workflow automation. Now, as automators, weâre no longer limited to working with existing data.Â
We can use AI prompts to generate, edit, and summarize new content, and we can use automation providers like Zapier to send the answers to any app we want.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code automation and AI tools, check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Airtable is more than just a database app. With extensive workflow automation features, you can use Airtable to streamline your processes and start automating your repetitive tasks.Â
If youâre new to Airtable automation and wondering how to get started, this post is for you.Â
Weâre going to show you the 8 different ways you can trigger automations in Airtable, and explain the best use cases for each as we explain the pros and cons of every technique.Â
When a record enters a view
Weâll start with one of the most versatile and effective triggers that Airtable offers: âWhen a record enters a view.â
Hereâs how it works: your automation runs whenever a record appears in your designated view.Â
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Imagine, for instance, that your team is tracking content creation through Airtable. When an article is marked "Ready for Review," it enters the view labeled "Needs Review", which in turn triggers your automation to run.Â
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This approach is particularly effective if you are aiming for high transparency and an easily accessible, maintainable automation.
Anyone on your team, even those with no prior experience with automation, can refer to the view and check its filters to understand when the automation will be activated. If you want to update the automation to run under different conditions, you simply need to update the viewâs filters.Â
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However, it's important to remember that having easily editable views can also be a downside.
You wouldnât want to attach an automation to a view that everyone on your team can â and frequently does â edit. That could lead to the automation running at unexpected times with the wrong data.Â
To keep everyone in the loop, weâd always recommend copying the automation URL for any âWhen record enters viewâ automation into the description of the view that triggers it.Â
You can find an automationâs URl by opening the automation editor and selecting the dropdown menu next to the automationâs name.Â
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Then, return to the âDataâ tab, and open the related Airtable view. Click on the viewâs name at the top of the table to access and edit the description.
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Note that you wonât be able to click on the link directly from the view description in the sidebar. Youâll have to edit the description to make it work as a hyperlink.
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Youâll want to make sure to clearly document the automation, but all-in-all, âWhen a record enters a viewâ is an extremely useful trigger, and itâs often the best place to start when youâre building an automation in Airtable.Â
When a record matches conditions
The next trigger weâll look at is "When a record matches conditions." This is similar to "when a record enters a view," but with this trigger, the automation runs whenever a record matches the specific conditions that you configure within the automation itself, rather than conditions within the table.Â
Continuing with our content creation example, we could build an automation with this trigger that runs whenever this âStatusâ field is set to âReady for review.â
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This method is ideal when you want the automation to work for the entire table, and not just a specific view.
For instance, you might have organized your content table into different views for âInterviewsâ and "Tutorials," but you want the review process to be consistent across all of your content.Â
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Itâs worth noting that this kind of trigger isn't as immediately visible or accessible as a "when record enters a view" trigger.Â
However, this can sometimes be the better choice, since it's less likely that team members will accidentally edit the conditions that control the automation.Â
On the flip side, it might be a bit easier to accidentally trigger the automation. To help prevent accidental automation runs, you can attach the automationâs URL to the description of the relevant fields.Â
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Like the ârecord enters a viewâ, the âmatches conditionsâ trigger is highly versatile, and a great starting point if youâre not sure where to begin.Â
When a record is created
Now, let's look at the "When a record is created" trigger. This is similar to the previous two triggers, but it has an even broader scope.Â
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This trigger activates whenever a record is created in the specified table. This means it will activate for every single record created in that table, even if the record is blank or incomplete, which could make automation runs unreliable in many circumstances.Â
This trigger can be useful if the records are being created by a separate automation, or being synced from an external source like Salesforce or Google Calendar, since you know that all of those records will be complete from the moment theyâre created.Â
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In a table where youâre adding records manually, you could use this trigger type to automatically add templated content to your fields.Â
For example, in a content creation database, you may want every new record to start with some templated descriptions like, âThis post is aboutâŠâ
You could set up a âRecord Createdâ automation, and add a step to add the templated text to the âDescriptionâ field of every new record. Â
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Whenever you create a record, those fields will be automatically filled in with your preconfigured content.Â
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If you find that the âRecord createdâ is just too broad, you could also add conditional logic to your automation to ensure that subsequent steps only run if certain conditions are met.
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However, if youâre doing that, you may as well just use a ânew record in viewâ trigger or a âmatches conditionsâ trigger instead. Itâs much easier to set up conditions and filters when youâre using those triggers.Â
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Ultimately, the ârecord createdâ trigger is worth considering for a few specific circumstances, but probably wonât see much use in your Airtable automations unless youâre syncing data to Airtable from another app.Â
Additionally, if youâre doing a lot of data syncing in Airtable, youâve got to try Data Fetcher. Itâs a useful Airtable extension dedicated entirely to syncing data to your tables from external sources.Â
When a form is submitted
Let's move on to the "When a form is submitted" trigger.Â
This one is pretty much exactly what it sounds like; it runs whenever someone submits a response to a specified Airtable form.
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If you're not familiar with Airtable forms, it's a tool that allows you to create a form for any table by simply adding a form view, editing the survey it creates, and opening up the shareable link.Â
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This automation trigger can be useful for alerting your team whenever someone has responded to one of your forms.Â
For instance, you could use an automation with the form trigger to send an automated Slack message whenever a new lead reaches out to you on your website.Â
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You could also use a "new record in view" trigger to achieve similar results, but if someone adds a new record directly to that view, the ânew record in viewâ automation would still run and may encounter an error. Â
The form trigger is ideal if you want to ensure the automation only runs for form submissions.
If you have any kind of Airtable contact form or survey on your companyâs website, weâd definitely recommend checking out this trigger.Â
When a record is updated
Next up is the "When a record is updated" trigger.Â
This one activates whenever a record is updated, or more specifically, whenever any of your specified fields are updated.
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The ârecord updatedâ trigger is best suited to creating a sync between two data sources.Â
For example, let's say different departments in your company are using different task management systems. Your content tasks are managed in Airtable, while your engineers are using Jira.Â
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To facilitate collaboration, you want both teams to be able to see each otherâs tasks and view each otherâs progress.Â
With a ârecord updatedâ trigger, you can build an automation that runs whenever a record is updated in your Content Tasks table.Â
Then, those updates can get pushed to a similar database in Jira.Â
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To pull updates from Jira, youâd likely need a scheduled automation in Airtable to go fetch the information from Jira. Weâll cover the scheduling trigger next.Â
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If you need to sync lots of information consistently, you could also look into tools like Whalesync or Unito for more robust syncing functionality.Â
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Much like the "record created" trigger, the "Record updated" trigger is very sensitive, and any update you make to any record will make the automation run. But as with any automation trigger, you can use a conditional logic step to prevent automated actions from running if certain conditions arenât met.
Run automations at a scheduled time
Sometimes, you donât want your automations to be contingent on specific events or circumstances. Sometimes, you just want to have an automation run at set intervals.Â
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With the âat scheduled timeâ trigger, you can do just that.Â
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Just choose the interval and timing you want to use, then add the actions that you want the automation to perform.Â
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For instance, letâs say youâre managing your teamâs tasks in Airtable. Every monday at 9:30 am, you could send a Slack message with a run-down of any urgent and incomplete tasks.Â
To facilitate that automation, you could create an âUrgent and incompleteâ view in your Tasks table.Â
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Then, add a âfind recordâ step after your automationâs trigger, and use that step to search for all records in the âUrgent and Incompleteâ view.
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Next, you would just need to add a ârepeating groupâ step to repeat an action for every item in a list. In this case, you would use all the records retrieved in the âfind recordâ step as your list.Â
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Finally, you would just need to add whatever actions youâd like to repeat for every item in the list, like sending a Slack message for every unfinished task.Â
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This example took a bit of work to set up, but with the scheduled trigger, it will now run automatically every Monday without requiring any additional work on our end.Â
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Scheduling automations is an easy way to set up an automated routine without needing to worry about particular events occurring.Â
When a webhook is received
Every trigger weâve discussed so far is firmly in the no-code camp, but this one is a little more technical.Â
With the âwhen a webhook is receivedâ trigger, you can prompt your Airtable automation to run whenever it receives a webhook.Â
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A webhook is an HTTP request that contains URL-encoded data.Â
When you send a webhook to a web application like Airtable, you can have it perform certain actions based on the data attached to your request.Â
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Triggering an airtable automation with a webhook is a bit more advanced than the other triggers weâre looking at today, so weâve made a separate tutorial covering it, which you can check out here.Â
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In general, a webhook trigger is great if you want to send data to Airtable from another app, and immediately perform automatic actions with that data, like creating a new record.Â
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Webhook triggers are a little trickier to learn than the rest, but theyâre great for building a comprehensive automated infrastructure for your team.Â
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When an interface button is clicked
The final trigger weâll look at today is âWhen a button is clickedâ.Â
This trigger will let you run your automations on demand with a single click.Â
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Right off the bat, itâs important to note that this automation only works with buttons created in an Airtable interface, and not with buttons created in a data view.Â
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To use the âbutton clickedâ trigger, youâll need to create an interface first. If you want to learn more about creating interfaces, you can check out the last section of our Airtable Beginnerâs Guide post.Â
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Once youâve created an interface, youâll need two elements to make the button-triggered automation work.Â
First, youâll need a ârecord pickerâ element connected to a table that you want to reference in the automation.Â
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Second, youâll need a button element, set to âRun an automationâ.
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With both of those elements in place, you can attach your button to your automation, and the automation will run with the selected record from the ârecord pickerâ element.
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For instance, we could set up another automation to send reminders about urgent tasks.
But instead of sending reminders to everyone, we can pick an individual employee with the record picker.
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Then, when we click on the button, the automation will send them a personalized reminder about their urgent, unfinished tasks.Â
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Automated buttons are a relatively new feature and might be a little awkward to set up, but they can be very useful for creating automations that only run when you choose to run them.
Choose the right trigger for your circumstances
With eight different ways to trigger your automations in Airtable, thereâs something for every circumstance.Â
Whether you want to schedule your automations to run in the background, connect them to a form or a view, or even launch them with the click of a button, Airtableâs got you covered.Â
If youâd like to learn more about automating your workflows with Airtable, Zapier, Make, and other low-code tools, check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
How would you like to build your own AI Chatbot without writing a single line of code?
With Zapierâs Interfaces tool, you can get a fully functional chatbot up and running in a matter of minutes.Â
In this post, weâll walk you through the process of building and configuring an AI Chatbot in Zapier step by step.Â
Unlocking new possibilities with Zapier Interfaces
Until recently, it wouldnât have been possible to create a chatbot like this with Zapier. But now with their new Interfaces feature, Zapier is evolving from an automation provider to a full-stack application development platform.Â
There are some serious technical limitations with this Zapier chatbot, as many of the underlying features are still in beta, but it will only get better and more functional from here.Â
How it works
Building a no-code Chatbot in a Zapier interface is very simple and only takes a few minutes.Â
Weâll give you a quick overview of how it works now, then weâll walk you through the whole process with a detailed step-by-step guide. Â
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âą First, youâll create a new interface in Zapier.Â
âą Then, add a Chatbot component to one of the interfaceâs pages.Â
âą Configure your Chatbotâs settings to your liking by providing a title, a directive, and other useful options.Â
âą Open up your live page to test out your Chatbot.Â
âą Once everything is all set, copy the link to share it with anyone on the web.Â
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Now, letâs take a closer look at each of these steps.Â
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Getting Started with Interfaces in Zapier
As weâve already alluded to, building an AI Chatbot in Zapier will lean heavily on Zapierâs recently added Interfaces.
So what is an interface in Zapier?
An Interface creates a simple UI where users can interact with several Zapier automations or other tools that youâve built through a web page.Â
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You can add chatbots, forms, links, and other components to your Zapier interfaces.Â
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Interfaces are a great option if youâve been looking for a simple way to package and share your Zapier automations with coworkers. Theyâre especially useful if you're not already using an app like Airtable that can offer similar features.Â
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The core features of interfaces are accessible with any Zapier account. However, some features will require a premium interfaces plan, which is in addition to your main Zapier subscription.Â
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For instance, if you want to use custom URLs and remove Zapier branding for your interfaces, or even have your chatbot provide longer responses, youâll need a premium plan. That said, everything we cover today can be done with a free interfaces plan, so you can explore these new features without having to spend anything upfront.Â
Creating an Interface for your Chatbot
To get started with making a custom AI chatbot in a Zapier interface, log in to Zapier, and select âInterfacesâ in the menu on the left.Â
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Create a new Interface, and choose âStart from Scratchâ.Â
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The interface will start with a blank page simply titled âPageâ.
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Interfaces, pages, and componentsÂ
Just to clarify some of the structure and terminology used here, an interface consists of one or more pages. Every page will have its own URL, and can hold several components, such as a chatbot, a form, or a table.Â
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To start creating your chatbot, add a new component to your first page, and scroll down to âChatbotâ.Â
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When you select Chatbot, youâll get this pop-up warning you that the Chatbot component is an experimental feature thatâs subject to change.Â
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Thatâs fine; just keep in mind that any interface you build with a chatbot may change as Zapier updates the beta features. Click on âYesâ to continue.Â
Configuring your chatbot
Now, youâll see a new chatbot component configured with Zapierâs default settings.On the right, youâll have a panel where you can customize our Chatbotâs functionality and display settings.Â
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For our example, weâre going to configure this Chatbot to be an automation brainstorming tool. When a user gives it the names of a few apps, the Chatbot should provide a list of ways to automate those apps with no-code tools like Zapier.Â
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Setting the chatbotâs name, directive, and greeting
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First, you can set a name for your Chatbot. Weâll call ours âAutomation Brainstormerâ.Â
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Next, letâs skip ahead to one of the most important parts of the Chatbot: the directive. The directive is where we can tell the Chatbot what to do. We can tell it what kind of answers it should give, the tone it should use, and the overall identity that it should assume.Â
In general, the more detail you can provide in your directive, the better the Chatbot will perform to your specifications. Filling out the directive right away will make it easier to configure your other settings and test your Chatbot as you continue building your page.Â
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Hereâs a directive weâve already written up for our Chatbot:Â
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âYou are a workflow automation ideas bot. You help knowledge workers to brainstorm ways that they can automate their work to create time, produce more reliable results, and become more confident in their day-to-day work. When users give you a list of two more app names, such as âHubspot and Slackâ, you suggest a list of 5-10 ways that they could automate those applications using no-code tools like Zapier.
You also suggest ways they might build automations using native automation features in those applications.Â
Your suggestions are focused on professional use cases.Â
You provide your suggestions with a friendly and helpful tone.â
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If youâd like to use that directive as a starting point for your own Chatbot, just copy and paste it into your configuration menu.Â
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Next, you can choose a default greeting for your chatbot to use. You can either provide a static greeting that will be used every time, or you can open up this dropdown and select âGeneratedâ to use an AI-generated greeting instead.Â
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Hereâs a good example of why you should fill out the directive early on. With the directive already provided, you can ask the Chatbot to describe what it does, and it can actually give an answer based on its directive.Â
For instance, weâll have our chatbot greet users based on the prompt âGreet the user and describe what you can do.â
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Letâs take a peek at our live page to see what that looks like. If you want to look at your live page at any time, just click on the pageâs URL in the top left.Â
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As soon as we open the page, the chatbot greets us exactly as we asked it to. It describes what it is and what it can do, and tells us to list some apps to get started.Â
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And if we refresh the page, we get a similar but slightly different response.Â
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Using a generated greeting can help to easily add a little more personality and detail, but it does run the risk of being a bit inconsistent. Just choose whichever you think is more appropriate for your use case.Â
In our example, weâll stick with the generated greeting; we want to show off what the chatbot can do right from the get-go.Â
Now letâs go back to the interface editor.Â
Setting placeholder texts, language models, and your botâs temperature
To resume editing any component, like your chatbot-in-progress, just hover over the component and click âEditâ.Â
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The next setting we need to configure is the âprompt placeholderâ. This is just the static placeholder text that the user will see before they start typing a prompt.Â
You can enter whatever youâd like here. For our automation brainstormer bot, we'll just add a message that says: âList two or more apps to get some automation ideas.â
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Weâve already entered a directive, so next letâs look at âModelâ.Â
If you subscribe to the âInterfaces Premiumâ plan, youâll be able to choose from different language models for your Chatbot to use. On the free plan, youâll have to stick with OpenAI GPT3.5.Â
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Upgrading to the premium plan will also let you increase the max response length. On the free plan, youâre limited to responses of 2048 tokens, which is equivalent to about 1,500 words.Â
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Next, youâll see a slider that lets you control the âcreativityâ of your chatbot. This setting is also often called the modelâs âtemperatureâ in other AI tools.Â
The higher the number, the more creative the bot will try to be in its answers. That also means that youâre more likely to see hallucinations, or instances where the chatbot provides factually incorrect answers.Â
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Ultimately, if you want to build a Chatbot thatâs more likely to provide reliable, factual answers, you should really set the temperature or âcreativityâ to 0. But whenever youâre dealing with a Chatbot, hallucinations are always a possibility.Â
Since this bot is all about brainstorming, and weâre mostly just demonstrating the setup, itâs OK if it comes up with some ideas that arenât totally accurate, so weâll leave it at the default of 0.7 for now.Â
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Adding a disclosure message and editing your botâs layout
Next, thereâs a simple toggle that lets you choose whether or not to display a disclosure message. Zapier provides a default disclosure, which you can edit if youâd like.Â
When you toggle it on, the chatbot will include this disclosure message at the bottom of every message it sends.Â
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If you want to be absolutely sure that your users know theyâre interacting with an AI bot, including the disclosure is a good way to go.Â
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The last options in this âContentâ tab are just a couple of settings to control the visual layout of the Chatbot component. With these options, you can change the width and alignment of your chatbot.Â
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Building a chatbot with specific data sources
Youâre nearly finished configuring your chatbot. Letâs just take a quick look at the other tabs in your interface. Â
Under âDataâ, youâll just see a âComing soonâ message (note: this will likely be updated after this blogâs original publishing date of 06/21/23).Â
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This feature isnât finished yet, but at some point, you should be able to provide data that your Chatbot can use to inform its answers.Â
This will help your chatbot to give more specific answers about your company or your product without having to write an extremely long, detailed directive.Â
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A current leader in chatbot storage is called Pinecone - but youâll need to build a non-Zapier chatbot to leverage Pinecone. Chatbase.co might also be worth a look if youâre looking to create a Chatbot with an external data source right now.Â
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Alternatively, you can reach out to XRay if youâd like to build a chatbot for your company using custom data like your blogs, about us pages and more. We could even help you to build a bot for internal company use that leverages specific portions of your companyâs data to assist your team in financial planning, project management, and more.Â
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Embed your chatbot and add automated actions
Under âEmbedâ, you can grab the HTML embed code for your page, but only if you have a premium interfaces subscription.
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Finally, under âActionsâ, you can connect your chatbot to some automated actions. For now, all of the actions have to be triggered with a button, and there are only two choices.Â
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You can configure the button to copy the text of the Chatbotâs message, or have it launch a Zap.Â
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For instance, you might want to build a Zap that will let the user send the Chatbotâs response to a Slack channel with a single click.Â
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For our automation brainstormer, weâll just add a âCopy Messageâ button to our chatbot.Â
To add a âcopy message actionâ, just add an action and provide some text for the button and notification.Â
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Then, click âCreate actionâ to add it to your chatbot.Â
Test and share your chatbot
Now, youâre all set to test our Chatbot on the live page. Click on the URL to open up your page.Â
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In our example, our Automation Brainstormer Chatbot immediately introduces itself with a generated message.Â
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Weâll ask it how to automate Pipedrive, Shopify, and Microsoft Teams.
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In just a matter of seconds, it comes up with a list of 8 ideas for automating these apps.Â
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Letâs see how it handles a follow-up question. Weâll ask for more information about Automation #1.Â
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Now, it provides a more detailed set of instructions for building the first automation it described. Not bad. Weâll click on the âCopy message textâ button that we added to save that answer for later.Â
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Explore automation possibilities on XRay.Tools
If youâd like to try out a real automation brainstorming chatbot, just go to XRay.Tools and search for the apps youâd like to use.Â
Select any app to view a detailed list of its available triggers, actions, and searches on Zapier and other platforms. On that page, you can also ask a dedicated chatbot for more information about the appâs capabilities, and API documents.
Build a simple no-code chatbot in Zapier
Building a no-code AI chatbot with Zapier Interfaces is a fast and easy way to leverage a helpful AI assistant for your team. It only takes a few minutes to get started, so try it out today.Â
Just bear in mind that weâre working with a lot of experimental and beta features here! Youâll probably see lots of updates to these tools over the next few months, so be ready to adapt.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code automation and AI tools, check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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When it comes to organizing data for your team, Airtable is one of the best apps available. With features like linked records, customizable filters and views, workflow automation, and visual interfaces, Airtable can completely transform the way you work.Â
In this second part of our Airtable Beginnerâs guide, weâll give you a closer look at all of those features so you can start building and sharing more advanced databases.Â
Creating 2-way associations with linked records
Letâs continue our deep dive into Airtable with a look at linked records and lookups. Linked records are a handy feature in Airtable that allow you to associate records between two different tables.Â
This makes it easy to build complex relationships between your data, and ensures that your records stay organized and connected.
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Hereâs a quick overview of how linked records work:
1. Create two tables that you want to link. Both must be in the same base.Â
2. In either table, create a new field.Â
3. Choose âLink to another recordâ as the field type.Â
4. Select the table you want to link to.Â
5. Save your new Linked Record field.Â
6. (Optional) Add lookup fields to display additional data from the linked record.Â
Linked record example: associating clients and project managers
Letâs dive into further detail with an example.Â
Let's say you have two tables in your Airtable base: "Clients" and "Project Managers". You want to be able to associate each Client with the Project Manager who is assigned to them.Â
Here's how you can use linked records to accomplish this.Â
In the "Clients" table, add a new field called "Project Manager". Set the field type to "Link to another record".
In the "Link to" section, select the table that you want to link to. In this example, that will be the "Project Managers" table.
When you save the field, you'll see a new column with the title "Project Manager" appear in your "Clients" table. This column will be a link to the "Project Managers" table.
To link a Client record to a Project Manager record, click on the cell in the "Project Manager" column for that record.Â
A pop-up menu will appear, allowing you to select the Project Manager record you want to link to. Note that the dropdown menu displays each record using the Primary field as the label.Â
This is another reason why we like to use a formula to populate the primary field, as we mentioned in the first part of this guide.Â
By using a formula to name the primary field, we can ensure that the naming conventions are consistent, making it easy to find the record we need when weâre creating linked records.Â
We can also quickly update those naming conventions by simply editing the formula, instead of renaming every record manually.Â
Adding lookups to linked records
Once you've linked a Client record to a Project Manager record, you can access information from the linked record using lookup fields.Â
To create a lookup field, add a new field to the table that already contains your linked records, and set the field type to âLookupâ. In our example, weâll add a Lookup field to our Clients table.Â
Under the âConfigurationâ section, select the linked record that you want to add a lookup to. In our example, weâll choose the "Project Manager" field.Â
Then, choose the field you want to look up. Note that youâll need a separate lookup field for each attribute that you want to look up. Weâll start with Email in our example.Â
Now we can see the Project Managerâs email address in the clients table whenever we add a PM to a record.Â
Using linked records and lookups like this can help to prevent redundancies. Youâve already entered the data once in your other table; with a linked record, you donât have to enter all the same data again.Â
Plus, it lets you put the same data in multiple places without having to worry about inconsistencies. Whenever you update a record, the update will be reflected automatically in any record that links to it.Â
Linked records vs. select fields
In many cases, you might not be sure whether you should use linked records, or just use a single- or multi-select field instead.Â
In general, you should use linked records whenever you need to access additional attributes from the associated record, and not just a single label or value.Â
If you only need that one piece of data, using a select field will probably be quicker and easier.Â
Overall, linked records are a powerful tool that can help you organize and connect your data in Airtable. By linking records between tables and using lookup fields to pull in related data, you can create a robust database that is tailored to your specific needs.
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Sort and manage your data with filters and views
With the addition of linked records and lookups, our base is becoming much more robust and useful. Now, letâs take it even further by adding some custom filters and views.Â
Filters help you narrow down the records that are visible in a particular view, while views allow you to create different perspectives on your data.Â
Weâll start with creating a filter.
Adding a filter to your table
You can add a filter to any Airtable view with a few quick steps:
1. Click on the âFiltersâ button at the top of any Airtable view
2. Add at least one condition
3. Save your filter. Any data that doesnât match your condition(s) will be hidden from the view, but not deleted.Â
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To further illustrate these steps with an example, suppose you have an Employees Directory table which contains information about all the employees in your company. You want to create a filter that only shows new hires â employees who joined within the last month. Here's how to create that filter.
Open the Employees Directory table in Airtable, and click on the "Filter" button in the toolbar. In the window that appears, click on âAdd conditionâ to add a new rule to your filter.Â
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Configure your filter condition. You have extensive options to filter for field contents and values which will vary based on the field type. In our example, we want to only display employees who have a âDate Hiredâ value thatâs a month old or less.
Weâll set our condition to:
where âDate Hiredâ is on or after â1 month agoâ.
Once youâve configured your filter condition, click outside of the filter window to save your changes, and you'll see the filtered results in your table.
Now that you've created a filter to show new hires, you may want to create a new view that only shows those results.
Creating a new view for your filter
In Airtable, a âViewâ is a customizable way to display the data from a table. Each view can use its own type, such as Grid or Kanban, and can have specific filters and sorts that determine which data is displayed.
Here's how to create a new Grid view that uses the filter you just created.Â
Under the âCreateâŠâ section in the left hand menu, click on âGridâ. Give your new view a name, and click âCreate new viewâ.Â
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In your new grid view, click on âFiltersâ to add the same filter as before to this new view.Â
Then, go back to the original grid view, delete the filter, and give it a name like âView Allâ.Â
Now, you can just switch back and forth between these two views to see all employees, or just new hires.Â
Note that filters and views will never delete data: they just sort or hide data temporarily based on your configured settings.Â
Other view types: Kanban, Timelines, Forms, and more
These two views are pretty convenient, but grid views are just the start.Â
Airtable also offers several other types of views that you can use to visualize and organize your data. Read on for a brief overview of each type.Â
Kanban views
A Kanban view is a board-style view that displays records as cards, which can be dragged and dropped into different columns.Â
The columns can be mapped to any single-select field, like a âStatusâ or âPriorityâ field.Â
A kanban board is useful for visualizing workflows and progress, and is great for managing a tasks database.Â
Timeline and Gantt views
A Timeline view is a chronological view that displays records as events on a timeline. This view is useful for tracking deadlines and high-level milestones.
Similar to a timeline view, a Gantt view is a view that displays records as bars on a timeline, and shows dependencies between tasks.Â
Because of the dependencies, this view is useful for more granular project management and scheduling compared to a âTimelineâ view.Â
Gantt views and Timeline views both require a Pro account.Â
NOTE: to use Timeline and Gantt views correctly, each record will need to have at least two date fields that can be mapped to âStart dateâ and âEnd dateâ.Â
Calendar views
A calendar view is a view that displays records as events on a calendar, and allows you to filter by date range and other criteria.Â
Calendar views are ideal for scheduling and planning, and can be a great way to make a content calendar or high-level schedule.Â
Gallery views
A gallery view is a view that displays records as cards in a gallery, and allows you to customize the card layout and fields displayed.Â
Using a gallery view lets you focus on an image attached to each record, and could be a great way to review design assets or media. Â
List views
A list view is a view that displays records as a list, and allows you to customize which fields are displayed and in what order.Â
A list essentially looks and works like a simplified grid. Lists are a convenient way to just display a title and basic info for each entry instead of a long list of fields.Â
Of course, you could always just hide fields in a grid view, but list views feature a simpler UI which makes it easier for non-technical people to view a curated subset of a larger database.Â
Form views
Finally, a form view is a view that allows you to create a custom form for adding new records to your table.Â
Airtable forms are a great way to collect data from external sources and simplify data entry. They can also be a useful tool when you start building automations in your databases.Â
Many automations will trigger whenever a record enters a specific view, or whenever a record is added to a database. If you add the record directly into any other view type, an automation may trigger while youâre still populating fields, which could result in the automation trying to run with incomplete data.Â
With a form, a record isnât created until you click âsubmitâ, so you can ensure that all of the data you need is there before the record is added.Â
Pick the right view for your scenario
Each type of view is designed to serve a different purpose, so it's important to choose the right view for your specific needs.Â
Just make sure to always keep a simple grid view with all of your records displayed. Even though filters and views donât delete any of your data, they can make it hard to find certain records or fields if you donât have a convenient âview allâ option.Â
Building workflow automations in Airtable
Airtable is one of the best database apps available for building no-code and low-code workflow automations.Â
The granular control afforded by filters and views makes it easy to choose when your automations run, and which records they process.Â
You can easily set up an automation to run whenever a new record is added to a specific view, so essentially, you can prompt an automation to run based on any data thatâs available to you in Airtable.Â
Many automations can even be built directly in Airtable, although third-party providers like Zapier and Make will definitely give you a more extensive list of integrations with other software you already use.Â
To give you an idea of how Airtable automation works, Iâll show you how to build a simple automation using Airtableâs native automation tools.Â
First, hereâs a brief overview of how to build an automation in Airtable in a few quick steps:
1. Click on the âAutomationsâ tab at the top of your base.Â
2. Click âCreate automationâ in the bottom left hand menu.Â
3. Choose a trigger, such as âWhen a record enters a viewâ.Â
4. Configure your trigger. For instance, you may need to identify the base and table you want to watch.Â
5. Add an automated action. Choose an Airtable action, or an integration with another app.Â
6. Authorize the integrated app, if required.Â
7. Configure your automated action. Include dynamic data from Airtable when applicable.Â
8. Click on âTest automationâ to run a test.Â
9. Once your automation is performing correctly, turn it on, give it a name, and save the URL to the related view.Â
Automation example: creating automated Slack alerts for an Airtable view
Now letâs explore those steps in more detail.Â
Every automation consists of a single trigger event that prompts the automation to run, and one or more automated actions that will occur whenever the trigger is activated.Â
For our example, weâre going to send an automated Slack message whenever a new hire is added to the âOnboardingâ view.Â
The onboarding view has a filter so that it only shows employees with a âStatusâ equal to âOnboardingâ.Â
When youâre building an automation in Airtable, the easiest way to control when the automation runs is to pair your automation with a dedicated view like this. Â
Creating a new automation and configuring the trigger
To get started, just click on the "Automations" button in the toolbar, and select "Create automation".
Youâll then see several options for your automationâs trigger. Choose âWhen a record enters a view.â
Then, we need to select the table and view that we want the automation to watch. Weâll choose the âEmployeesâ table, and the "Onboarding" view as the view we want to watch for new records.
Then, under the âtest stepâ section, click âChoose recordâ to pick a record that you can use to test the automation as youâre building it. You may want to add a dedicated âtestâ record with mock data to be safe.Â
If the test was successful (i.e., if the trigger retrieved the record), youâll see a small success message under the âTest Stepâ section.Â
Adding automated actions
With a successfully tested trigger, you can click the âAdd advanced logic or actionâ button to add a Slack step.Â
In the window that appears, scroll down to âintegrationsâ to find the application you want to use. In our example, weâll select âSlackâ, and choose âSend messageâ.Â
When youâre using an Airtable automation to send data to other apps for the first time, youâll always need to sign in to the relevant apps and authorize Airtable.Â
Click on âSelect [app name] accountâ, and choose âConnect new [app name] accountâ.Â
Review Airtableâs required permissions and click âAllowâ to continue.Â
Now, you can configure the new action. Any required fields will be marked with a red asterisk.
In our Slack example, we need to provide the message that we want to send, and the user or channel that we want to send the message to.Â
Weâll send the message to our âTutorialsâ channel, and add a message that provides some basic information about the employee.Â
Adding dynamic data to an automationÂ
Any text that you enter directly into the âMessageâ field (or similar fields for other apps) will be used exactly as written every time the automation runs.Â
If you want to include dynamic data retrieved from the record that triggered the automation, youâll need to click on the blue plus sign to access data from the trigger (or earlier actions).Â
In our example, we can directly enter the initial message (âA new employee is ready for onboarding!â), as well as the labels for the employeeâs information. However, weâll need to access data retrieved in the trigger to include the employeeâs actual name, department, and start date.Â
The remaining fields are optional, but weâll go ahead and give our Slack bot a name and an emoji.Â
Testing your automation
Once your action is fully configured, you can click on âGenerate a previewâ.Â
The preview will show you the content that your action will create (more or less), but wonât actually perform the action.Â
Even if everything in the preview looks good, itâs always a good idea to give the automation a real test just to be sure. Click on âTest automationâ.Â
Then, select a record and click âRun automationâ.Â
The action you configured should now run with your chosen record. In our example, we got a Slack message, exactly as we configured it in the automation.Â
Finalizing your automation
Once youâve got a successful test, you can turn your automation on and give it a descriptive name.Â
Once your automation is on, it will run whenever the trigger condition is met.Â
At this time, itâs also a good idea to copy the URL of the automation itself and copy it to the description of the related view.Â
That way, youâll always know that the âOnboardingâ view, for instance, is connected to this specific automation.Â
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Overall, Airtable's automation features make it easy to automate repetitive tasks and streamline your workflow, saving you time and effort in the long run.Â
With a little bit of planning and experimentation, you can create powerful automations that help you get more done with less effort.
This is just the beginning of what you can do with automations in airtable. There is full support for API calls, custom javascript, and more that can help even the most sophisticated product and tech teams to stay connected with external databases and apps.Â
Building automations in third-party providers
For more complicated automations, or automations that use apps not supported by Airtable, you can use third-party providers like Zapier or Make.Â
Zapier and Make support thousands of popular web apps, and offer extensive options for building everything from simple two-step automations to sophisticated workflows with loops and branching paths.Â
If youâre a no-code builder, Airtable is a great app to use as a centralized database that supports all of your automations across several different platforms.Â
You can use it to control when all your automations run, and to collect and process the data your automations create.Â
If youâd like to explore Airtable automation with third-party providers, we have tons of tutorials on our blog for both platforms, like our comprehensive Beginnerâs Guide to Zapier.Â
You can also check out our automation search engine, XRay.Tools, to quickly discover what you can automate with Airtable and the tools you already use.Â
But for this walkthrough, weâll be sticking with what you can do in Airtable itself, so letâs finish up this beginnerâs guide with a quick look at Airtable interfaces.Â
Creating customized, interactive interfaces in Airtable
Letâs wrap up this Airtable deep dive with a quick look at interfaces.Â
Interfaces are a feature that lets you distill any table into a simple visual interface or dashboard. Interfaces can help you to create a visually engaging summary of your data, or build a simpler layout for your team to interact with.Â
While interfaces have much more aesthetic customization options than standard tables, theyâre still not suited to creating customer-facing products.Â
In other words, if you want to build a website out of your Airtable data, youâll need an app like Softr to create a polished, user-friendly UI.Â
You can learn more about Softr in this post about building a complete no-code product.Â
Thereâs a lot you can do with interfaces, and we wonât be able to cover it all in this post.Â
But to help you get started with Airtableâs interfaces, weâll show you how you can build a simple Dashboard interface to get a visual summary of your tables.Â
Creating a simple dashboard interface in Airtable
To begin, just click on âInterfacesâ in the toolbar next to âAutomationsâ. Then, choose âStart buildingâ.Â
Now, you can give your interface a name. Weâll call ours âEmployee Dashboardâ.Â
Next, you can choose a layout type to get started with for your first page. You can add several pages to your interface with different layouts, so feel free to experiment. Â
On the right, youâll see a preview of your selected layout.Â
Most of the layouts are pretty similar to Airtableâs various view types, but one thatâs a little more unique is the âDashboardâ, which is what weâll select for our first page. Â
A dashboard displays statistics derived from your data, like the total number of records in a specific view or a table, and a visual breakdown of records based on specific fields.Â
Select the Dashboard layout, click âNextâ, and pick a table that you want to use as a source for your dashboard. In our example, weâll choose the âEmployeesâ table we created earlier.Â
By default, the dashboard includes a filter, three high-level numbers, a bar chart, and a pie chart.Â
You could customize these figures a little bit on the âAdd elementsâ screen, but youâll have more granular control once the dashboard is created, so just click âNextâ for now. Â
Then, give your page a name and click âFinishâ to create your initial dashboard.Â
Customizing your dashboard
This first number with a green background is configured to count all records in the table, so weâll update the label to reflect that.Â
Click on the element itself, then click on the âAppearanceâ tab in the right hand menu.Â
Then, enter a new title to replace âCountâ.Â
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The next two numbers are also just counting the total number of records. We donât need to see that same number three times, so letâs update those.Â
Select the second number, then under ârecordsâ, choose âSpecific recordsâ so that the element will only count records that match certain conditions.Â
In our example, weâll have this element count how many employees are marked as âOnboardingâ.Â
We can also change this elementâs title just like we changed the first elementâs.Â
We only want these two numbers for now, so weâll delete the third.
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Then we can just drag the remaining elements to resize them.
Editing the charts in a dashboard
To edit the charts in your dashboard, just select them and configure your options in the panel on the right. You can change the chart type, the data source, and the appearance of the charts.Â
Just like the number elements, you can also resize these charts however youâd like.Â
Adding new elements to your dashboard
Clicking on the âAdd Elementâ button in the bottom left will let you add a new element to your page.Â
For instance, we added a button that links to our âAdd a New Employeeâ form.Â
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To wrap things up with this quick interface overview, letâs edit the filter that you see at the top of the page.Â
When we select it, we can see that there currently is no filter under the âDataâ section.Â
Weâll add a filter, select âDepartment isâ, and leave the selection blank for now.Â
Now we can click on âPreviewâ to see what the published interface will look like.Â
When a user is looking at the interface, theyâll see all the data you configured, but they wonât be able to edit anything in this specific dashboard.Â
However, the user will be able to change this filter at the top to choose which departments theyâd like to see.Â
Once youâre happy with your interface, click on âPublishâ to configure permissions and create a shareable link for your dashboard.Â
Using an interface is a great way to share reports or specific data without giving direct access to your database.Â
Configuring interfaces can be a little tricky, but youâll get the hang of it with a little trial and error.Â
Once youâve learned the ropes, youâll be able to create some great new pages for displaying, summarizing, and sharing your data.
Organizing your data and workflows with Airtable
Airtable is a versatile tool that can be used in a variety of contexts, from personal organization to project management and beyond.Â
By following the walkthroughs in this guide, you can get started with Airtable and begin to see the benefits of using a flexible, customizable database to manage your data.
From creating your first table to adding automation and creating interfaces, Airtable offers a range of features that can help you streamline your workflow and improve your productivity.Â
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced user, there's always more to learn with Airtable, and we hope this guide has provided a solid foundation for your journey.
If youâd like to learn more about no-code automation and productivity, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Do you want to transform the way your company tracks and organizes data? Are you ready for a serious upgrade to your day to day workflows?
If your databases arenât helping you to get work done, you need to check out Airtable.Â
Airtable is a powerful tool that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the functionality of a database.Â
With Airtable, you can organize your data in a way that makes sense to you, and create customized workflows to automate repetitive tasks and streamline your processes.Whether you're a freelancer, a small business owner, or aparat a larger organization, Airtable has something to offer.Â
In this two-part beginnerâs guide, weâre going to show you everything you need to know to get started with Airtable.Â
What This Guide Covers
In this beginner's guide, we'll cover the basics of using Airtable, from creating your first table to adding automation and creating interfaces.
By the end of the two-part guide, you'll have a solid understanding of how to use Airtable to manage your data and improve your workflows.Â
âą First, weâll explain what Airtable is, and what sets it apart from apps like Google Sheets, Excel, Monday.com, and Asana.Â
âą Next, weâll show you what youâll see when you first open up Airtable, and weâll quickly explain how bases, tables, and views are structured, so youâll understand everything youâre looking at.Â
âą Then, Iâll walk you through the process of setting up your first base and table in Airtable. Weâll keep things very simple to start, but as we go, Iâll demonstrate some of Airtableâs key features for viewing, sorting, and utilizing your data.Â
âą Finally, weâll wrap up part 1 of the guide with a look at some useful formulas and functions that you can add to your tables.Â
In the second part of this guide, weâll cover linked records, customizable filters and views, powerful no-code automations, and building your own custom interfaces for your data.Â
What is Airtable, and what sets it apart?
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First, for those who might not be familiar, what is Airtable?
Airtable is a flexible database app. You can use Airtable to organize, filter, and sort your data, run calculations, and pretty much do anything else that you can do in spreadsheet software like Google sheets and Microsoft Excel.Â
However, Airtable also includes several unique features that make it an ideal no-code or low-code database for you and your company.Â
By leveraging these features, you can use Airtable to do a lot more than just storing and managing your data. You can even use Airtable to build your own custom systems for task and project management, content creation pipelines, and managing your network like a CRM.
This gives Airtable the flexibility to replace apps like Monday.com, Asana, Hubspot, Pipedrive and more.Â
You can use Airtable as the backbone of your teamâs digital infrastructure; making it a singular source of truth for every piece of data your company creates.Â
You can even use it to power no-code and low-code automations to simplify and supercharge your workflows in other applications.Â
Weâll give you a quick overview of some of the key features that set Airtable apart. Then, weâll take you through the process of creating an Airtable base step-by-step so you can see these features in action firsthand.Â
Sort your data however youâd like with filters and views
Airtableâs customizable filters and views are a great way to sort data for humans and software alike. By applying filters and choosing an appropriate view type, you can control the data you see and control how itâs displayed.Â
You can then share specific views with clients or other collaborators to ensure that they only see the data you want them to see.Â
And if you want to start automating your work with no-cod and low-code tools, you can easily set up automations that run whenever a record enters a specific view.Â
This is just scratching the surface of what you can do with filters and views; weâll go into much more detail in the second part of this guide.Â
Create 2-way associations between data with linked records
Next, letâs take a brief look at linked records. Linked records let you create associations between records in two different tables.Â
This can be a great way to associate each client with a project manager on your team, or each item in a customerâs order with predefined products in your inventory.Â
Then, with lookup fields, you can automatically include additional data from the associated record. By simply adding a linked project manager to your client, you can also instantly see the PMâs email address and phone number.Â
Or, by adding a linked product to a customerâs order, you can instantly see the price and description of the product.Â
Linked records and their lookup fields let you see the same data in multiple places without the manual effort and errors that come with duplicating the data.Â
Linked records are a great example of the kind of simple, out-of-the-box features that Airtable offers which would require complex formulas to replicate in something like Google Sheets or Excel.Â
Just like with filters and views, weâll go into more detail on linked records in the second part of the guide.Â
Easily support no-code and low-code automation
Between its native automation tools and its extensive integrations with third-party automation providers, Airtable is an indispensable tool for any no-code builder.
As you can see in Airtableâs page on XRay.Tools, Airtable is supported by virtually every popular automation app, like Zapier, Make, Workato, n8n, and Bardeen.Â
Even if you arenât using apps like Zapier, Make, or similar automation providers, you can build no-code automations directly in Airtable itself.Â
While Airtableâs native automation tools donât support as many integrations as third-party apps, you can still use Airtable to automate actions in dozens of popular apps like GMail, Slack, Microsoft Teams or Github.Â
With features like automation, filters, views, and more, Airtable is an ideal database app for no-code and low-code builders.Â
Weâll cover all of these features in depth in the next part of our guide. Now, weâll walk you through building your first base. To follow along, just go to www.airtable.com and create a free account.Â
What youâll see on Airtableâs home screen
First, letâs take a look at what youâll see the first time you open up Airtable. Â
When you first open up Airtable, youâll have one default workspace called âMy First Workspaceâ.Â
You can see three options here for creating your first base: Start from scratch, Quickly upload, and Start with templates.Â
Youâll also see a few options down in the bottom left-hand corner: Templates, Marketplace, and Universe.Â
Templates
With âTemplatesâ, you can browse a library of premade layouts that you can use to quickly build your Airtable bases. Templates are a great timesaver, but weâd recommend starting from scratch first so you can develop an understanding of how Airtable really works.Â
Marketplace
If you click on âMarketplaceâ, you can explore a variety of free and paid extensions. Extensions are essentially add-ons that extend the functionality of your Airtable bases.Â
Extensions can be extremely useful tools, but we wonât really be covering them in this beginnerâs guide. For newcomers, thereâs more than enough to explore with Airtableâs native features alone.Â
Universe
Under âUniverseâ, you can find a bunch of case studies and other articles exploring how you can use Airtable in hundreds of different industries and use cases.Â
There are lots of great resources that you can explore later, but for now, letâs focus on setting up your first base and table.Â
Airtableâs basic structure and hierarchy
As youâre getting started with Airtable, itâs important to know how everything is structured so you can build databases that suit your unique needs.Â
Airtable follows a simple hierarchy of Workspaces, bases, and tables.Â
A workspace is essentially a folder for your bases.Â
If you click on âCreate a workspaceâ, you can add a new workspace to your account.Â
When you click on âAll workspacesâ, youâll see your new workspace right alongside the default space created by Airtable.Â
A base is a database that can hold multiple tables, and a table is where you can store individual records.Â
Each individual record can contain several fields displayed as separate columns, and each field can have its own unique type.Â
Weâll explore field types in more depth later on. For now, letâs create a base in our new Workspace.Â
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Building your first base and table in Airtable
When you create a new base, Airtable will automatically add a new table (called âTable 1â) with a few default fields and three blank records. Youâll see this same setup every time you create a new table.Â
Airtable will provide fields for Name, Notes, Assignee, and Status. You can edit these fields, delete them, or add more.Â
For our example, weâll turn this base into a team directory. Follow along to explore some of Airtableâs field types and other features.Â
Label your records with the âprimary fieldâ
The first field on the left (labeled âNameâ by default) is called the primary field. Itâs the field thatâs used to identify each record.Â
As a general best practice, we at XRay like to populate the primary field with a simple formula - but weâll get back to that later. First, weâll walk you through editing your other fields and adding new field types.Â
Editing fields in Airtable
Instead of this âNotesâ field, we want a âFirst Nameâ field to start building our Team Directory. Â
You can click the arrow next to any field name to edit that field. This will let you access a menu where you can change the fieldâs name and type.Â
Change the type to âSingle line textâ.
Change the name to âFirst Nameâ, and click âSaveâ to save your changes.Â
Then follow the same process to change the âAssigneeâ field into a âLast Nameâ field.
Use unique field types to suit your data
Next, letâs add some basic contact info to our directory.Â
Change the Status field into an âEmail addressâ field.Â
When you choose the âEmailâ field type, any email address entered will be formatted as a âmailtoâ link, so you can start composing an email by clicking on the address.Â
Choosing an appropriate field type for your data in Airtable can add a lot of convenient features to your base.Â
Creating new fields in Airtable
Weâve used up all of the existing fields in Airtableâs default template, so weâll need some new fields for phone number, department, start date, and notes.Â
To add a new field, just click on the plus sign at the right of all your current fields.Â
Then choose the name and type of your field. Weâll add a phone number field with the phone number type.
Then weâll add a single select field for âDepartmentâ.Â
Create a list of options with single select fields
With a single select field, you can add a list of preconfigured options for a user to choose from whenever they add or edit a record.Â
In our example, weâll add options for a few key departments, like Engineering, Design, HR, Accounting, and Marketing.Â
You can change the color for any of these options by just clicking on the color and picking the one youâd like to use.Â
You can also set a default option to use for every new record, but weâll leave that blank.Â
Note that Airtable also has multi-select fields that work in largely the same way, but will allow you to choose multiple options in the same record.Â
To finish setting up our Team Directoryâs fields, weâll add a âStart Dateâ field with the âDateâ type, and weâll add a âNotesâ field with the âLong textâ type.Â
Then, quickly fill in a few records with data so that youâll have something to work with - but leave the primary field blank for now.
Populating the primary field with a âconcatenateâ formula
As we mentioned earlier, we always fill in the primary field with a formula at XRay. In this Team Directory, weâll use a simple âConcatenateâ formula to display each team memberâs name in a âLast, Firstâ format.Â
First, change the primary fieldâs type to âFormulaâ.Â
A formula field will be automatically populated with the result of the formula you enter. You wonât be able to edit the contents of any specific formula field manually.
To add the âConcatenateâ function, start typing âconcatâ in the âformulaâ field. You should see the âConcatenateâ function appear.Â
You can just click on the function to insert it into your formula field.
The concatenate formula will combine, or concatenate, multiple strings of text.Â
Each separate piece of text that you want to combine needs to be separated by a comma.Â
Search for the âlast nameâ field, select it from the list, add a comma, and then add the âfirst nameâ field.Â
Then save the field.Â
This formula works, but note that it smooshes the last name and first name together. Thatâs because the concatenate formula will only include any text or data we explicitly enter into it.Â
We need to add another piece of text to the concatenate formula to separate these two strings.Â
Edit the formula, and add a comma and space in quotes (â, â) to give this field better formatting.Â
Your âNameâ field should now be properly formatted.
Using ampersands instead of Concatenate
Alternatively, you can also combine fields and text by using an ampersand between each item, like this: Last Name & â, â & First Name
Functionally, itâs the same thing as the concatenate formula, so you can use whichever youâd prefer.Â
Maintain consistent records and enable quick updates with formula fields
But why go through all that trouble? Why not just enter the full name manually?
Using a formula field as the primary field ensures that all of your records are named consistently.Â
For a directory like this, you donât want to have some people labeled as âSmith, Johnâ while others are âJane Doeâ.Â
And if you want to change how each record is labeled, you can just change the formula once instead of updating every single record individually.Â
For instance, try updating the formula to put the surname last.Â
Instantly, all of your records should reflect the new formula and formatting: âfirst nameâ first, âlast nameâ last.Â
And if you change the formula back, your records will once again be updated instantly.Â
Making these changes manually for every record could take hours with a large database, so using formula fields can be a huge time saver.Â
Automation best practice: Label formula fields with emojisÂ
Just a quick note for no-code builders: if youâre using Airtable for automation with providers like Zapier, another best practice to employ here is to add a specific emoji to any formula field, like a lightning bolt or robot face.Â
This will let you identify this field as a formula field when youâre working in an automation provider like Zapier.Â
While Airtable will prevent you from entering data directly into formula fields, third-party apps like Zapier will often let you try to enter data into them, which may cause the automation to run with unexpected results.Â
Using an emoji is a simple way to remind yourself to leave the field blank when youâre building in Zapier.Â
Thatâs just a quick aside for any automators out there; now letâs get back to Airtable.Â
Importing CSV data into Airtable
Now that we have all of our fields configured, this is a decent table to get started with, but we need some more data to really explore Airtableâs features. Â
Letâs quickly add some existing data by importing a CSV.Â
If you want to create some mock data to work with while youâre exploring Airtable, weâd recommend checking out Mockaroo. Thatâs what we used to instantly generate the mock data in our example.
To start importing a CSV, click on the arrow next to the table name, scroll down to the first option that says âImport dataâ, and select CSV from the menu.Â
Choose the file you want to import, and click on âuploadâ.Â
When you import a CSV, Airtable will try to automatically map each field in the CSV to an appropriate field in the table, but it will often make some mistakes or even just skip fields (as you can see in the example below).Â
Donât worry if Airtable didnât assign your fields correctly; you can map the fields manually in the âAdjust your importâ section.Â
Just select the field in your CSV that matches each field in your Airtable base.Â
Note that you canât map anything to the formula field, since that field will be populated automatically by the formula we entered.Â
In many cases, your CSV will include a title for each field as the first entry. While this can be helpful for initially mapping your fields, itâs not something that you need to keep in your final database.Â
To exclude that row, just click on âother settingsâ, and choose âExclude first row in importâ.Â
Now that all of the fields are matched up, you can just click on âimportâ to add the data to Airtable.Â
Note that your formula should instantly populate all of the primary fields for your newly imported records.
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Next, letâs take a look at a couple of simple features that immediately make Airtable more accessible.Â
Sorting and grouping data in Airtable
Right now, like any spreadsheet, all of this data is not especially easy for a person to read. Itâs just row after row of data.Â
But by sorting or grouping this table, you can instantly make it easier to parse.Â
Click on âGroupâ, and group by âdepartmentâ.Â
Now, all of the records will be split into a visually distinct group for each department listed in the âdepartmentâ field. This makes it much easier to scan the data and find the entry you want.Â
To add even more organization, you can add a sort to display every record in alphabetical order.Â
Click on âSortâ, and sort by the âLast Nameâ field, A-Z.Â
Now, every record is sorted alphabetically within each group. Anyone can look up a team member in the directory in seconds, and it just took a few clicks.Â
You can even save these different sorts and groupings as unique âviewsâ within the table, but youâll have to wait for Part 2 before diving into views.Â
Now that we have the basics in place, letâs go further and start exploring some of Airtableâs more powerful features.Â
An introduction to Airtable formulas and functions
Next, letâs go into some more depth with formula fields.Â
Formula fields automatically generate the contents of a given field by running a simple calculation.Â
We already showed you how to use a simple concatenate formula for the âNameâ field, but thereâs so much more you can do with Airtable formulas.Â
If youâre familiar with writing formulas in other spreadsheet apps, Airtableâs formulas will be very easy to use.Â
But even if you donât have any experience with formulas in other software, donât worry; Airtable uses a simple syntax thatâs easy to learn. Just explore the official formula field reference guide for more info.
Transform and reformat your data with Airtable functions
Formula fields are useful in countless different contexts.Â
You may want to create a due date field thatâs 3 weeks after a start date field. You may want to simply reformat some data to capitalize names, convert dates to a specific format, or concatenate several fields together like we did earlier.Â
There are nearly 100 different functions that can be combined for thousands of use cases, so we canât cover them all in this guide.Â
But for now, weâll give you a few quick examples to help you get started with Airtable formulas.Â
Display every recordâs unique ID with RECORD_ID()
One very simple but extremely useful function will let you retrieve and display the unique ID of every record.Â
Just add a new formula field, and enter âRecord_ID()â. Name the field âRecord IDâ, and save it.Â
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Now, every record displays its unique ID, which will make it easy to find, update, or delete any record with an automation.Â
Record ID is a simple but convenient function for any no-code builder, as it will let you easily and accurately reference the record ID in automation platforms like Zapier and Make.Â
Hiding fields
If you donât want to show this field all the time, you can just click on the arrow next to the field name and select âHide fieldâ. That will hide the field in this view, but wonât delete it.Â
As a helpful reminder, Airtable lets you know that you have one hidden field in this view with a button at the top of the view. Â
Formulas with multiple inputs
Adding the record ID is very simple, but most Airtable formulas will require a little bit more information.Â
Youâll usually need to provide two or more pieces of data called âargumentsâ to have the function run properly.Â
For example, letâs take a look at formatting dates with an Airtable formula.Â
Format dates in Airtable with DATETIME_FORMAT
When youâre working with automation and other no-code tools, you often end up with dates that are pretty difficult for a human to quickly read.Â
For instance, in the screenshot below, weâve added the kind of date-time that Zapier will often produce in the new âUgly Dateâ field.Â
It includes the time and time zone in a single long chain of characters, like this: 2023-05-09T15:14:26-04:00.Â
Letâs add a new formula field to reformat this into something thatâs a bit easier to read. Just be sure to create a new âUgly Dateâ field first, and copy and paste the datetime above into one of the records.Â
Create a new formula field, and call it something like âDate - Formattedâ.Â
To find an appropriate function to add to the formula, just start searching for âDateâ. Once you start typing âDateâ, youâll notice a list of options appears.Â
If youâre building a formula in Airtable and you donât know the exact name of the function you want to use, you can just search for a relevant keyword and it should appear.Â
Click on the âDATETIME_FORMATâ function to insert it into your formula.Â
Providing the required inputs in the DateTime function
When you add a function to a formula field in Airtable, a helpful tooltip will explain everything you need to enter into your function.Â
The first argument needs to be the date that we want to reformat, so you can just reference the {Ugly Date} field. Add a comma after the fieldâs name to complete the first argument.Â
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For the second argument, you need to specify the date-time format youâd like to use.Â
For example, if you want to include the month, day, and year with 2 digits each, all separated by hyphens, you can enter MM-DD-YY in quotes. Then, close out your formula with another parenthesis, and save the field.Â
Now you should see the reformatted date in the âDate - Formattedâ field for the record that included an âUgly Dateâ.Â
However, youâll also notice that all of your other records say #ERROR!
This is because the âUgly Dateâ field referenced in âDate - Formattedâ field is empty for all of these records. Thereâs nothing to reformat, and that causes an error.
Once you enter a date into the âUgly Dateâ field for another record, the âDate-Formattedâ field will be populated correctly.Â
Building flexible formulas with IF statements
However, if you want to ensure that every record looks nice whether a date is provided or not, you could use a simple âIfâ statement instead.Â
With an If statement, you can use different functions when certain conditions are met.Â
To construct an If statement, add the âIF()â function to your formula.Â
Then, youâll need to provide three arguments to complete the IF function.Â
First, you need the logical condition that the function will assess. In this case, we want the function to determine if thereâs any content in the âUgly Dateâ field. We can do that by simply entering the âUgly Dateâ field as the first argument.Â
The next argument will specify what the formula should do if the condition is true. In our case, that will simply be the DateTime formula we already entered.
So weâll add a comma after that formula and enter our final argument: the formula that should run if the condition is false.Â
In that case, we just want the field to say âNo date providedâ, so we can enter that text in quotes. Now weâll close out this If statement with a parenthesis, and save it.Â
Now, every record with an empty âUgly Dateâ field just says âNo date providedâ in the Date - Formatted field.Â
Using formulas in Airtable can be a convenient way to format your data, run calculations, and retrieve vital information automatically. Try exploring Airtableâs formulas on your own to discover ways you can turn your spreadsheets into a dynamic database.Â
Begin organizing your teamâs data with Airtable
With some specialized field types and a couple formulas, you should be well on your way to discovering what Airtable has to offer. In the second part of this guide, weâll go even further and cover linked records, filters and views, workflow automation, and customizable interfaces.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code automation and productivity, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Airtable is a fantastic app for organizing your teamâs data, and with Airtableâs extensive options for sharing and syncing specific views, itâs easy to collaborate with coworkers or people outside of your organization.Â
In this post, weâre going to take a deep dive into Airtableâs Share and Sync settings, and weâll show you three different ways you can share your Airtable bases: Sharing views with a link, syncing data between tables, and using form views. Along the way, weâll also cover creating HTML embeds with your Airtable data, and the new âData Librariesâ feature.Â
With all of these options, you can easily configure your Airtable bases to start collaborating with your team, your clients, or anyone on the web.
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Note: All of the sharing options that weâll go over today can be accessed by clicking on the âShare and Syncâ button at the top of any view.Â
Sharing Views with a Link
To get started, letâs take a look at creating shareable links and embeds for specific views.
Sharing a view with a link will let you share the data from a specific view in a âread-onlyâ format. You can allow users to copy data from the shared view, but you canât allow people to edit records from that link. If youâd prefer to add the data directly to your site, Airtable will also provide an optional HTML embed.Â
Shared views and embeds work for all view types except for lists, and theyâre a useful way to share data for simple reports, demonstrations, and reference. Theyâre especially helpful if you need to share data with someone who doesnât use Airtable.Â
In this tutorial, weâll demonstrate view sharing using a basic grid, but all of the options are essentially the same no matter which view type youâre using.Â
Creating a shareable link for your view
To get started, open up the view that you want to share. Then, click on the âShare and Syncâ button in the toolbar.
The first option in the menu will be âCreate link to viewâ. When you select this option, Airtable will create a shareable link for the view that you currently have open.Â
There are several options you can configure here, but first, letâs just see what the shared view looks like.Â
Preview your shared link
Weâll copy this link, and open it up in another browser so we can see exactly what everyone else opening this link will see.Â
All of the data from our view is visible here, and we can filter, sort, or group the data however weâd like.
But with the shared view link, we canât edit or delete records, and we canât add any new ones either.Â
Now weâll go back to our Airtable base to explore our options for configuring our shared view.
Disabling or regenerating your shared link
Immediately, you should note that the âShare and Syncâ button is now highlighted in pink. This indicates that the view has been shared. Itâs basically just a reminder that any data in this view may be visible to others.Â
If you want to disable or reconfigure the sharing link, click on âShare and syncâ and select âLink settingsâ.Â
At the bottom of this menu, youâll see a couple relevant settings.Â
First, thereâs âGenerate new linkâ. This will create a new URL where people can access your shared view. This is useful if you want to keep sharing the base, but remove access for anyone who only has the old URL.Â
Next, youâll see âDisable linkâ. This option will disable the existing link, and wonât create a new one. This is helpful if you just want to stop sharing the view altogether. If you disable the link, youâll see the âShare and syncâ button is no longer highlighted, since this view isnât being shared anymore.Â
Allow users to copy data from your shared view
At the top of the âLink settingsâ menu, the first option youâll see is âAllow viewers to copy data out of this viewâ. After creating a shared view, this setting is enabled by default.
When âcopy dataâ is enabled, anyone with the link will be able to easily duplicate the data in your view into an Airtable base of their own.Â
When opening a shareable link with copying enabled, users should see a button at the top of the view that says âUse this dataâ.Â
When someone clicks on it, Airtable will let them make a copy of this view in another Airtable account. Any copy that users make wonât be synced to the original table in any way, but they will see any data that was in the view when they made their copy.Â
If you disable this option, users wonât see a âUse this dataâ button, but they could still copy the data manually. However, if they try to copy multiple records at once, Airtable will prevent them from doing so.Â
Ultimately, this setting is just about providing a convenient way for users to copy the data if youâd like.Â
Displaying hidden fields in shared views
Next, thereâs an option that says âShow all fields in expanded recordsâ. Although you might see a different word instead of ârecordâ - weâll explain why at the end of this section.Â
Essentially, this option will determine if users can see your viewâs hidden fields or not. If you leave the option disabled, users will have no way to see this viewâs hidden fields.Â
If you enable the option, users still wonât see hidden fields in the main layout of the shared view, but they will be able to see these fields when they expand the record.Â
In our example, âRecord IDâ is a hidden field in this view. Weâll enable âShow all fields in expanded recordsâ and see what that looks like in the shared view.Â
We canât see the âRecord IDâ field in the grid view, but when we expand any record, we can see an option to view hidden fields.Â
Why does my Airtable base say âShow all fields in expanded peopleâ?
You might see some unusual or unexpected verbiage in this option. This is because the âhidden fieldsâ option will use whatever term youâve provided for ârecordsâ in your table.Â
So if the records in your table are called âPeopleâ, this option will say âShow all fields in expanded peopleâ. If the wording looks a little strange, Airtable is probably just using your custom term for ârecordâ.Â
Adding password protection to your shared view
Going back to the link settings, the next option we see is to âRestrict access with a passwordâ. Enabling this will require users to enter a password before they can access the shared view.
Once you enable the option, youâll be prompted to create a password for the view. This is the password users will need to enter to see your shared view.
Once the password is set, you can click on âeditâ to change the password. Just note that once you change the password, the old one wonât work anymore.Â
Hereâs what a user will see when they open up a password-restricted link.Â
Once they enter the correct password, they can see the shared view.Â
If youâd like to go back to allowing unrestricted access to your shared view, you can just disable this option at any time. However, you will need to set the password again if you re-enable the option.Â
Limit your shared view to users with a specific email domain
To finish out the âLink settingsâ options, we see a setting to âRestrict access to an email domainâ.Â
When this setting is enabled, users will have to log in to Airtable before they can see the data in your shared view. Theyâll only be able to see it if they use an email address from the domain that you specify.Â
For example, we could limit access to a view to users with an XRay.Tech domain.
When we open up the view, weâre prompted to sign in to Airtable.Â
If we use an â@gmail.comâ account, we wonât be able to access the view.Â
Just like with passwords, you can disable this setting at any time to remove the domain requirement.Â
Creating an HTML embed for shared views
Finally, before we explore synced tables, letâs take a look at embedding your shared views.
If youâd like to add your shared view to a page on your website, or as part of a slide deck, Airtable provides an embed code with shared links.Â
The embed will use all the same settings as the shareable link. It just adds an iFrame wrapper so you can embed the view into your siteâs HTML.
To embed a shared view, start by opening the view you want to share and click on âShare and Syncâ.Â
Click âEmbed this viewâ. Airtable will open up a new tab with a few options for configuring your embed, and a preview of what the embed will look like on desktop and mobile.Â
The first option is âUse card layout on desktopâ.Â
Embedded views always use a card layout on mobile, as you can see in the preview. When you enable this option, youâll also see a card-based layout on desktop. If you select it, youâll see the layout updated in your preview.Â
 The next option is âShow view controlsâ. As the tooltip says, enabling this will let users filter and sort data in your shared view.Â
Once youâve configured your settings, you can view, edit, and copy the embed code in the panel on the right hand side.Â
Creating synced tables and using the new data library feature
Next, letâs go over creating synced tables in Airtable.Â
With synced tables, the contents of your selected view will be automatically synced to another table that you choose.Â
The two tables can be in different bases, and in different workspaces. However, they both need to be within the same organization.Â
Additionally, you can only create syncs using grid views. Once youâve created a sync, you can then create additional views with different types for the same data. You just have to create the initial sync with grid views.Â
1-Way and 2-way syncs
By default, Airtable sets up 1-way syncs, and until recently, this was the only option for synced tables in Airtable.Â
With a 1-way sync, you can edit the source table, and all of your edits will be reflected in the synced table. However, you canât edit any synced records in the synced table. You can only make edits to the source table. Â
Recently, Airtable has added beta support for 2-way syncs, which allows you to edit synced fields directly. Your changes will then be synced to the original source table.Â
Configuring a 1-way sync
To get started with syncing your tables, open the view that you want to use as a source and click on âShare and Syncâ.
Then, select âSync data to another baseâ. Check âallow data in this view to be synced to other basesâ. Then click on âSync this viewâ.
Youâll be prompted to choose a workspace and base that youâd like to sync this view to. Here, you can choose whether to copy the data or sync it. Copying the data will just duplicate the data in its current state, and wonât sync any changes made in the future.Â
Once youâve finished your initial configuration, click âCreate Tableâ.Â
Airtable will open up your new synced table, and a new settings window will pop up.Â
In this window, you can rename the sync by clicking on the three dots next to the sync name. In this same sub-menu, you can also change sync source, or choose which fields that you want to include in the sync.Â
Back in the main settings menu, youâll see an option called âEdit source recordsâ. Selecting this option will enable a 2-way sync, but youâll have to reconfigure the source base as well.Â
Weâll focus on setting up a 1-way sync for now, but weâll revisit the 2-way sync later in this post.
Configuring automatic or manual syncs
The next option will let you choose how and when your synced table is updated. By default, this is set to âAutomatically sync changes at regular intervalsâ, but you have two other options as well.Â
If you choose âOnly sync changes when requestedâ, the synced table will never automatically retrieve updated data from the source table. Instead, youâll have to run a manual sync whenever you want to update the data.Â
If you choose âStop syncing changes and convert to unsynced tableâ, the synced table will just become a regular table. Whatever data was in the table will remain, but it wonât be synced with the source anymore.Â
In most cases, youâll probably want to use âAutomatically sync changes at regular intervalsâ so your synced table stays up to date on its own. You can expect a sync about every 5 minutes or so, but the exact interval will depend on your Airtable pricing plan.Â
Handling deleted records
Finally, our last option in this menu is to âDelete records when they are deleted or hidden in sourceâ.
When a record is deleted in the source table, you can choose whether or not to have it deleted in the synced table as well.Â
If youâd like to revisit any of these options later, you can reopen this menu at any time in your synced table by clicking on the table name and selecting âUpdate sync configurationâ.
Reviewing your finished sync
In your fully configured synced table, you should see all of the data from the source table. Every field will have a lightning bolt symbol, indicating that the data comes from a sync.Â
Since this is a 1-way sync, you canât edit any of these fields or add new records. However, you can add new fields, such as formula fields that reference data from these synced fields.Â
To see how the sync works in action, return to your source view and make a couple quick edits. Your synced table should update shortly after without requiring any additional input.Â
But what if you want the sync to work in both directions?Â
Configuring a 2-way sync
For anyone working at large organizations, enabling 2-way syncs can be a huge boost to productivity and collaboration.Â
To enable a 2-way sync, go back to your source view. Click on âShare and Syncâ.Â
Select âSync data to another baseâ, and enable âAllow edits from other basesâ. Choose which fields youâd like to include in this sync, or just use all fields.
Once youâve configured the fields you want to use, close this settings menu and return to your synced table.Â
Click on the table name and select âupdate sync configurationâ.Â
Enable the option that reads âEdit source recordsâ, and close this settings menu.Â
Now, you can make edits to either the source or the synced table, and those edits will automatically be synced to the other table.Â
However, you canât add or delete records in the synced table. You can only edit records that already exist in the source table.Â
Note that the synced table still includes the lightning bolts, while the source doesnât. That should help you to tell the two apart at a glance.Â
Syncs in Airtable are great for sharing data with your team without having to share an entire base that may include sensitive information, or information thatâs just not relevant to that department.Â
However, syncs arenât a viable way to share data with outside organizations like clients and customers.Â
Using data libraries in Airtable
To finish up with Airtable syncs, letâs take a look at a closely related feature: your Airtable Data library.
The data library is essentially a way to create a templated synced table. It will enable your team to create a synced table referencing your selected view whenever they want.Â
Under the âShare and syncâ menu, youâll see an option to add your viewâs data to your organizationâs âData libraryâ.
When youâve added a view to your data library, users in your organization will have the option to quickly copy any data shared to the library whenever they make a new table.Â
To add a view to your data library, click on âShare and Syncâ. Select âPublish to data libraryâ.
Airtable will prompt you to provide a name and a description. It will also give you the option to lock the current table, which it will enable by default.Â
You canât edit the share and sync settings of a table when itâs locked, but you can unlock the table later just by clicking on the view title.
Once youâve configured all your settings, click on âPublishâ.Â
Your view is now part of your Data library.Â
To access it, create a new table. Any views that youâve added to your Data Library will be visible near the top of the menu.Â
If you select a Data Library option, your new table will be a synced table using the original view as the source.Â
Your new table will use a 1-way sync. You wonât be able to edit any synced fields in the synced table.Â
Currently, 2-way syncs arenât compatible with the Data Library feature. If you enable a 2-way sync in a table synced to a data library, the dataset will be set to âInactiveâ, and wonât be accessible when creating a new table.Â
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Data libraries are a bit of a niche feature for small companies, but could easily become an indispensable tool for larger organizations .Â
If youâre managing data for a large publisher or marketing agency, using data libraries will be a great way to streamline your sources of truth and let every department reference critical data with just a couple of clicks.Â
Collecting data with form views
Finally, letâs take a look at the last option that youâll see in the sharing panel: Form views.Â
In Airtable, a form view creates a survey that includes a question for each field in the table. As the owner or editor of the base, you can remove questions from the survey to skip certain fields, edit the field labels into questions, and add descriptions for further context.Â
Once your form is configured however youâd like, you can send it out and gather data from anyone with the form link.Â
This is a great way to let people contribute to your Airtable bases without needing any direct access to your data.Â
To get started, click on Share and Sync, and click âCreate a form viewâ.Â
Alternatively, you can create a new view in the left hand panel by clicking on the plus sign next to âFormâ.Â
By default, your new form view will include every field in the table. If there are any fields you want to skip in your form, you can just drag and drop them out of the form.Â
Taking a field out of the form wonât hide or remove the field in other views; it will just skip the field in the form. If youâd like to add any fields back in, you can just drag and drop again.Â
Every field will start with its original label from your table, but you can edit these into more verbose questions and prompts.Â
Editing the titles or adding descriptions wonât affect the fields in your other views either.Â
Opening the form and submitting data
While youâre in the form builder, you canât actually complete the form and submit data.Â
You can enter text into the boxes, but thereâs no way to submit that text and create a new record from this editor.Â
Once you have all the questions you want, you can click on âOpen formâ to see the live form and test it out.Â
When accessed through this link, you should be able to fill out the form and create a new record with your responses. Note that the new record will not be created until the form is submitted.Â
After youâve given your form a preview and a test, itâs time to share the form. Return to the form view in your Airtable base and click on âShare formâ.Â
Here, you can copy the formâs URL to share it with others, and configure key sharing settings.Â
Configuring your formâs sharing settings
The form sharing settings are all pretty straightforward, but letâs go through those options one at a time.Â
With âRestrict access with a passwordâ, you can set a password that users must enter before accessing the form.Â
If you enable âRestrict access to an email domainâ, you can limit access to users with an email address from a specific domain. This is a good way to limit responses to people from your organization.Â
âStop accepting new responsesâ will prevent people from submitting new data without getting rid of the link. When you enable this option, you can also provide a custom message to give further context.Â
For instance, in this screenshot, weâve updated the message in this task creation form to say âThe task maker is down for maintenance! Check back on Monday.â
If you open the form after selecting âForm is not accepting responsesâ, youâll just see a message like the one pictured below.Â
The âstop accepting new responsesâ option is a good way to temporarily pause data collection on a form.Â
When youâre ready for people to start using the form again, you can just disable the option. No need to make or share a new link. Â
The last couple options will be helpful if you want to make a new link or delete the one youâve created. âGenerate new linkâ will let you disable the current link and create a new one, while âDisable linkâ will disable the current form URL without creating a new one.Â
Ultimately, forms are a convenient way to let anyone contribute to a base, even if theyâre not part of your organization - or even if they donât use Airtable.Â
Form views are the only way to create a publicly accessible URL where anyone can contribute data to your bases.Â
Just remember to be careful about when and how you use form views. In many cases, you might not want anonymous users contributing data to just any base.Â
But with Airtable's sharing options, you can make sure that the form is only accessible to the people you want to share it with.Â
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Share and collaborate with Airtable
By configuring a few simple settings, you can share any airtable data youâd like with your team, your clients, or anyone on the web. Just follow along with this tutorial and choose the sharing format that works best for you.Â
If youâd like to learn more about no-code/low-code tools like Airtable, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Have you ever heard of a workflow designer? Chances are, you probably havenât yet. Itâs a role thatâs only beginning to emerge right now.
But over the next few years, itâs going to become extremely important for any business that wants to leverage the latest technology and get the most out of their software.Â
In this post, weâre going to explain what a workflow designer is, and why workflow design will become a critical discipline for every industry in the coming years.Â
Operations managers: precursors to Workflow design
First, letâs address the circumstances that have built up to the rise of the workflow designer, and the circumstances that many companies are dealing with right now.Â
While you probably arenât familiar with any workflow designers yet, you likely are familiar with some operations managers who work in specific departments.
For instance, your company may have people on your team working in sales operations, marketing operations, finance operations, or even no-code ops.Â
These roles have emerged as talented salespeople or marketers switch their focus to helping others in their department determine the best way to get their work done.Â
Operations managers help their team to establish consistent, reliable processes that achieve the results the business is looking for. But even with great operations managers, companies often continue to face the problem of siloed data.Â
Struggling with siloed data
At many companies, each department will frequently struggle to get the data they need to truly make informed decisions.Â
Sharing data across teams is a critical issue, since many processes are not confined to a single department. For instance, simply engaging with a new lead will involve efforts from marketing, sales, finance, and your product team.Â
In many cases, your finance ops manager canât always get the data they need from the other departments.Â
A handoff between the sales team and finance department is a great example of how the specific price and package purchased might get lost in communication. And they wonât always be able to share the data that they create with the rest of the team either.Â
Since Salesforce licenses are so expensive, you might not want to pay for your accounting team to have access to the deal pipeline.Â
This forces you to move the data out of Salesforce so your accounts team can access it.
Most often, this data transfer is handled through messages, emails, or conversations between team members in different departments.Â
Without a well-designed workflow in place, youâre likely going to see lots of manual work in exporting and processing that data as it gets handed off from one department and their software to another department and their different software.
A chief operations officer or a general operations manager can try and create systems to bring together data from every department, but this can be difficult when every team is relying on different apps and the COO or Ops Manager may not be familiar with most of them.Â
They could potentially consult with IT or engineering, but we all know how overburdened tech teams usually are. Grabbing more of their time for internal operations tends not to be a great use of your resources.Â
This is where a workflow designer comes in.Â
What workflow designers do
A workflow designer designs and implements better ways to work using automation, AI, and other no-code tools.
They find ways to connect and improve the software your company already uses, and find ways to streamline the way that your team works.Â
Designing the way you spend your time at work
A workflow designerâs main responsibility is to optimize your time.Â
Much of modern app development is focused on maximizing the amount of time that you spend in that app. To that end, popular SaaS tools have been introducing all sorts of add-ons and new features that go beyond the original core functionality of the app.Â
For instance, this is why youâve seen Zoom add email and calendar, while Google Calendar adds Hangouts to each meeting by default. The lines are getting blurrier and blurrier between application feature sets.Â
Just consider how many different ways you and your team take notes. Nearly every app used in the workplace wants to offer meetings, and chat, and notes, and more, so that you stay in their ecosystem from 9 to 5.Â
Workflow designers are uniquely positioned to push back against all of the apps that want to eat up your time and attention.Â
With no-code automation and AI software becoming more prevalent and more accessible every day, workflow designers now have the tools they need to build systems that connect every department in an organization.Â
Using strategies like no-code automation, Workflow designers can help you to leverage the most useful pieces of each app while minimizing the amount of time you have to spend in each one.Â
Simplifying your workflows with no-code tools
In many cases, a workflow designer can refine your business process so you just have to fill out a form or click a button, prompting an automation to move your data through every relevant app in the background.Â
With less time devoted to menial tasks, you and your team can direct your attention to where it has the greatest impact: on creative, analytical, strategic, and thoughtful work.Â
Well-designed workflows will improve the employee experience for everyone at your company.Â
Without getting bogged down in tedious, repetitive tasks, your team can focus more on the work that actually requires their unique skills and insight.Â
And with the consistency created by standardized and automated workflows, your team will be more confident in their work than ever.Â
Perhaps most importantly of all, a workflow designer will enable you to spend more of your time on making key decisions, and less time on the execution of your decisions.Â
Spend more time making decisions and less time processing data
Fundamentally, a workflow designer is someone who increases your capacity to make decisions. After all, you can only make so many decisions in a day, because it takes time to gather the data and implement your ideas.Â
A workflow designer will analyze the way youâre working now, and find ways to get the right information faster.Theyâll also make sure the data you get is accurate, and consistently formatted so you can actually trust your source of truth.Â
With better data delivered to you in less time, youâll have more time every day to make critical decisions.Â
Going beyond workflow automation
But workflow design is not just about automation. Connecting tools together to automate tedious, repetitive work is a big part of implementing a workflow designerâs insights, but itâs certainly not their only approach.Â
Ultimately, a key part of a workflow designerâs job is to understand every facet of your companyâs processes. By understanding how work gets done now, they can discover opportunities to improve your processes without getting rid of everything that already works great.Â
And critically, itâs important not to skip the step of asking why you would build the automation, and if you should build it in the first place.
In many cases, you can optimize your workflows by simply reorganizing your data in Airtable, Notion, or whatever app youâre using.Â
In other cases, simply documenting a standard process to follow will help your team to be more efficient.Â
And with AI becoming more sophisticated and more accessible every day, the best solution is often to just send a quick prompt to ChatGPT.Â
A good workflow designer will never jump straight to building a complex automation when a simpler solution is a better fit.Â
Retaining control over your automated workflows
Even when a workflow designer decides to implement an automation, they can still ensure that your team retains critical oversight over the entire process, with the ability to confirm automated work at key moments.Â
For instance, they might build a workflow that sends automated responses to your inbound leads.
Instead of just sending that automated response right away, the workflow designer might ensure that your team can check the message first, and edit it if needed.Â
That way, you can be confident that youâre always sending your leads contextually appropriate responses, while still drastically reducing the amount of time you have to spend drafting personalized responses for similar inquiries.Â
Regardless of the specific strategies and systems they implement, a workflow designer understands that your most valuable resource is the people at your company.
Their time and their attention are limited.Â
Designing better workflows that save time and get more reliable results will let you get the most out of your teamâs time. This will enable you to scale your processes by removing the bottlenecks that limit your capacity. Â
How to start leveraging workflow design today
Workflow design is quickly emerging as an important discipline for any industry. But how can you start leveraging the benefits of workflow design today?
To get started, you can always check out the posts on our blog. Weâve published lots of tutorials and deep dives to help you think like a workflow designer and give you the tools and knowledge you need to optimize workflows for yourself and for your team.Â
Our tutorials are often focused on the nuts and bolts of automation, but our upcoming workflow design course will take a more holistic approach to workflow design. Weâll share our own strategies for analyzing a workflow, discovering the best opportunities for optimization, and implementing critical improvements.
This course wonât just help you to streamline your own day-to-day work; it will show you methods you can use to improve workflows for your entire team.
If you and your team arenât looking to take on the additional responsibilities of being workflow designers yourselves, you can always reach out to XRay instead.Â
Our workflow consultants will help you to uncover areas to improve in your workflows, and build the automations, AI tools, and other resources you need to streamline your processes.Â
Just click on âContactâ to schedule a 15-minute discovery meeting, or explore our site to learn more about what we do.Â
Putting more focus on how we work
Far too often, we put too much focus on slogging through our work, and we donât stop to reflect on how and why we do what we do. Workflow designers can help to answer these key questions, create more scalable processes, and improve your employeeâs experience at your workplace.
If youâd like to learn more about workflow design and automation, be sure check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Are you tired of building the same actions repeatedly in Zapier? Do you find yourself duplicating similar Zaps for different purposes? Well, there's a solution for you! Let's explore how you can use Sub-Zaps in Zapier to create modular and reusable automations, saving you time and effort.
Why Use Sub-Zaps?
Sub-Zaps allow you to repeat commonly used sets of automated actions without having to build all the same steps in multiple Zaps. Let's take a look at a few use cases where Sub-Zaps can be particularly beneficial.Â
Create consistent data from different apps
Sub-Zaps are a great way to ensure that you create consistent, reliable data from any number of different sources.Â
Imagine you need to create new tasks and alert the assignee. Instead of creating multiple Zaps with the same actions, you can build a Sub-Zap that contains the steps for creating tasks and assigning them. This way, you can establish multiple avenues for creating tasks, such as using a simple form or sending a message in a dedicated Slack channel.
Or, suppose you want to add new leads and clients to your CRM from various sources like your website, third-party channels, emails, or in-person meetings. By using a Sub-Zap, you can ensure that all leads are added to your CRM in the same standardized manner, regardless of the source.
Quick and easy updates to your Zaps
Sub-Zaps are particularly useful when it comes to updating frequently used actions. Instead of updating these actions in multiple Zaps, you can update a single Sub-Zap. For example, if you switch your CRM from Copper to HubSpot, you can simply swap out one step in your Sub-Zap, instead of replacing that step in every Zap that funnels leads to your CRM.
It's important to note that Sub-Zaps are currently in beta, so the user experience may not be as polished as other features in Zapier. Nevertheless, they are functional and definitely worth trying out if you've built several Zaps that perform similar actions. Using Sub-Zaps appropriately will help you build more efficient and easily maintainable automations.
Overview: How Sub-Zaps work
Let's take a quick look at the broad strokes of how Sub-Zaps work and how you can incorporate them into your workflow.Â
Sub-Zaps are built as separate Zaps that can be called from other Zaps. A Sub-Zap always starts with the trigger "Start a Sub-Zap" and ends with a "Return from Sub-Zap" step. This ensures that Sub-Zaps won't run unless called upon by another Zap.
Note: in this tutorial, weâll refer to the Zap that calls on a Sub-Zap as the "parent Zap." There's nothing inherently different about parent Zaps, and itâs not a term youâll see in Zapier; it's just a term weâre using to describe any Zap that calls on a Sub-Zap.
In the Sub-Zap trigger, you can include a list of inputs to collect data from the parent Zap. These inputs will gather relevant data for the Sub-Zap from the parent Zap.
In the "Return from Sub-Zap" step, you can include a list of outputs to send back to the parent Zap. These outputs are the data returned from the Sub-Zap to the parent Zap.
To call a Sub-Zap, you need to add a "Sub-Zap" action to your Zap and choose the "Call a Sub-Zap" event. Select the Sub-Zap you want to use and include any required inputs. You can then add additional actions to the Zap and turn it on to start using it.Â
It's important to ensure that both the parent Zap and the Sub-Zap are published and turned on for the automation to work correctly.
Detailed Walkthrough: How to build and call a Sub-Zap
Let's go through a step-by-step walkthrough of how to create and use Sub-Zaps in Zapier.Â
For our example, weâll build a Sub-Zap that creates tasks in our Notion tasks database.Â
Then, weâll call on our Sub-Zap in one parent zap that watches for Airtable records.
And weâll call on it again in another automation that watches for Slack messages in a dedicated âTasksâ channel.Â
Creating a new Sub-Zap
First, create a new Zap. Immediately give it a descriptive name. Having a descriptive name is important when building a Sub-Zao, because you need to be able to find this Sub-Zap easily later.Â
For the trigger, search for âSub-Zapâ.Â
Choose âStart a Sub-Zapâ as the event. This will indicate that Zapier should consider this Zap a Sub-Zap, which is required for it to be selectable in your parent zap.Â
Then, fill in any inputs or âargumentsâ you want the Sub-Zap to collect from the parent Zap.Â
The Sub-Zap wonât automatically have access to any of the data gathered in the parent Zapâs trigger and actions.Â
Any data that you want to use from your parent Zap needs to be included in these inputs.Â
In our example, there are a few fields weâll need in order to create a complete task, like task title, assignee, due date, project, Notion ID, and Slack ID.Â
When you create your inputs, youâre just providing labels; you donât need to provide any values for these inputs yet.Â
Testing Sub-Zaps: a tricky (but workable) process
Once youâve added all the inputs you want to collect, you can click âContinueâ and test the trigger. This is where youâll first run into the main downside of Sub-Zaps.Â
Testing is a bit clunky in Sub-Zaps, to say the least.Â
When you run your test, the trigger will almost certainly succeed, but every one of your inputs will simply say âMissing Sample Dataâ.
Donât worry! As bad as this may look, itâs actually fine. Youâll be able to add test data in a moment.Â
Since the Sub-Zap is a fully separate Zap, it canât gather any dynamic data from your Parent Zap unless youâve already sent a call to this Sub-Zap from your parent Zap.Â
Since youâll probably want to use real data while weâre building and testing our Sub-Zap, go ahead and create a new Zap that you can use as a âparent Zap" in a new tab.Â
In our example, we want our parent Zap to create tasks in Notion by filling out a short form in Airtable, so weâll use a âNew recordâ trigger in Airtable.
Once your trigger is configured, add a new action, and search for âSub Zapâ.Â
Choose âCall a Sub Zapâ as the event, and select the Sub-Zap you created earlier.Â
Next, you can fill out all of the inputs that you configured in your Sub-Zap. Make sure to use dynamic data from your parent Zap wherever appropriate. In our example, weâll fill out all of our inputs with data from the retrieved Airtable record.Â
After providing data for all of your inputs, you can test the âCall a Sub-Zapâ step.Â
When you test the step, youâll get an error because you havenât added a âReturnâ step to our Sub-Zap yet, but this is fine. You can fix that later.Â
Your sub-Zap received the call from the parent Zap anyway, so youâll have the test data you need to build the rest of the Sub-Zap.Â
Finishing your Sub-Zap with test data
Now you can switch back to the Sub-Zap and test the trigger again.Â
This time, you should be able to see the call you just made from the parent Zap, and it should include all of the data you entered into the inputs.Â
You can now add the actions that you want to include in your Sub-Zap. Adding actions in a Sub-Zap will be exactly the same as adding actions to any other Zap. Just make sure to only include the actions that you want to repeat every time you call on the Sub-Zap.Â
In our example, weâll add a Notion step to create a new database item in our âTasksâ database. Weâll fill in the fields with the data sent by the parent Zap.Â
We also want to send a Slack message to the taskâs assignee, so weâll add a Slack action and choose âDirect messageâ as the event. Weâll fill out the message and include the Notion URL where the assignee can see their new task.Â
Just like building any other Zap, youâll want to test each step as you add them to your Sub-Zap.Â
Once youâve added and tested all of the actions you want your Sub-Zap to perform, you just need to add a âReturnâ action so that Zapier knows that the Sub-Zap is complete.Â
Add an action, search for âSub-Zapâ, and choose âReturn from a Sub-Zapâ as the event.Â
In the âOutput/Return valuesâ fields, you can include any data that youâd like to send from your Sub-Zap to any parent Zap that calls on it. Weâll just include the Notion task URL in our example.Â
Test your return step, then publish the Sub-Zap and turn it on.Â
Testing and calling a finished Sub-Zap
Now, you can go back to your parent Zap and test the âCall a Sub-Zapâ action again. This time, the test should succeed.Â
However, when you test a Sub-Zap call from the Parent Zap, the Sub-Zap wonât actually run any of its actions. Like we mentioned before, testing your work with Sub-Zaps is clunky.Â
To make sure that the whole setup works, ensure that both the parent Zap and the sub-Zap are on, and run a live test.Â
For our example, that means weâll have to fill out the Airtable form to trigger the Parent Zap, which should in turn call on the Sub-Zap, which will create a Notion task, and send a Slack message.Â
First we fill out the form.
Then, after we wait a few minutes for the Zap to trigger, we see a new Slack message.
The link takes us to the newly created task in Notion.Â
So to sum it up, hereâs how you can create a new Sub-Zap:
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1. Create a new Zap
2. Choose âStart a Sub-Zapâ as the trigger
3. Add the inputs you want your Sub-Zap to collect
4. The first time you test the trigger, you wonât see any sample data
5. Create a new Zap to send the data (a âparent Zapâ)
6. In your parent Zap, add a âSub-Zapâ action and choose âCall a Sub-Zapâ. Call on the Sub-Zap you created earlier, filling in all of your inputsÂ
7. Return to your Sub-Zap. Test the trigger again, and load the recent call from your parent Zap.Â
8. Add actions to your Sub-Zap, using data from your parent Zap as needed
9. Add a âReturn from Sub-Zapâ action to complete your Sub-Zap.Â
10. Test your Sub-Zap, turn it on, and publish it.Â
11. Return to your parent Zap, and test the sub-Zap again.Â
12. Publish and turn your parent Zap on.Â
13. Run a live test of your parent Zap. It should run all of its own steps, as well as the Sub-Zap.Â
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Then, you can just call the Sub-Zap from any other Zap by adding a âSub-Zapâ step and choosing âCall a Sub-Zapâ.Â
Make your Zaps easier to maintain with Sub-Zaps
Sub-Zaps are a useful tool for building more efficient, easily maintainable Zaps. Since itâs still in beta, thereâs still lots of room for improvement, but itâs well worth the effort if youâre building for a team and find yourself constantly duplicating your automations for each team member.Â
Give it a shot today, and start saving some time while youâre building! If youâd like to see more tips about no-code automation and productivity, be sure to check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Every app that you use wants to eat up as much of your time as possible. Itâs no secret that social media apps like Twitter or entertainment apps like YouTube want to keep you in an endless scroll of recommended content.Â
But itâs not just social media that wants to monopolize your time.Â
Even the software that you use for work, the software that is supposed to help you to be more productive, often wants to use up as much of your time and attention as it possibly can.Â
But there are ways to fight back and reclaim your time for yourself.Â
In this post, weâre going to explain how and why the software you use every day for work is trying to monopolize your time.Â
Weâll also show you how you can take control of your time with tools like no-code workflow automation.Â
Why your software monopolizes your time
First, letâs talk about why these apps want to take up all of your time.Â
When it comes to social media, entertainment, and other general purpose apps, the motivation is pretty clear. They want to turn your views into advertising dollars. The more time you spend scrolling, the more money the app owner makes from advertisers.Â
But business apps have a different aim. After all, most of them donât run ads, so they clearly have a different goal in mind.Â
Apps that you use to do your work every day, like CRMs and task management platforms, are focused on user retention. They want to have as many users as possible month after month, year after year, because that translates to subscription revenue.Â
They might do that by creating a great product that solves an important problem for your industry.Â
They might also create a large, recurring user base by making their users reliant on their product.Â
Becoming reliant on a single app
If all of your contacts, all of your clients, all of your sales metrics, all of your inbound and outbound marketing and more are all inside of a single CRM like Hubspot or Copper or Pipedrive, then youâre pretty much stuck with that CRM.Â
If updates to the app, or changes to your business make it so that itâs no longer a great fit, you may feel forced to keep using the software anyway, since making a switch could cost a great deal of time and effort.Â
Ultimately, though, switching from one ordinary SaaS tool to another will always be possible, if at times frustrating.Â
The worst examples of getting stuck with software always come from ERPs.Â
The danger of ERPs
ERPs, or enterprise resource planning software, are typically consolidated applications that include features for running nearly every aspect of a business.Â
If youâre running a growing business, you may have already considered switching to an ERP to try and boost your efficiency and start gathering more data about your company.Â
ERPs offer some great benefits, but itâs not a decision to make lightly. Youâll have to abandon nearly all of the apps youâre using right now and switch to the ERP software instead.Â
While switching away from a CRM or an Ecommerce platform might be difficult, switching away from an ERP - which might include lead handling, task management, human resources, purchasing and more -Â will be a significant transformation for the business.Â
And ultimately, the exorbitantly priced ERP will dictate how you get your work doneÂ
So with all of these different applications trying to grab your attention and make you reliant on them, whatâs the answer?
Whether youâre using everyday SaaS tools or an ERP, how do you get what you want from your software without becoming dependent on a single tool? How can you create systems that can grow and change as your company evolves?
Reclaiming your time with workflow automation
One solution that works for many companies is workflow automation with no-code and low-code tools.Â
Workflow automation lets you connect the software you already use to take the best aspects from each, without having to spend all of your time manually switching from one app to another.
If youâve been following our blog for a while, then youâre sure to be familiar with workflow automation already. Â
But for the newcomers, workflow automation automates repetitive tasks in the software that you use every day.Â
Hereâs how it works: when a triggering event occurs in one app, that prompts an action, or series of automated actions, in other apps.Â
Automate your workflows at any scale
An automated workflow can be very simple, or highly complex.Â
For instance, a simple workflow might run whenever someone signs up for your newsletter on your website. The automation will then add the new subscriber to your contacts directory in Airtable, and subscribe them to your newsletter in Mailchimp.Â
A more complex automated workflow might perform dozens of different actions.For example, you might have an onboarding workflow that triggers whenever you mark a deal as âClosed Wonâ in your CRM.Â
The automation could then create a record in Airtable for the client, a project in your task management app, some basic onboarding tasks within that project, new folders in Google Drive to share deliverables, and a shared Slack channel for communication with your team.Â
It could also send a welcome email to the new client with a scheduling link for your kickoff meeting, along with a form to fill out with basic information about their company.Â
All of this could happen with the click of a button.Â
Where to build automated workflows
Automated workflows can be built in thousands of popular web apps, and typically come in two distinct forms.Â
First, you have native automations built into the app as an added feature.
Second, you have automation providers that are focused solely on moving data between any application that youâd like - as long as it has an API.Â
Native automation features
You can find native automations in many popular apps that arenât specifically dedicated to automation. Slack, Hubspot, and Mailchimp all feature automation capabilities, for instance.Â
But these automations tend to be somewhat limited in scope, and will generally be related to the appâs main purpose - like sending messages in slack, or creating and managing campaigns in Mailchimp.Â
Third-party automation providers: Zapier, Make, Workato, etc.Â
If you want to exercise total control over your workflow and access complex logic to build sophisticated automations, then youâll need to check out dedicated automation providers like Zapier and Make.Â
These providers have thousands of integrations for the web apps you already use every day, and can build everything from simple two-step connections to intricate workflows like the onboarding example we discussed earlier.Â
Controlling how you work with automationÂ
Whichever approach you choose, workflow automation is a great tool for gaining control of your time. It lets you define your processes as efficient, repeatable tasks.
Instead of opening up Mailchimp, Hubspot, and other apps to add a new contact, where you may easily get distracted with all of your campaigns, analytics and other data, you can just fill out a brief form, and use an automation provider to add the contact to every relevant app at once.Â
You can spend one minute focused on completing that form, then get back to what youâre doing. And when you start using new apps, you can have that same ânew contact formâ populate those apps as well with a quick update to the underlying automation.
Getting started with workflow automation
So how do you start implementing automated workflows at your company?
If youâd like help from the workflow consultants at XRay just reach out to us today and tell us about the processes youâd like to optimize. We help companies every day to build custom automated workflows to control the way they work, and the way that they spend their time.Â
For the builders out there, weâd encourage you to seek out some of the thousands of automation tutorials that are available online. You can check out this resources board to see our in-depth beginnerâs guides for Zapier, Notion, and Make.Â
Organize your processes and resources with XRay Workflow
We built that board in XRay Workflow, an app that weâve created to help people organize, maintain, and perform workflows.
While it might seem counterproductive to add another app to the mix after everything weâve been talking about, the goal of XRay workflow is to let you keep using the apps you want, and to let you use them how you want.Â
On an XRay Workflow board, you can use pins to save and access any content that you want from the web. You can embed or link to your most frequently used pages, save text snippets that youâre always copying and pasting, and a lot more.Â
With XRay Workflow, you can curate the perfect workflow that lets you maintain focus from start to finish.Â
You can include app embeds for the specific tables, pages, or views that you need to use for a specific task and ignore the rest.Â
Curating workflows with a Stitch
When it comes to organizing your teamâs workflows, one of the most useful pin types is the versatile âStitchâ. You can create Stitches from several pins to build practical walkthrough guides.Â
The step-by-step documentation will be presented right alongside the apps where you actually accomplish the task.Â
Building Stitches for your processes is a great way to refine your workflow, and even delegate it to someone else. Saving your workflow in a Stitch even allows you to train someone new, since youâve documented the entire process step by step.Â
By gathering all of the resources you need for each task into a dedicated stitch or board, you can reduce all of the time and focus you lose every day on context switching.Â
Every board you create can also be shared with your entire team, so you can be sure that everyone is looking at and accessing identical, up-to-date information.Â
If youâd like to try out XRay Workflow, just go to www.xrayworkflow.com.Â
XRay Workflow is currently in beta, and is totally free to use.
Privacy and security in XRay Workflow
As the creators of XRay Workflow, we take privacy and security very seriously. Even though the beta for XRay Workflow is free, you and your data are not the product.Â
We have plans for a premium version of XRayWorkflow to do things like Version Control for your processes, publicly publishing your process for other people to buy and adopt, and a lot more coming later on.
But the basic features of XRay Workflow will always be free. Our goal with XRay Workflow is to help teams maintain focus, consistency, and context, when performing repeated workflows.
If youâd like to organize your daily work, give it a shot, and let us know what you think. Our team is always working to make XRay Workflow a better experience for our members, and your feedback is extremely valuable.Â
Staying productive in the attention economy
Itâs always a struggle to stay productive in a world where every app wants your attention. But with workflow automation, you can carefully design the way you want to work to avoid wasting time in your software. Start exploring tools like Zapier and Make, or reach out to XRay today to get started.Â
If youâd like more tips on productivity and workflow automation, check out our blog or our YouTube channel. You can also follow XRay on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Not sure where to start with automation?
Hop on a 15-minute call with an XRay automation consultant to discuss your options and learn more about how we can help your team to get more done.
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