Many times, when starting projects, they require the same set of tasks to kick off the project. This can be for websites, development, digital marketing, or any type of services consulting and implementation.
With Airtable Automations, you can create an automation to add a set of tasks every time you create a new project. This automation will save you time and monotonous manual data entry.
What is an automation in Airtable?
An automation is a series of actions that happen automatically when certain criteria are met. This can be anything from creating new records, updating fields, and emailing someone, to sending information to another software app and then bringing the updated information back.
In this article
This article will show you how to set up an automation in Airtable that will add multiple task records to a Tasks table each time you create a new project record in your Projects table.
This Automation includes:
Trigger – When a record enters a view
Action – Create record
Before creating this automation, you need:
- At least 2 tables in your base – Projects and Tasks
- A checkbox field in your Project table labeled ‘Add Tasks’
- A view in Projects called ‘Automated Tasks’ filtered Where ‘Add Tasks’ is checked ✅
– This view will contain the records that will initiate the automation. This will allow us to complete multiple fields in the project before the automation starts
To create your Automation
Set up the Trigger
- Click Automations
- Click Create new (or +New automation if you already have existing automations)
- Click Choose a trigger
- Click When record enters view
- Choose your Projects table
- Choose your ‘Automated Tasks’ view
- Click Run test and verify test is successful
- Click Done
Next, set up the Action
- Click Add Action
- Click Create Record
- Choose Tasks Table
- Choose the Field you want to be completed each time a new task record is added
This includes the Task name and could also include the Status, Collaborator, Project name, and Client name
In this example, I added the Client Formula Field and the Project Name Field and pulled the value from the Project view When a record enters a view (see screen capture below)
- Add your default information in the Field
- Click Run test and verify test is successful
- Click Done
- Click Add another action
- Continue adding each Field you want to be completed each time a new task record is added
This could be the Status, Collaborator, Project name, and Client name
- Add your default information in each Field
- After each Task is added, click Done
Now, go try out your new automation!
- Add a new project in your Projects table and fill in any other relevant fields in your project record
- Once you’ve completed all your fields, click the checkbox.This will add the Project to your new view and automatically add all the templated tasks into the Tasks table!
More Automation Examples
With Automations, you can make data entry and updates in your Airtable bases seamless.
Check out our list for more Airtable Automation examples.
Other Ways
You can use this Airtable automation to create a task list or a checklist for anything. It can be useful for a weekly or monthly recurring set of tasks.
Automations can be used for any type of business process. Whether it’s finances, client management, marketing, or sales, you can turn many of your typical tasks into automated workflows.
Even More Powerful Automations
Automations in Airtable make it easy to complete basic in-app tasks. However, the automations in Airtable have multiple limitations. On2Air: Actions fills the gap to help you connect your Airtable data better.
If you need more automation power and connection to over 2,500 other apps, try On2Air: Actions, an advanced Airtable connector.
Sign up for a free trial of On2Air: Actions today!
Current Limitations in Airtable Automations:
- Unable to integrate with other apps you use
✅ On2Air: Actions integrates with Zapier to connect to over 2,500 other apps
- No bulk record automation - only single records at a time
✅ On2Air: Actions allows you to process multiple records at one time in bulk
- Many field types are not available to use in automations, such as attachments, linked records, lookups, multiple-select, rollups with only values, and collaborator fields with more than one collaborator
✅ On2Air: Actions is able to use every field type available in Airtable
- 1-second limitation on script runs
✅ On2Air: Actions has no script run limitations - scripts allow you to do just about anything in Airtable using JavaScript
- The 'Send email' action is branded with Airtable logo and information
✅ On2Air: Actions allows you to integrate with any email provider you choose
- Limitation on the number of automation runs per month - when you hit the limit, your automations will stop working
✅ On2Air: Actions has no limit on the number of runs per month and the number of actions is significantly higher depending on the plan you choose
- Limitation on the number of automations per base
✅ On2Air: Actions allows for a significantly higher number of automations
With On2Air: Actions, you can create automations with more field types, add conditional actions based on previous actions, update multiple records at once, and connect to all your other business software.
