![[S12-E04] Full Podcast Summary for 09-27-2022 – Interface Winners, Formulas, Retool, & Advanced Interface Practices](https://builtonair.com/wp/../uploads/segment_image_1-77.png)
9/27/2022 – BuiltOnAir Live Podcast Full Show – S12-E04
Duration: 63 minutes
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FULL EPISODE VIDEO
Watch the full video of the show. See below for segment details.
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In This Episode
Welcome to the BuiltOnAir Podcast, the live show. The BuiltOnAir Podcast is a live weekly show highlighting everything happening in the Airtable world.
Check us out at BuiltOnAir.com. Join our community, join our Slack Channel, and meet your fellow Airtable fans.
Todays Hosts
Alli Alosa – Hi there! I’m Alli 🙂 I’m a fine artist turned “techie” with a passion for organization and automation. I’m also proud to be a Community Leader in the Airtable forum, and a co-host of the BuiltOnAir podcast. My favorite part about being an Airtable consultant and developer is that I get to talk with people from all sorts of industries, and each project is an opportunity to learn how a business works.
Kamille Parks – I am an Airtable Community Forums Leader and the developer behind the custom Airtable app “Scheduler”, one of the winning projects in the Airtable Custom Blocks Contest now widely available on the Marketplace. I focus on building simple scripts, automations, and custom apps for Airtable that streamline data entry and everyday workflows.
Dan Fellars – I am the Founder of Openside, On2Air, and BuiltOnAir. I love automation and software. When not coding the next feature of On2Air, I love spending time with my wife and kids and golfing.
Show Segments
Round The Bases – 00:03:54 –
Following Articles Used in this Segment:
[BuiltOnAir Community] Slack | general | BuiltOnAir | 1 new item
Field Focus – 00:34:12 –
A deep dive into the Extracting Name Elements & Combining Values with seperators Formula – Kuovonne will walk through how to utilize Formulas to split out first, middle and last names from a full name field as well as combining values from different fields into a list without extra spaces of commas
An App a Day – 00:48:07 –
Watch as we install, explore, and showcase the Retool App from the Airtable Marketplace. The app is described as “Kamille will walk through how to use Retool to build a client facing scheduling application”.
A Case for Interface – 00:59:30 –
Explore Interfaces with “Charts in Interfaces Part 2”.
Alli revisits her Interface Chart Hack from previous episode with new advanced functionality.
Full Segment Details
Segment: Round The Bases
Start Time: 00:03:54
Roundup of what’s happening in the Airtable communities – Airtable, BuiltOnAir, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Following Articles Used in this Segment:
[BuiltOnAir Community] Slack | general | BuiltOnAir | 1 new item
Segment: Field Focus
Start Time: 00:34:12
Learn about the Extracting Name Elements & Combining Values with seperators – Kuovonne will walk through how to utilize Formulas to split out first, middle and last names from a full name field as well as combining values from different fields into a list without extra spaces of commas
A deep dive into the Extracting Name Elements & Combining Values with seperators Formula – Kuovonne will walk through how to utilize Formulas to split out first, middle and last names from a full name field as well as combining values from different fields into a list without extra spaces of commas
Segment: An App a Day
Start Time: 00:48:07
Airtable App Showcase – Retool – Kamille will walk through how to use Retool to build a client facing scheduling application
Watch as we install, explore, and showcase the Retool App from the Airtable Marketplace. The app is described as “Kamille will walk through how to use Retool to build a client facing scheduling application”.
Segment: A Case for Interface
Start Time: 00:59:30
Charts in Interfaces Part 2
Explore Interfaces with “Charts in Interfaces Part 2”.
Alli revisits her Interface Chart Hack from previous episode with new advanced functionality.
Full Transcription
The full transcription for the show can be found here:
[00:01:42] Welcome to the BuiltOnAir Podcast, [00:01:44] Season 12, Episode four. [00:01:46] Good to be back with you live [00:01:48] on Youtube, [00:01:49] grateful for all those [00:01:51] who are joining us, [00:01:53] We've got a fun episode [00:01:54] for you today, [00:01:56] jam packed with lots of [00:01:57] cool stuff and we have with us, [00:01:59] Alli and myself Dan [00:02:01] and Kamille should be joining shortly [00:02:04] and we're also joined [00:02:05] by our special guest. [00:02:07] You likely know her, [00:02:09] she is so famous in the Airtable [00:02:11] community, she only needs one name, [00:02:13] Kuovonne. Welcome, [00:02:15] You're the Madonna of the Airtable World. [00:02:20] One name is hard enough to pronounce [00:02:23] you don't need to know two. [00:02:25] That's right, that's right. [00:02:26] You only need one, [00:02:27] you should know Kuvonne's name [00:02:29] if you spend any time in any community, [00:02:32] she contributes much to the community [00:02:35] and answering lots of people's questions [00:02:38] and great asset to the Airtable community. [00:02:42] So glad to have you with us Kuovonne [00:02:45] excited to have you share some wisdom with [00:02:48] us throughout the hour. [00:02:50] So Kamille should be joining shortly, [00:02:53] I imagine she's stuck in L.A. Traffic [00:02:56] but she should be jumping in shortly, [00:02:59] but we will get started. As [00:03:01] always, the BuiltOnAir podcast [00:03:03] is an hour long episode. [00:03:04] We go through four [00:03:05] different segments. [00:03:06] We always start with our Round the Bases, [00:03:08] talking about what's [00:03:09] going on in the Airtable communities [00:03:12] than a quick spotlight on On2Air, [00:03:14] our primary sponsor. [00:03:15] Then Kuovonne will go through formulas [00:03:18] and share a couple examples of how to use [00:03:20] formulas in your bases. [00:03:23] Then Kamille will be [00:03:26] showing how she built a [00:03:29] application in Retool [00:03:30] as a third party tool [00:03:32] that she'll be showcasing how to use [00:03:35] and then a quick shout out to [00:03:37] our community and then finally, [00:03:39] Alli will be following up [00:03:41] on a previous interface she showed [00:03:43] and has added more [00:03:44] functionality to it [00:03:45] and is gonna showcase that at the end. [00:03:48] So with that we will go through [00:03:51] our Round the Bases [00:03:53] and this week finally we [00:03:56] got the winners of the [00:03:58] contest from Airtable on interfaces [00:04:02] and so for Round the Bases [00:04:04] we're gonna dive into some of those, [00:04:06] not not all of them, [00:04:07] but we're gonna show some [00:04:09] of the winners and what they look [00:04:10] like and kind of dissect them [00:04:13] and comment on them before we do that, [00:04:15] there was a couple [00:04:17] feature announcements this week. [00:04:18] So I wanted to go through [00:04:19] those real quick [00:04:21] first one I think [00:04:23] I had seen this in a couple [00:04:26] of my of my bases, [00:04:27] but not all of them, [00:04:29] I think it's still being rolled out [00:04:31] but Rebecca brought this up [00:04:34] in the BuiltOnAir community that there's [00:04:38] now a section and oh [00:04:40] and we've got Kamille joining [00:04:43] welcome, Kamille. [00:04:44] Hello, good to have you with us. [00:04:47] I'm gonna get rid of our [00:04:48] background so you can see us [00:04:50] all. [00:04:51] And so anyway, so now [00:04:53] if you see down in here this, [00:04:55] create an interface section. [00:04:56] So this is new, it's kind of, [00:04:58] it's basically a shortcut [00:05:00] to just start a new [00:05:01] interface off of your table [00:05:03] and I assume actually haven't tried this, [00:05:06] I assume it like pre fills the table, [00:05:09] anybody tried this yet? [00:05:11] Create an interface [00:05:12] from here? [00:05:17] Yeah, so this is now [00:05:19] underneath the create a view sidebar [00:05:22] and so these are [00:05:23] kind of different types of [00:05:24] interfaces that you can create [00:05:26] and so I'm assuming it'll pre populate [00:05:29] the table with the table that you're on [00:05:31] and just kind of make it easier. [00:05:33] So you kind of see now they're starting to [00:05:35] blend, you know, interfaces [00:05:38] and the and the data layer. [00:05:42] I think you'll see more [00:05:43] of that going on in the future. [00:05:47] I think it makes a lot of sense. [00:05:49] I think it makes sense too [00:05:51] lately they've been adding [00:05:52] a lot of shortcuts to [00:05:53] different parts of their product [00:05:55] sort of throughout [00:05:57] this is one I think that [00:05:58] does make sense. [00:05:59] I'm not sure if I like [00:06:01] the implementation, so because just [00:06:04] looking at this screen [00:06:06] that depends on how big your screen is. [00:06:09] Half the screen now in this, [00:06:13] it's not a pop up, [00:06:14] I don't know what to call it. [00:06:15] An accordion, [00:06:16] I guess is [00:06:17] like all of your different options [00:06:19] and it's longer now because it's [00:06:20] including the interface ones [00:06:22] I think I would have liked [00:06:24] if it just said under [00:06:25] new section, [00:06:26] create an interface, [00:06:27] you click that and it's maybe a pop up or [00:06:29] something just so that [00:06:30] it's not [00:06:31] like look how little space there is [00:06:33] to look at [00:06:33] the views in on Dan's screen [00:06:40] populate it. But yeah, you know [00:06:42] what I thought was interesting is [00:06:44] yeah, so this is tiny up here. [00:06:47] You can minimize [00:06:49] just that you can I just I don't [00:06:51] know if I want that [00:06:52] to ever be an option, [00:06:54] you know what I mean? [00:06:55] It takes too many clicks. [00:06:57] Yeah, yeah, I think right here [00:06:59] if you just click [00:07:00] create interface and it [00:07:02] made like a model [00:07:03] that popped up with those same options, [00:07:05] I'd have been like, yeah, that's great. [00:07:07] Yeah [00:07:08] and even like create new [00:07:10] and there was like [00:07:12] view interface and almost because [00:07:14] now they just took up [00:07:16] even more of your sidebar real estate [00:07:18] even when it's [00:07:18] minimized. [00:07:21] So this is just an extra reason [00:07:22] why you want to control [00:07:24] your permissions for all [00:07:25] different people using your bases [00:07:27] because of course [00:07:28] those are only gonna create [00:07:29] an interface can only show [00:07:31] for some of the creator and not an editor. [00:07:33] So a lot of these different things [00:07:35] that we're seeing if someone is just an [00:07:37] editor on their base, [00:07:38] their interface is not going to [00:07:39] get cluttered up with that [00:07:40] kind of stuff. [00:07:42] Yeah, [00:07:43] interesting. So yeah, [00:07:45] some some new changes there, [00:07:48] this was one that came out [00:07:51] just after our last episode [00:07:53] in interfaces now they support the kanban [00:07:56] elements so you can embed [00:07:59] kanbans in your interfaces [00:08:02] long awaited. But also [00:08:04] not super excited [00:08:05] about the implementation. [00:08:08] Why is that? [00:08:09] I mean, it seemed to not [00:08:11] at least when I tried to [00:08:13] drag and drop it into an [00:08:15] interface the other night it [00:08:18] doesn't dynamically [00:08:19] shrink with how you've dragged [00:08:21] the edges of the [00:08:23] element [00:08:24] so like [00:08:26] it just doesn't look good [00:08:27] on the page [00:08:28] a lot of the time. And then still [00:08:30] everybody complains [00:08:31] that I hate having the [00:08:32] un categorized section there and [00:08:33] always open by default. [00:08:35] You know what [00:08:36] I was running I was using a kanban the [00:08:38] other day and I could have swore [00:08:41] maybe it was a dream that they released an [00:08:43] option to where [00:08:44] you didn't have to display those. [00:08:46] There's a toggle somewhere and [00:08:48] I was looking for it [00:08:49] and I was like [00:08:50] maybe this is still a beta that I dreamed [00:08:52] about or something. [00:08:54] So that's, that's not that never happened? [00:08:56] What you might be remembering [00:08:58] is in grid views. [00:08:59] If you're grouping by single [00:09:01] select field, [00:09:02] you have a toggle to [00:09:04] include select options that aren't [00:09:07] attached to any record. [00:09:09] So you can have like [00:09:10] an empty group so that you could [00:09:12] drag things in into quickly. [00:09:14] But I don't [00:09:15] I don't recall a similar thing for [00:09:18] kanban. [00:09:19] That's probably what I was remembering. [00:09:22] Well, I'll keep dreaming then [00:09:24] because yeah, I wanted that this week. [00:09:27] It was annoying me. [00:09:30] What would be really nice [00:09:31] it's a kanban where you can say, [00:09:33] okay, only show me this subset of options. [00:09:39] Yeah, [00:09:41] you could maybe [00:09:42] couldn't you do that through a filter? [00:09:46] I mean maybe but like we can [00:09:48] only show me those [00:09:50] of these categories. [00:09:51] Right. I think what Dan saying if the [00:09:54] same functionality is there [00:09:56] where show only show me [00:09:59] options if a record [00:10:00] at least one record [00:10:02] has that option selected if you set a [00:10:04] filter on the kanban view to say [00:10:07] has one of you know [00:10:09] done or like in progress [00:10:11] but not canceled. [00:10:13] Maybe it won't show you [00:10:15] canceled because no records or [00:10:17] I don't know if that's the case. [00:10:20] It would be cool if it was [00:10:22] Yeah. [00:10:25] Anyway, so yeah, kanban coming, [00:10:27] is it a direct clone of the kanban view [00:10:31] do you think? [00:10:32] Or is there any different functionality [00:10:34] in the interface? [00:10:35] I can tell except for the coloring [00:10:37] or No, no, no, [00:10:38] that's someone else's mock up. [00:10:39] I think it is a [00:10:41] 1-1. So the first thing [00:10:43] I commented in this thread is [00:10:45] it would be great if you [00:10:47] guys did did some of the stuff [00:10:49] people wanted in the other [00:10:51] kanban view and [00:10:52] then that's basically what everyone [00:10:54] else is saying, [00:10:55] just picking long requested [00:10:56] kanban enhancements and saying, [00:10:58] you know, [00:10:59] since you're editing this code anyway, [00:11:01] why don't you just slide in [00:11:03] a couple of new features that be cool. [00:11:05] Yeah. [00:11:07] Alright, moving on. [00:11:09] So after kanban. [00:11:10] So this was a post I think it was a [00:11:13] blog post and then they referenced it [00:11:16] in the community. Nothing new here. [00:11:18] Right. Some well I guess [00:11:20] I think there was some new stuff [00:11:23] that hadn't been [00:11:24] mentioned before. [00:11:25] I know, Kuovonne you commented on here, [00:11:26] you want to give a [00:11:27] summary of what they released? [00:11:29] Oh well, a lot of it was repeats [00:11:31] of stuff that you know, like the making it [00:11:34] easier to sort and group things, [00:11:36] but the new feature [00:11:37] that I didn't know that I [00:11:37] really liked is you can control click [00:11:40] a table name and it will open that in a [00:11:43] new tab [00:11:43] and I'm constantly like looking at a table [00:11:46] and I want to look at another [00:11:47] table and I wanted in a new tab [00:11:50] so that I can easily see both [00:11:52] at the same time [00:11:53] and control click will do that [00:11:55] and I haven't seen that announced before. [00:11:58] And then a lot of times, of course I'll [00:11:59] separate them out and put them in two [00:12:01] different windows, [00:12:02] so I can see both at the same time. [00:12:05] Yeah, because sometimes [00:12:07] I've always like [00:12:08] wanted to open up the same base and [00:12:10] another tab and you can't like [00:12:12] right click on stuff [00:12:14] to like open a new tab, [00:12:15] you know, because they over [00:12:17] override the right click [00:12:19] so you'd have to like copy [00:12:20] it and paste it in a new [00:12:22] so that's cool. Yeah. And be super cool. [00:12:25] Like also even if you [00:12:27] don't actually want that other [00:12:29] table open [00:12:29] if you just want to have another tab [00:12:31] at the same base so that you can [00:12:33] say configure an automation [00:12:35] or have the interface [00:12:37] where you can see the data [00:12:38] view and the interface [00:12:40] of the automation configuration [00:12:42] at the same time. [00:12:44] Yeah. Anything else, [00:12:45] anybody else notice anything? [00:12:49] I thought it was super nice [00:12:51] that in the announcement [00:12:52] they gave the shout out [00:12:53] to the different community members [00:12:56] who were asking for some of these things. [00:13:00] Yeah, [00:13:01] yeah, that means they're [00:13:03] tracking it somewhere, [00:13:05] it means that they're hearing [00:13:07] some of the people that speak. [00:13:09] Yeah, [00:13:13] very cool. [00:13:14] So yeah, some cool new little [00:13:19] helpers to help you navigate [00:13:21] and get around in Airtable. [00:13:23] They also talked [00:13:24] about like the new [00:13:26] navigation guides and stuff. [00:13:29] Somebody pointed out, [00:13:30] I think in this thread that [00:13:32] that this thing right here is [00:13:33] it gets in the way for me [00:13:35] it gets frustrating, [00:13:36] especially like if you've got a [00:13:38] full table where you've got records there, [00:13:41] I was trying to like edit the name [00:13:43] field and it was right behind there [00:13:45] it was just annoying. [00:13:47] Yeah, I don't really like [00:13:48] that, it's larger than the [00:13:50] add new record button. [00:13:55] Yeah, I think some of this stuff, [00:13:57] I would just, [00:13:58] I would like a toggle to turn it [00:14:00] off once you're [00:14:01] familiar with Airtable's [00:14:03] sort of interface and or [00:14:06] yeah, how it's designed [00:14:08] and how you build bases and you know, [00:14:11] you know the difference [00:14:12] between each type of view, [00:14:13] I don't want to be reminded [00:14:14] anymore, [00:14:16] so I just want to turn [00:14:18] some of that stuff off. [00:14:21] Alright, very good. Let's move on, [00:14:23] let's talk about some interfaces and I [00:14:26] see Russell Bishop joined us [00:14:28] in the comments, [00:14:29] I believe his name comes up right [00:14:31] there, first place. Congrats, Russell, [00:14:35] My Wardrobe [00:14:38] so let's see. Cherry [00:14:40] is a friend of the show, [00:14:43] it's a different Rebecca, Chris [00:14:47] a friend of the show, [00:14:49] Jeremy active in the community, [00:14:52] so some cool stuff in here. [00:14:55] So congratulations [00:14:57] to all the winners. [00:14:59] I thought it'd be cool to show what [00:15:02] some of the interfaces look like. [00:15:04] I couldn't download all of them. [00:15:07] Some of these links are broken, [00:15:09] I think this one might be broken [00:15:12] and then some in here, [00:15:15] like the Crm one [00:15:16] that I think that link is broken, [00:15:18] so I couldn't get all of them. [00:15:19] I also didn't go through [00:15:21] all of this list. [00:15:22] I just kind of sampled some [00:15:24] to put into a workspace [00:15:26] that I thought we'd go off. [00:15:29] So let's show some of these [00:15:31] winners, I don't know [00:15:32] have you guys gone through [00:15:34] all of them or any of them? [00:15:35] I watched the video associated with [00:15:38] the first three winners and you know, [00:15:41] spoiler alert this one, [00:15:43] my wardrobe by Russell. It's really cool. [00:15:46] Yeah, [00:15:47] yeah, so he built, [00:15:49] I don't know if he does this, [00:15:50] he's a better dressed man than [00:15:52] I am, for sure. [00:15:53] Even just thinking about this, [00:15:56] my wardrobe would be pretty [00:15:57] simple. [00:15:58] But yeah, it's pretty cool. [00:16:00] So he separates out upper body and lower [00:16:03] body. You can navigate through [00:16:05] all the different options. [00:16:07] You can change out [00:16:08] This when you click on that button [00:16:11] he's got this animation going. [00:16:12] So there's some kind of [00:16:14] automation running in the background. [00:16:20] and looks like it's taken a while. [00:16:25] Maybe you're changing, [00:16:28] you gotta save it. [00:16:32] So what I believe is happening [00:16:35] and hopefully [00:16:36] I'm getting it right Russell. [00:16:38] So you know, you can have [00:16:40] a bunch of different items [00:16:42] in your wardrobe, [00:16:43] right? And if you have [00:16:44] a outfit that you wear [00:16:46] and you really like it and you [00:16:47] want to say, I don't want to [00:16:49] think about coordinating [00:16:51] my shoes with my belt with [00:16:52] my shirt, again, [00:16:53] you can save an outfit [00:16:55] that you've worn previously. [00:16:57] Just to for inspiration as you go [00:16:59] forward and with this page and the [00:17:02] interface is is to create a new outfit [00:17:05] where you can look at each different part [00:17:07] of an outfit, [00:17:09] whether that's your shoes [00:17:11] or your shirt or your pants. [00:17:13] And it also has [00:17:14] a function that lets you layer. [00:17:16] So if you're not in sunny [00:17:18] California and you need to wear [00:17:20] a sweater on top of, you know, [00:17:21] your shirt or something, [00:17:22] you can have multiple different tops [00:17:24] associated with it. And what each button [00:17:26] does is run an automation [00:17:29] that finds a different random [00:17:32] piece of clothing that [00:17:33] fits that category, [00:17:35] whether it's upper body, [00:17:37] lower body etcetera. [00:17:38] And you keep randomizing [00:17:40] or you can select [00:17:41] a specific one if you want by [00:17:42] unlinking whatever's there [00:17:44] and linking something else [00:17:46] then clicking save outfit [00:17:47] creates a new record [00:17:49] that's linked to all of your [00:17:50] selections here. [00:17:52] Yeah. Yeah. And Russell points out [00:17:56] then I have no idea what's happening. [00:17:58] I think he's saying his there is [00:18:00] but since I got this from the universe, [00:18:03] the automations didn't get copied over. [00:18:05] Got it. Okay, never mind. [00:18:07] So that's why it's not [00:18:09] it's not working correctly. [00:18:11] Or it could be that based [00:18:14] on the type of automations, [00:18:15] this is in a free workspace, [00:18:16] the number of automation runs [00:18:17] that you actually [00:18:18] still have available. [00:18:20] Yeah. And I may not have even [00:18:21] turned on the automations [00:18:23] because once you once you [00:18:24] import it you got to turn them on. So [00:18:28] well the [00:18:30] the announcement post [00:18:32] not on the forums but on [00:18:35] the blog post. [00:18:36] I think it's for the record [00:18:38] off the record is a show by Chris [00:18:41] Dancy and Ben Green [00:18:43] for the record I think is Airtable's blog. [00:18:47] And the blog post includes [00:18:49] Russell's video demo [00:18:50] of this working as well as a [00:18:52] couple other video demos, [00:18:54] all of which are really cool. So [00:18:57] yeah, looks like he got [00:18:59] into your sock drawer. [00:19:06] Yeah this was really cool. [00:19:08] I like the different use cases. [00:19:11] It's not something [00:19:12] that I think I would have ever [00:19:14] come up with [00:19:15] in terms of a layout for something [00:19:17] like this specifically, [00:19:19] I just think it's really clean. [00:19:21] And if you just showed me this [00:19:23] and I didn't look at the top bar [00:19:25] that said my [00:19:26] wardrobe slash create outfit yada yada. [00:19:28] That's to me, a dead giveaway. [00:19:29] It's an Airtable interface, [00:19:31] but just looking from like [00:19:33] upper body and below. [00:19:35] I don't know if I would have [00:19:37] been able to guess [00:19:38] that this is an Airtable [00:19:38] interface. [00:19:39] It's just, you know, it's a [00:19:41] layout I don't think I would have [00:19:44] come up with and [00:19:45] it just looks so clean and cool, [00:19:47] you know, does anyone remember the movie [00:19:49] Clueless? [00:19:50] Yes. Yeah, [00:19:51] so that's what this reminds me of, [00:19:54] you know, at the beginning of, [00:19:56] of Clueless where [00:19:57] we've got the machine [00:19:59] that goes and picks out outfits for [00:20:01] Cher. Absolutely. And it's like mismatch. [00:20:08] Yeah, so good stuff in here. [00:20:10] Well done. [00:20:11] There's some dashboards filter so you [00:20:14] can filter all of your clothing. [00:20:17] So very cool. [00:20:20] And adding new stuff editing existing. [00:20:25] So very cool. [00:20:28] That is awesome. [00:20:29] That this is what he uses [00:20:32] every day to get dressed [00:20:34] and then we go back. [00:20:36] I want to make sure [00:20:37] we can look through some of the others. [00:20:39] Let's see [00:20:40] any others? [00:20:41] We won't have time for all of these, but [00:20:45] let's do let's do this one. [00:20:48] I think this is Cherry's [00:20:52] go in here. So this is for a law firm. [00:20:57] So more of kind of a Crm type system. [00:21:01] Got the groupings, which is nice [00:21:04] and just kind of basic input. [00:21:09] Got your intake form, [00:21:13] I like this lots of questions [00:21:17] and [00:21:20] cases, [00:21:22] then, [00:21:24] let's see. [00:21:32] Okay, so yeah, that's all of them. [00:21:37] Is [00:21:38] there another [00:21:41] reporting? There we go. [00:21:44] So nice reporting, [00:21:46] like combining grid views [00:21:49] within the reports. [00:21:51] Very cool. [00:21:53] So nice. Nice, simple clean dashboard [00:21:59] and let's go back out. [00:22:03] I like how she separated [00:22:05] out the reporting from the workflow part. [00:22:09] Yeah, because when you share that, [00:22:11] obviously if you have [00:22:12] access to the base you [00:22:13] can get to either interface, [00:22:16] but if you're say like, [00:22:18] you know, if you have a console set up [00:22:20] or something that only looks at a [00:22:21] particular U. R. L. [00:22:23] You can give them that URL [00:22:25] to that separate [00:22:27] interface and so [00:22:28] you're not bogged down [00:22:30] with all the data entry bits in the [00:22:32] first interface. [00:22:34] Let's do this one, [00:22:35] I think this one is kind of cool. [00:22:39] So this is a real use case, [00:22:42] mountain rescue help desk. So you've got [00:22:48] live incidents going on. Lots of use of [00:22:52] emojis and ratings people. [00:22:58] This one I really like because I, [00:23:01] you know, for this is a pretty small niche [00:23:04] rescue type organization, [00:23:06] there likely isn't like a [00:23:08] standard SAS product that [00:23:10] that is tailored towards [00:23:12] this industry [00:23:13] and they've been able to build something [00:23:15] that probably is pretty invaluable to them [00:23:18] in Airtable. It's a pretty cool use case [00:23:25] they've also got buttons shortcuts, [00:23:29] what else? Let's see [00:23:32] performance, yeah, pretty cool dashboard, [00:23:36] what's going on? [00:23:43] Nice, very cool, [00:23:49] good stuff there. [00:23:55] so we gotta show Chris' [00:23:59] you don't know Chris, [00:24:01] he's the most connected man [00:24:04] in the world and this is the [00:24:05] base that runs his life well, [00:24:08] he's probably got a couple, [00:24:10] but this is where he [00:24:11] tracks his daily journal and [00:24:17] he's into astrology [00:24:19] and everything going on here. [00:24:21] So one thing that I really, [00:24:23] really like about how [00:24:25] Chris put together is is [00:24:26] there's several different [00:24:28] interface pages that you can see in there, [00:24:30] but they're actually, [00:24:32] you start with the simple journal [00:24:34] and you put in, [00:24:35] you know, your reflections [00:24:37] with your thoughts of what the day was [00:24:39] and the idea [00:24:39] is is he's designed this first one [00:24:41] to be really simple [00:24:42] and it's not overwhelming [00:24:43] with a lot of different [00:24:45] fields and things like that, [00:24:46] but after you get used to [00:24:47] it then you can switch over [00:24:49] gradually to the other ones, you know, [00:24:51] where you can add in the emotional help [00:24:53] or the physical and then keep on going [00:24:54] there and if you just started [00:24:56] with the last one, like there's so much [00:24:58] information that you can be putting in [00:25:00] that it's really easy to get overwhelmed, [00:25:02] but he's just gradually [00:25:03] introduced the user into, [00:25:05] Okay, let's just start by [00:25:06] putting in, you know, [00:25:07] like two things [00:25:08] and then now after you journal for that [00:25:10] for a few days you can [00:25:11] okay, let's let's add a couple more things [00:25:13] and then a couple of more things. [00:25:15] So his pages are different [00:25:17] from what you would [00:25:17] see and like all the other [00:25:19] user interfaces [00:25:20] where you might be using all the [00:25:21] different pages [00:25:22] you know, throughout [00:25:23] your workflow of the day, [00:25:24] this is more of a use this one [00:25:26] until you're used to it. [00:25:27] And then step up to the [00:25:28] next most advanced one [00:25:29] and then step up to the more advanced one. [00:25:32] Yeah. Yeah. [00:25:34] Yeah. This is awesome. [00:25:36] Yeah. Just the amount of work and [00:25:39] effort into emojis everywhere and [00:25:46] yeah you can tell [00:25:47] there's a lot of work going after this. [00:25:51] Yeah I think a lot of the work [00:25:53] he actually put into this [00:25:55] was actually stripping [00:25:56] out a lot of the more personal things [00:26:00] that he had in it. Yeah, [00:26:02] probably. [00:26:03] I just looking at that brief glimpse [00:26:06] at the data view, there's only like five [00:26:08] tables I think his real one [00:26:11] which he's shown at the [00:26:13] Daretable conference next [00:26:15] one next year. Everyone should go. [00:26:18] It was far more [00:26:19] you know filled to the brim, [00:26:21] there was quite a few [00:26:22] more tables and even more [00:26:23] sort of data that could be logged [00:26:26] but you know, [00:26:27] for the purposes of an interface [00:26:28] and sort of your [00:26:30] everyday day to day use [00:26:32] sort of tailoring it to [00:26:35] be [00:26:36] how much information [00:26:37] can I put in here. [00:26:38] What would still make for a good [00:26:39] interface [00:26:42] did they get the office hours [00:26:44] I want to make sure [00:26:45] we get all the top winners [00:26:48] office hours, I might have been one that [00:26:51] maybe it was [00:26:52] broken. Yeah, [00:26:54] so office hours [00:26:57] this one I thought was cool, [00:26:59] it wasn't a winner, [00:27:00] but it was some pretty cool [00:27:02] dash boarding for sales analysis. [00:27:08] Maybe we'll end on this one. [00:27:15] Once it loads [00:27:22] yeah, this is the one, so [00:27:25] I don't know what they've got [00:27:27] going on here, how this is built. [00:27:32] I [00:27:32] kind of think what this is, looks like a, [00:27:38] you [00:27:40] click edit, [00:27:42] let's look at it, [00:27:43] could this be a text, [00:27:45] you could do that with a text field, [00:27:47] like a formula. I mean [00:27:50] it was [00:27:52] just [00:27:54] there so little [00:27:55] how are they so little? [00:27:57] How do they do that? [00:27:58] It's in the header, Yeah, Ok. [00:28:01] Yeah, I get so frustrated. [00:28:03] I'm like why do you let [00:28:05] me make it that small up there, [00:28:07] but not anywhere else? I'm like [00:28:09] yeah, don't let me have more control. [00:28:11] Now, now that you've mentioned it [00:28:14] Alli I'm really [00:28:15] wondering one of the benefits [00:28:17] of winning this particular [00:28:19] contest is of course, [00:28:20] you know, there's prize money, [00:28:22] they'll probably send you [00:28:23] some Airtable socks. [00:28:24] But the one that was most interesting [00:28:27] to me was they're going to sit down [00:28:29] with the winners [00:28:31] and ask what is your [00:28:33] viewpoint on interfaces, [00:28:34] what can be changed? [00:28:36] What you like, what can be improved upon? [00:28:38] And I'm curious to see [00:28:41] based on just how cool [00:28:43] what we've seen today [00:28:45] from some of the winners, [00:28:47] what they can build [00:28:49] already, what were their [00:28:51] suggestions [00:28:51] or what will be their suggestion for [00:28:53] you know, [00:28:54] what can be changed [00:28:55] because just looking at [00:28:57] what's on screen right now, [00:28:58] this looks really good, [00:29:00] you know, from a visual standpoint, [00:29:02] I think Airtable [00:29:03] thus far has done [00:29:05] a good job of giving you [00:29:08] a set of tools that you can build [00:29:10] something that looks [00:29:12] really good to display [00:29:13] certain points of your data. [00:29:16] It might be a usability thing [00:29:18] because dragging [00:29:19] and dropping is still [00:29:21] just a little bit frustrating [00:29:22] and you can't really get [00:29:23] things the exact size that you want, [00:29:26] you can't center things [00:29:28] on screen [00:29:29] unless you put a spacer [00:29:30] element to the left [00:29:31] and push it over that kind of stuff. [00:29:34] I'm curious to see what other people's, [00:29:37] you know, top [00:29:39] improvements, they want to see our [00:29:43] Yeah, I like this one, [00:29:45] I like this looks really nice. [00:29:47] This is really good. [00:29:49] Everything switches when you, [00:29:52] when you change it, so it's [00:29:55] interactive. [00:29:56] It's pretty cool. [00:29:58] Yeah, this was probably one of the better [00:30:03] dashboard interfaces that I saw [00:30:08] so well done. [00:30:09] This one didn't. This one didn't place [00:30:10] but I thought it was well [00:30:12] done. [00:30:15] I mean I think the contest [00:30:17] was a good thing. [00:30:18] I think that there are certain [00:30:20] things where it could have been [00:30:22] managed a little bit better, [00:30:24] especially with the timing [00:30:25] of things [00:30:26] and knowing when things would come out, [00:30:27] like we were given a deadline, [00:30:29] it was pushed back. They would say, [00:30:31] hey, this is when [00:30:32] they will be announced, and then [00:30:34] we ended up like the deadline, [00:30:36] like no one knew. [00:30:37] But I think that this one [00:30:38] contest was managed [00:30:40] a lot better than some of the [00:30:42] other contests that have been earlier on. [00:30:45] There's two concerns that I do have, [00:30:47] and this will both relate [00:30:48] to my experience [00:30:49] with the scripting contest. [00:30:50] One is [00:30:52] well, like just absolutely kudos [00:30:54] for the communication on this one, [00:30:56] that we didn't have the same kind [00:30:57] of staff that [00:30:58] that happened with one of the [00:30:59] first scripting contest. [00:31:00] But the other thing [00:31:01] that happened was a lot of the [00:31:02] entries and some [00:31:03] of the scripting contests, [00:31:04] they just kind of like, [00:31:05] there were links to them [00:31:06] on the community forums [00:31:07] and then they kind of poof [00:31:08] disappeared [00:31:09] and were like, [00:31:09] people would go back and be like, [00:31:10] where'd they go? [00:31:11] So I'm hoping that [00:31:12] doesn't happen here. [00:31:13] I'm hoping that we still get to see, [00:31:14] you know, a year from now that there's [00:31:16] still access to these [00:31:17] so that people go and look [00:31:19] and get inspiration from them. [00:31:20] But I'd also like to see again, [00:31:22] like a year from now [00:31:23] have another contest when [00:31:25] there's more people are used to features, [00:31:27] new features have come out and let's [00:31:29] see what new things [00:31:30] can be done to inspire people. [00:31:32] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. [00:31:35] And that whole post [00:31:36] from the scripting contest [00:31:37] is totally gone. [00:31:38] It's just like, [00:31:41] yeah, [00:31:44] here's one more, [00:31:45] I thought this one looked good visually [00:31:48] it's a home finder. [00:31:49] Home search manager. [00:31:51] Kind of cool. [00:31:52] They got like a calculator going on, [00:31:55] assume maybe there's [00:31:57] some kind of automation [00:31:58] in the background. [00:32:01] So this was cool as well. [00:32:07] All right. So yeah, [00:32:08] that's awesome stuff. [00:32:10] Congratulations to everybody who won. [00:32:13] Also, everybody who submitted [00:32:15] it helps the community. [00:32:16] I've already shared this [00:32:18] with people that, [00:32:19] that I work with [00:32:21] in the consulting business that says, [00:32:24] hey, this is essentially [00:32:25] some ideas [00:32:26] we can steal for our client work as [00:32:29] well and implement [00:32:30] new strategies [00:32:31] and ways to build interfaces. [00:32:33] So thank you to all who contributed [00:32:35] and help the community [00:32:38] in that effort. So let's, [00:32:41] let's continue on [00:32:45] On2Air's our primary sponsor. [00:32:48] A quick shout out to On2Air. [00:32:50] If you are running your business [00:32:52] and dependent on Airtable, [00:32:53] you'll want to check out [00:32:55] the suite of apps from On2Air. [00:32:58] And as you may know, [00:32:59] we are launching a new [00:33:01] standalone forms product [00:33:03] and we are officially live in a [00:33:05] closed beta right now. [00:33:08] Got to close out my slack. And [00:33:11] so if you want to [00:33:13] be a beta tester of our forms, [00:33:16] we have a form, [00:33:17] you can fill out right here [00:33:20] that was built [00:33:21] with our form builder and you can [00:33:24] kind of see some of the cool [00:33:26] functionality that we have [00:33:27] and be able to build your forms [00:33:29] and submit that [00:33:30] and then we will get you access [00:33:32] to our beta [00:33:33] and love to get your feedback on it [00:33:36] as we are working through some [00:33:38] final issues before we [00:33:40] we release it live to the larger audience. [00:33:43] So we'd love to get probably [00:33:45] 10 more beta customers [00:33:47] into our beta program. [00:33:49] So please reach out and [00:33:51] we'll put this link [00:33:53] in the show notes or you can [00:33:55] contact us through our chat [00:33:58] or slack [00:33:59] and feel free to reach out and we'll get [00:34:01] you access to it [00:34:03] to test it out. So excited for that. [00:34:08] Alright, well now dive into fields [00:34:11] and formulas with Kuovonne [00:34:14] will share your screen, [00:34:16] take it away Kuovonne [00:34:17] okay, let me rearrange [00:34:19] my screens a little bit. [00:34:21] So the inspiration for this [00:34:24] was actually from the community [00:34:26] forums where someone, [00:34:28] these are two use cases [00:34:29] that I keep seeing over and over again. [00:34:31] One is say you've got a field [00:34:33] where someone's got like [00:34:35] their full name in there [00:34:36] and you need to split it out [00:34:37] into the individual names [00:34:39] and then the other one is [00:34:40] gonna be the reverse of that [00:34:41] where we have several different fields [00:34:43] and we want [00:34:43] to combine them together [00:34:46] but this is just like just general [00:34:49] patterns a lot of times, [00:34:50] so you'll like [00:34:51] when you bring in your data, [00:34:52] say you're importing something, [00:34:53] you want to have all the names [00:34:55] split out individually [00:34:57] but you only have them [00:34:58] listed with the full name. [00:34:59] And sometimes things get [00:35:00] a little bit tricky trying [00:35:01] to do. I've seen a lot of different [00:35:03] formulas over the years. [00:35:04] But it's tricky because [00:35:06] you're trying to find like [00:35:08] searching on spaces or [00:35:09] like what if there's multiple spaces [00:35:10] trying to figure out things like with [00:35:12] punctuation [00:35:13] and some of those formulas [00:35:15] can get really complicated. [00:35:17] What I like doing this [00:35:19] is these formulas here [00:35:20] where you can see here, [00:35:22] this is just the example. [00:35:23] So we've got the full name, [00:35:24] we can find out [00:35:25] if there's a middle name or there's [00:35:26] a last name. [00:35:27] Here it's a little bit tricky. [00:35:29] Say you have like multiple middle [00:35:31] names and you're trying to [00:35:32] figure out which ones. [00:35:33] This is also why I think that [00:35:34] we [00:35:34] should use the formulas, [00:35:36] but also go back [00:35:37] and you might have to manually clean [00:35:39] some things. [00:35:40] But just to take a look at this, [00:35:42] these use regular expressions [00:35:44] and it uses a [00:35:44] little bit of features [00:35:46] that people might not be familiar with. [00:35:50] So this is for the first name [00:35:51] and say if there is a full name, [00:35:53] we're going to do a rejex extract [00:35:56] from the first name and then this is where [00:35:59] the magic happens. So let me explain this [00:36:01] here you see these little carrots, [00:36:03] they mean different things. [00:36:04] So the first one, [00:36:06] this little carrot [00:36:07] at the very very beginning means find the [00:36:09] very beginning of the text string. [00:36:12] So at the very beginning of the line. [00:36:16] And it's not gonna match anything. [00:36:18] This says we're gonna use a grouping where [00:36:20] we're gonna find not a space. [00:36:23] So this means start [00:36:24] at the very beginning of the [00:36:26] text string. Find [00:36:28] a character that's not a space. [00:36:30] And then the plus means [00:36:32] repeat that until you as [00:36:34] long as you find another [00:36:35] character that's not a space. [00:36:37] So this is how we can [00:36:37] build it out. [00:36:38] And so you can see the first name [00:36:40] is basically gonna be the first [00:36:41] character and that all the characters [00:36:43] that aren't spaces and that's when you [00:36:44] stop. And so that's your first name. [00:36:47] The last name is gonna be built [00:36:49] really similar to that. [00:36:51] But it's gonna say first [00:36:52] of all you're only gonna have a last name [00:36:54] if there's actually a space. [00:36:55] So here we're gonna say [00:36:57] if there's a space in the full name [00:36:59] then we know that there's a last name. [00:37:01] So we're gonna take a rejex extract [00:37:04] from the full name. [00:37:06] And this is gonna work a little bit [00:37:08] this little dollar sign at the end here. [00:37:10] This means look at the very end [00:37:12] of the text string [00:37:13] and that's gonna have to be [00:37:14] at the end [00:37:16] and we're gonna find [00:37:18] a character sets that are not a space [00:37:21] and then [00:37:22] one or more of them [00:37:23] and just keep on repeating that. [00:37:26] But basically what this says [00:37:28] is start at the end of the text [00:37:30] and then find all the characters [00:37:32] that aren't spaces from the end this way. [00:37:35] So that's how we get the last name [00:37:38] and that's how like you know it's blank if [00:37:40] there is no last name in there [00:37:43] and then the middle [00:37:44] is going to be a little bit of trick [00:37:46] that combines the two [00:37:47] of them. [00:37:48] If we can [00:37:50] see this, [00:37:51] if I make my screen bigger, will we? [00:37:53] How does that work? [00:37:55] Yeah. Okay. Let's make this bigger. [00:37:59] I think I have to redo this. [00:38:02] Well you're a zoomed in at a 150. [00:38:05] If you assume that maybe 125 maybe we can [00:38:08] see a bit more, [00:38:09] maybe we can see a bit more. Let's try it. [00:38:12] Okay, so we're zoomed in a little bit [00:38:14] but now you can't see this is [00:38:16] not bad. [00:38:21] Okay, so the idea is [00:38:22] we're gonna do this, [00:38:23] we're gonna do our regular expressions, [00:38:25] we're gonna start with our first name [00:38:27] and then this part is look should look [00:38:28] familiar from the previous one. [00:38:30] It start at the beginning, [00:38:32] find all one or more characters [00:38:35] that are not spaces. [00:38:36] And then we're going to replace that [00:38:37] with an empty string. So with nothing. [00:38:39] So basically take the first name, [00:38:41] replace it with nothing [00:38:42] and then we have over here [00:38:44] which is the same pattern [00:38:46] that we had to find our [00:38:47] last name which is [00:38:48] we're gonna have a character at the end [00:38:50] and then one or more [00:38:51] characters that are not spaces at the end [00:38:53] and then replace them with nothing. [00:38:56] So that should leave us with just [00:38:58] what's in the middle name. [00:38:59] And then we're gonna have a space [00:39:00] at the beginning and a space at the end. [00:39:02] So that's what this trim over here [00:39:04] is for [00:39:05] is it's going to go ahead and get rid [00:39:07] of that space at the beginning [00:39:08] and the end [00:39:09] so that we're left with just the [00:39:10] middle name. [00:39:12] Very clever. That's good. [00:39:15] So it's nice and these [00:39:17] these characters are the keys [00:39:19] of it. It's [00:39:20] it's this character at the beginning [00:39:21] that says start at the [00:39:22] beginning and then the one here that says [00:39:27] little anchors at the end [00:39:29] and just let you know [00:39:30] where they are documented. [00:39:31] So these are if you look at the [00:39:32] formula field reference, [00:39:33] I love how they have the support URL [00:39:35] it's actually [00:39:37] support.airtable.com/ [00:39:38] formulafieldreference. [00:39:39] It used to be like this [00:39:40] long complicated thing [00:39:42] but now it's easy to get to and [00:39:43] the regular expression ones [00:39:45] are at the very end of the list here. [00:39:47] And if you go into here [00:39:49] it says the R. E. Two regular [00:39:51] expression library that [00:39:52] brings you over here. [00:39:54] This is the exact library [00:39:55] that documents that says what it [00:39:56] is because there's [00:39:57] several different flavors [00:39:58] of regular expression [00:40:00] and if you scroll down over here [00:40:02] where it talks to empty strings. [00:40:04] This is where these are documents. [00:40:06] So you can see here [00:40:07] that little carrot says [00:40:08] it's gonna be the beginning of the string [00:40:10] and then the dollar sign is going to [00:40:12] be at the end of the string [00:40:14] and then there's a lot of other things [00:40:16] that are just like really complicated. [00:40:17] You can see there's a lot of things [00:40:18] that aren't supported, [00:40:19] but those two I find [00:40:20] really useful [00:40:23] and that's how we can get all of them [00:40:26] and that way. And I find it's just a lot [00:40:28] cleaner than trying to do like [00:40:30] the find the character [00:40:31] where the space is and then [00:40:32] like the mid or other things [00:40:34] that we had to do [00:40:35] before regular expressions. [00:40:37] Yeah, I would agree. [00:40:39] I hate doing find the character [00:40:42] where the first space is [00:40:44] because you always have to do [00:40:46] either plus one or minus one from there [00:40:48] and I always forget to do it. [00:40:50] It's a nightmare doing formulas that way. [00:40:53] This is really clever. [00:40:55] And this is not, you know, [00:40:57] there's nothing I don't [00:40:58] think you can do about it. [00:41:00] But there's the, [00:41:01] the difference between having [00:41:02] two first names like Mary Kate Olsen [00:41:06] and then having [00:41:07] two last names [00:41:08] that aren't hyphenated like Gabriel Garcia [00:41:12] Marquez. I don't think there's a hyphen [00:41:13] in his name. There is no way for the [00:41:15] formula, no formula can't know that. [00:41:17] So you know, if you look at these two, [00:41:18] if there's a hyphen [00:41:20] then the form that can figure out [00:41:21] that that's the last name, [00:41:22] but if it's not, [00:41:23] it think this is the middle name. [00:41:25] So if you're doing this to [00:41:26] clean data [00:41:26] always when it comes to human names, [00:41:29] you just have to have someone [00:41:30] with the human eyes to go and look at it. [00:41:33] But then let's take a look [00:41:35] at the opposite [00:41:36] is sometimes what you want to do is [00:41:37] you have [00:41:42] wait a minute. [00:41:43] This table is not what I wanted. [00:41:46] This one is what I wanted. Yes. [00:41:48] Okay sometimes you have [00:41:50] text across several [00:41:51] different fields [00:41:52] and you want to combine them into one. [00:41:53] So say we have several [00:41:54] different locations. [00:41:55] Well normally what people would do [00:41:58] this is the beginner [00:41:59] formula. You just say okay [00:42:01] I want city concatenated [00:42:03] with a comma and a space [00:42:05] concatenated with the state [00:42:07] with the common space in the country. [00:42:09] But that doesn't work so well [00:42:12] if your data doesn't support that, [00:42:14] if your data, you know sometimes [00:42:16] you're gonna have a city but no state or [00:42:18] sometimes you might have [00:42:20] you know a state that no country [00:42:22] or some kind of combination [00:42:23] that so you get [00:42:23] like these extra commas [00:42:25] that are laying around, [00:42:26] you get the extra commas at the [00:42:27] end of these things [00:42:29] that looks kind of ugly. [00:42:30] And I wanted to find a simple way [00:42:31] of doing this and [00:42:33] one common way has been [00:42:34] where you have it where you say if and [00:42:37] the first name [00:42:38] but you always have to have [00:42:40] that first one. [00:42:41] But now using regular [00:42:42] expressions, [00:42:44] this part is probably gonna look familiar [00:42:47] people do it. [00:42:49] Let me put it in. [00:42:51] They got the regular expression part here. [00:42:57] This part here where we do a [00:42:59] concatenate [00:43:02] of each of the individual places [00:43:04] and you say [00:43:04] for each of them you say if I have [00:43:06] this thing give this thing [00:43:08] and then a comma and a space. [00:43:09] So if I have a city [00:43:10] give the city name [00:43:12] and then a comma and a space. [00:43:13] If I have a state state the [00:43:15] state [00:43:15] followed by a comma [00:43:17] and a space and so on. [00:43:18] But the problem if you do just that [00:43:20] what if you don't have that [00:43:24] you know what if you didn't have [00:43:26] a country you'd end up with [00:43:27] this comma and a [00:43:28] space at the end. [00:43:30] So what we do is we use this [00:43:31] regular expression [00:43:32] replaced again that says [00:43:34] look at the end of the string. [00:43:37] And then if my characters [00:43:38] just before that are a comma and a space. [00:43:41] So I have a comma space [00:43:42] at the end of the string, [00:43:43] replace that with nothing. [00:43:45] So that's how it works [00:43:47] where if I have just say [00:43:49] a city in the state, [00:43:50] I'm gonna have this [00:43:52] comma space at the end. [00:43:53] And this regex replace gets rid of [00:43:55] that at the end. [00:43:57] So that you don't have any [00:43:58] trailing or dangling ones [00:44:00] no matter what actual things are included. [00:44:03] So if there's nothing there's [00:44:05] no comma and spaces if I have you know, [00:44:07] only a city, [00:44:13] I don't have that comma and space [00:44:14] at the end of that. And it's a nice, [00:44:16] I think it's a nice clean thing [00:44:18] because if you say [00:44:19] you want to add another one, [00:44:20] you just follow that same pattern [00:44:22] if whatever and then [00:44:23] the comma and space after [00:44:24] that. [00:44:28] So, it's trying to figure that [00:44:31] those little anchors for the end of [00:44:35] the regular expression [00:44:36] and the end of the text line [00:44:37] at the end of expression and [00:44:39] then the little carrot one [00:44:40] that we had that looks at the beginning. [00:44:41] So regular expressions [00:44:43] that can be a little bit complicated. [00:44:46] They're a little bit scary at first, [00:44:49] but I find the best way to learn them [00:44:51] is just start with little ones into simple [00:44:54] wildcard characters [00:44:55] and then just gradually try [00:44:56] playing around with one or two [00:44:58] more of these. [00:44:59] And then just, you know, [00:45:00] gradually build up your regular [00:45:02] expression vocabulary. [00:45:04] So Julian post in our comments [00:45:07] says Airtable's having [00:45:09] another contest that's [00:45:10] focused on formulas, [00:45:12] whichever is the best formula [00:45:15] for the top three should be [00:45:16] official functions. And [00:45:19] I've seen some pretty wild [00:45:21] formulas in my day, [00:45:22] none of them are mine. [00:45:24] But yeah, there's some things [00:45:26] that you do over and [00:45:28] over and over again [00:45:29] and some people have even [00:45:31] made extensions [00:45:32] that build formulas for you, [00:45:34] like Kuovonne [00:45:35] Kuovonne you have a couple of those. [00:45:38] So I mean the one thing [00:45:40] I think about formulas [00:45:42] is they're another [00:45:44] language and as far as getting [00:45:47] the power of formulas is being able to do [00:45:51] something very, very specific [00:45:53] for you want that doesn't [00:45:55] exist out of the box. [00:45:58] The way I look at it is [00:45:59] is looking formulas is [00:46:00] what I'd like to have eventually [00:46:02] sometimes is having a like a [00:46:04] formula writing con [00:46:05] course that teaches how to [00:46:07] write formulas. [00:46:08] The way there's all kinds [00:46:10] of classes that say, [00:46:11] you know, learn java script [00:46:12] long python, [00:46:13] learn how to write in the language [00:46:15] formulas or a language all of their own [00:46:17] and Airtable formulas and if we can get [00:46:19] more people to learn how to write formulas [00:46:24] that's what I would like to see [00:46:26] as far as like creating [00:46:28] an official functions, [00:46:29] there's plenty of official functions [00:46:31] I think that we would already like to have [00:46:32] split is one of the top ones. [00:46:37] Arrays, please [00:46:39] be amazing. [00:46:40] And the currency to currency [00:46:42] that would be or currency format like [00:46:45] just any number formatting would be me. [00:46:48] Yeah yeah yeah [00:46:54] number format, that would probably be [00:46:56] what the top one that I would want. [00:46:58] You know, we've got date time format. [00:47:00] Can we get number format [00:47:01] or like in excel where you can create [00:47:04] your own function and define your own [00:47:06] function and write the code behind it. [00:47:10] That's kind of what scripting does [00:47:12] but it takes automations [00:47:14] to actually run it [00:47:17] awesome. Thank you, [00:47:19] Kuovonne. And yeah, [00:47:20] if you need more help with [00:47:22] formulas. Check out Kuovonne's extensions [00:47:26] in the marketplace. You've got one [00:47:29] dedicated to [00:47:30] helping writing formulas. Right? [00:47:32] So one is just a few is ready made [00:47:35] formulas. Just a few prepackaged formulas, [00:47:38] including one for formatting numbers. [00:47:40] And then the other one [00:47:42] is pre filled forms for [00:47:43] specifically [00:47:45] pre filling a form with field values. [00:47:48] Alright, cool. Thank you [00:47:50] Kuovonne for sharing that. [00:47:52] And when they whenever you get [00:47:54] time to write your book [00:47:56] or your training course on formulas, [00:47:59] I think people will [00:48:00] be anxious for that. So [00:48:03] All right, let's move on Kamille [00:48:05] if you're ready, [00:48:07] we're going to go to you next [00:48:08] and learn about Retool. [00:48:10] You're just learning [00:48:12] all of the third party extensions [00:48:14] and app builders. [00:48:16] Yeah, once again [00:48:18] I don't have the [00:48:20] community post up but it's [00:48:23] my screen sharing? Not yet. Okay. [00:48:27] I don't have the community post up [00:48:30] but somebody [00:48:33] I've shared my screen [00:48:35] but not the post on the threads. [00:48:38] Someone had [00:48:40] seen my scheduling script [00:48:44] that I made 10,000 years ago [00:48:47] and it was like [00:48:49] this is great but I need to have it [00:48:52] be public facing and that's sort of a [00:48:55] limitation with [00:48:56] Airtable's scripting extension [00:48:59] and that if your script [00:49:01] is creating records or doing anything [00:49:04] that sort of edits something to do with [00:49:08] the base, you need to be [00:49:09] an authenticated Airtable user [00:49:11] for it to run. [00:49:13] And even if you share a base [00:49:15] and have the extension visible, [00:49:17] I don't think you can run the script [00:49:20] unless you're inside like the editing [00:49:23] mode of Airtable. And so [00:49:26] I was thinking to myself, [00:49:28] what could you do [00:49:29] if you wanted to do the exact same [00:49:30] thing that [00:49:34] You know your these scripts are doing? [00:49:37] I have 10,000 versions of them but I went [00:49:41] through and asked myself [00:49:43] could I build a public facing [00:49:45] version of scheduler or [00:49:47] any of these scheduling scripts [00:49:49] I have and the answer was yes. [00:49:50] I played around with Retool [00:49:55] and [00:49:56] Kamille your your screen. [00:49:57] You haven't shared your screen yet? [00:49:59] Oh I thought I did, [00:50:03] I'm sorry [00:50:05] now is it sharing? [00:50:07] Okay so before I was talking [00:50:09] about all of these different scripts [00:50:12] that I made, [00:50:12] there's actually four of them, [00:50:14] the three more common ones are here, [00:50:16] each one of them, [00:50:18] what they do is [00:50:19] if you have like a table full of assets [00:50:23] or resources and you want to schedule them [00:50:25] on a calendar without having them [00:50:27] overlap any bookings. [00:50:29] My scripts would allow you to select [00:50:33] a room and then [00:50:34] reserve it without overbooking. [00:50:37] I wanted to do a [00:50:39] public facing version of that [00:50:41] and so I was able to rebuild [00:50:43] it in Retool and it wasn't easy [00:50:47] this version because [00:50:50] If you're familiar with the 10,000 [00:50:52] scheduler things that I've made, [00:50:57] one of them [00:51:00] was called scheduler [00:51:01] it looked like this, [00:51:02] it had a calendar component to it. [00:51:04] All Airtable extensions are built out [00:51:07] of a javascript variant called react [00:51:10] in order to get that same [00:51:13] exact calendar thingy into Retool. [00:51:15] I kinda had to [00:51:19] import a bunch of scripts in here [00:51:21] to get it to work [00:51:22] but it does work the exact [00:51:23] same way. So [00:51:25] long story short, yes, [00:51:27] you can rebuild some [00:51:28] of the scripts that I had made and [00:51:30] make them public facing [00:51:32] because Retool allows you to [00:51:34] embed your projects into [00:51:36] other websites and you also [00:51:38] publish them separately [00:51:39] to a dedicated U R L. [00:51:41] So the idea is someone not me, [00:51:43] I don't ever want to have [00:51:45] to rewrite the script [00:51:46] again, this is a proof of concept. So [00:51:51] I wrote in my reply to that thread [00:51:54] no promises but I have proven at least to [00:51:57] myself that you could, [00:51:58] if you so desire to go through [00:52:01] and take my script and put [00:52:02] it somewhere else [00:52:03] and have it still work. [00:52:05] So again, the idea is you select a [00:52:07] resource in this case it's stylists, [00:52:09] I'm booking a hair [00:52:10] appointment or something [00:52:11] like that [00:52:12] And then, you know, [00:52:14] this stylist has an appointment from 3-5, [00:52:17] I can't select that time slot, [00:52:20] you know, works exactly like it should [00:52:22] you click the schedule button, [00:52:24] once you have an appointment slot [00:52:26] selected that's represented here, [00:52:28] click schedule and then it's done. [00:52:31] I also did a similar [00:52:33] sort of implementation [00:52:35] using, [00:52:38] you know, a different layout [00:52:39] but it does sort of the same thing. [00:52:41] It's looking for [00:52:44] the dates that you've selected, [00:52:46] it's looking at each [00:52:47] of the resources and seeing [00:52:49] if they have any appointments [00:52:51] during that time. [00:52:52] If it does, it just won't show [00:52:53] up in this list. [00:52:55] Something that I like about Retool, [00:52:58] they have a few [00:52:59] different components that aren't [00:53:02] available by default [00:53:03] in Airtable's extension [00:53:04] environment. [00:53:05] Of course you can add your own [00:53:07] components like I did with this [00:53:08] calendar thing [00:53:09] that didn't come with Airtable's [00:53:11] extension environment [00:53:12] but Retool comes with a couple [00:53:14] that are really nice [00:53:16] out of the box like the [00:53:17] date range option. [00:53:18] So this is this is looking at a start time [00:53:22] and an end time [00:53:22] field in Airtable [00:53:24] but it's all one component which is nice. [00:53:27] So you'll be able to select one [00:53:30] or more of these resources and hit submit. [00:53:33] Hopefully if I do this, it will work. [00:53:37] Let's see if it actually did. [00:53:40] I'm gonna pick something in this [00:53:43] time range again and then now [00:53:45] only one of them is available. [00:53:48] So behind the scenes a new reservation [00:53:51] was added to my Airtable base which is [00:53:53] why only one resource is showing up [00:53:56] now because the other two are reserved. [00:54:01] Very cool, very nice. [00:54:02] What's your experience with Retool? [00:54:05] How do you compare it [00:54:06] with, you know, [00:54:07] you've spent time in glide. [00:54:10] This is much more you're on your [00:54:13] own if you know, [00:54:15] glide is very like, [00:54:16] oh here's you know, I'll handle all the [00:54:20] transitions from screen to screen for you. [00:54:23] And a lot of things are sort of [00:54:26] the headache is taken out [00:54:28] for you in glide. [00:54:30] And the same thing with like [00:54:31] a doll o or softer [00:54:33] or other things like that. I [00:54:36] talked mad smack about all of those [00:54:39] because like your color scheme is limited [00:54:42] and whether or not they let you [00:54:44] put in custom CSS [00:54:45] and all that, Retool is even [00:54:46] more limited. Retool almost feels like [00:54:49] they don't they don't know if you want to [00:54:51] build something that like looks good. [00:54:54] So you really have very little control [00:54:56] over [00:54:57] the display of things. [00:54:59] I couldn't figure out how [00:55:01] to make the font size bigger [00:55:02] for instance [00:55:05] I would like to make things look bigger. [00:55:09] I don't know if I can. [00:55:11] But that being said if I go to [00:55:15] their component library, [00:55:17] they have a lot of components [00:55:19] and all of them look [00:55:20] very good and look very nice [00:55:22] and they run smoothly [00:55:24] because these are pre built [00:55:26] components that they tested [00:55:27] 1000 times. [00:55:28] And then these ones [00:55:29] at the bottom Custom component. [00:55:31] Html And I frame is where [00:55:34] if you wanted to import [00:55:38] you know a custom react component [00:55:41] you could It's really hard. [00:55:44] I learned what I learned [00:55:46] in like a week. [00:55:47] I'm sure if I sat down and had more [00:55:50] time for it, I would have come up [00:55:52] with a better implementation, [00:55:53] but it was not easy [00:55:55] and I don't want to do it again. [00:55:58] So don't ask me [00:56:00] So on that to go back to the thread, [00:56:03] the answer is it can be done, [00:56:04] it can be done. I'm not going to [00:56:06] work and [00:56:08] the average person is not [00:56:10] something that they're [00:56:12] going to be able to, [00:56:13] you know, this is [00:56:14] something working in a reasonable time. [00:56:16] This is one of those things where you [00:56:17] should hire a developer again, [00:56:19] the developer is not me, but what I would [00:56:21] probably do is I might make [00:56:23] my own threads [00:56:24] on the forums and just write up, [00:56:27] you know, lessons learned. [00:56:29] Here's some things [00:56:30] to keep in mind as you're [00:56:31] transitioning a script from Airtable [00:56:35] into Retool because, you know, [00:56:37] in Airtable scripting extension, I'm using [00:56:42] functions that only work in Airtable [00:56:45] scripting environment versus in Retool, [00:56:48] everything is being and [00:56:50] it's an api request. So you [00:56:53] you have to adjust your thinking [00:56:56] for a lot of this and and all that kind of [00:56:58] stuff. So just be aware [00:57:00] of certain things. But [00:57:02] yeah, I'm done no more. [00:57:07] So quick question, [00:57:09] Which still is your favorite [00:57:13] tool for making a third party portal? [00:57:16] It, I think it's still my personal [00:57:19] favorite is still glide. [00:57:21] I don't think glide [00:57:22] lets you do the most per se, [00:57:23] but it's my favorite editor [00:57:26] environment still, I think it [00:57:29] it's positioned just right [00:57:31] to have a not frustrating [00:57:33] or at least not frustrating [00:57:35] to me editor interface. [00:57:37] A lot of the field types in glide [00:57:40] in their own tables environment. [00:57:42] Or even if you're importing [00:57:43] or syncing tables [00:57:45] from Airtable and google sheets, [00:57:46] you can add your own columns [00:57:48] and those column types are really cool. [00:57:51] The other ones are fine. [00:57:54] I just am annoyed easily. So, [00:57:57] so it sounds like the benefit [00:57:59] of Retool is that it gives [00:58:01] you so many more out of [00:58:02] the box components, [00:58:03] but in exchange [00:58:04] it makes everything else harder. [00:58:05] Yeah. So I probably could have [00:58:08] built this in glide if I wanted to. [00:58:11] The problem is [00:58:15] this bit where it's searching through, [00:58:19] I would have to run a script every time, [00:58:23] you know, you re select dates [00:58:25] right to filter out the ones [00:58:28] that are overlapping [00:58:30] and I don't know what happened [00:58:33] to my throat recently. [00:58:35] I don't know if how to [00:58:36] do that in glide. I'm sure I probably can. [00:58:39] I don't know how [00:58:41] I figured it out in Retool [00:58:43] faster because it's, [00:58:44] it's a more dev focused environment. [00:58:49] I haven't the foggiest idea [00:58:51] how to do this in softr or stacker. [00:58:54] It might not be possible, [00:58:56] but you know, [00:58:57] it is possible in Retool and you can [00:59:00] embed a published Retool something. [00:59:02] I don't know what [00:59:03] they call it interface or [00:59:05] whatever. Into another website. [00:59:07] Cool. I want to make sure [00:59:09] we get we get time for Alli's segment. [00:59:11] Thank you. Kamille. [00:59:13] That's awesome. [00:59:14] Learning about Retool. [00:59:16] So finishing up just quick shout out [00:59:18] to BuiltOnAir. We hope you join our [00:59:20] community if you're not already [00:59:22] in their like minded [00:59:24] Airtable fans and users [00:59:25] join us at builtonair.com [00:59:27] and we are going to end, Alli is going to [00:59:29] continue a conversation [00:59:31] we had a couple of weeks ago [00:59:33] on her interface and new [00:59:34] functionality go for it. [00:59:37] Alright, excellent. [00:59:38] So if you missed last week, [00:59:40] I don't know why that's up [00:59:42] there. [00:59:42] We went over a technique [00:59:45] using syncing and having [00:59:48] multiple data sources to [00:59:50] get some more intricate [00:59:53] and meaningful charts in interfaces. [00:59:56] So that was really cool. [00:59:57] I'm gonna [00:59:58] for the purpose of time skip over all of [01:00:00] the how to from last time. [01:00:03] But we, I took everyone's advice [01:00:05] and said a lot of people have said, [01:00:08] oh you should try syncing that back [01:00:11] into the source base just so we have [01:00:13] everything all in the same place. [01:00:16] So I've done that, which is super cool. [01:00:19] So I've got everything [01:00:21] all in one interface now, [01:00:22] but the other adjustment that I [01:00:24] made, [01:00:25] so originally I just made [01:00:27] actual numbers [01:00:29] and our target numbers plus a [01:00:31] percent of target [01:00:33] and I synced all of those into [01:00:37] our other base over here. [01:00:39] But the cool part about what [01:00:43] you can do is you can sync [01:00:45] fields sync two columns [01:00:47] from two different sources to [01:00:49] the same field in the sync base. [01:00:52] So that's what we're doing here. [01:00:55] And I added a little bit of math [01:00:59] to [01:01:00] get these percentages here. [01:01:04] So essentially I've got, [01:01:05] how much do I have, [01:01:07] how much percentage wise do I have [01:01:09] left to get to my target [01:01:10] or my goal for that month? [01:01:12] And then how much [01:01:13] am I over that goal? [01:01:15] And that could be a good thing or a [01:01:17] bad thing depending on your use case. [01:01:20] And then I have this little target [01:01:23] basically it's my percent [01:01:25] of the target. However, I'm [01:01:28] cutting that off at 100% [01:01:32] and you'll see why when we make our chart. [01:01:35] So I've synced over [01:01:37] three different sources [01:01:39] into this other base. [01:01:41] I've got our target numbers [01:01:43] and percentages, [01:01:45] the actual numbers and percentages [01:01:47] and then the over numbers and percentages. [01:01:52] And then that will allow us. [01:01:54] And I'm syncing this all back [01:01:55] via this view here into the source base [01:02:00] and I've got a whole, [01:02:02] we did a segment on how [01:02:03] to keep this all linked up [01:02:04] together automatically. [01:02:05] If anyone wants to check that out [01:02:06] in just a few weeks [01:02:07] ago. [01:02:08] But now when I go to do [01:02:10] an interface, [01:02:11] I just have this blank one started [01:02:15] by popping this chart here. [01:02:18] I want to put that on my month [01:02:20] reporting table [01:02:22] and I'm gonna have the date be [01:02:24] the X axis. Just because [01:02:26] I find that the most flexible. [01:02:29] And then here's the [01:02:30] cool part if I aggregate [01:02:33] by not the number but let's do percent. [01:02:36] Not average but some [01:02:39] and then I'm gonna group [01:02:41] by that synced source [01:02:43] and so now this kind of gives me [01:02:46] like a progress bar month by month, [01:02:48] how far along I am to my goal [01:02:52] and I don't have anything [01:02:53] over the goal here. [01:02:55] So I'm just gonna add one really [01:02:56] quickly by going into my opportunities [01:02:59] and let's just say actually where are [01:03:02] we with [01:03:04] let's just put April [01:03:06] up, [01:03:11] April is gonna get a bunch more [01:03:13] and now you'll see [01:03:14] the only downside to doing [01:03:15] this like double syncing [01:03:17] is that now I have to go [01:03:20] into my other base [01:03:22] sync this [01:03:24] and you know if you're not looking [01:03:26] for real time data [01:03:27] then this shouldn't be an [01:03:28] issue [01:03:31] but I've got everything syncing up. [01:03:34] And then do we have over go [01:03:37] sync it one more time [01:03:42] and hopefully I'll be able to [01:03:44] show something pretty cool. [01:03:47] Let's go sometimes I've [01:03:48] actually noticed [01:03:49] with having these three data sources [01:03:50] and I haven't gotten [01:03:52] to the bottom of it yet but [01:03:53] I have seen them like out of sync [01:03:55] like it'll sync [01:03:56] once for just two of them and [01:03:58] then it'll sync later on for the third [01:04:01] which seems very odd to me. [01:04:05] Alright come on, [01:04:06] sorry for the purpose [01:04:07] of the time I'm gonna fly along. [01:04:16] Right. I should have, [01:04:18] I'm 100 [01:04:23] I sync that [01:04:30] there we go, [01:04:32] but it only did it for one for April [01:04:34] this is where I'm getting like we'll come [01:04:37] back to that on a later date. [01:04:39] It seems to be a weird sync issue. [01:04:40] Like if I sync it again [01:04:42] then it'll grab January. [01:04:44] Maybe no. Alright, [01:04:46] but anyways, [01:04:48] so the syncing is a little finicky [01:04:51] sometimes, but the end result is worth it, [01:04:54] I promise. [01:04:56] So here I've got finally [01:04:58] April is over the goal, [01:05:00] but that's not really [01:05:02] how I want it, right? [01:05:03] I want the dark green to be on top [01:05:05] to show hey, you went over. [01:05:07] I want everything else [01:05:09] to be lined up and that's the [01:05:11] cool part is this is a simple [01:05:14] as grabbing this [01:05:15] and you can actually [01:05:17] just drag that right up [01:05:20] and then if I go back now [01:05:22] that's at the top, [01:05:24] so the stacked order is in the same [01:05:27] order as that single select. [01:05:29] Very nice. [01:05:31] Sorry for the little pick up there. [01:05:33] I don't know what [01:05:34] I'll try and dig into more [01:05:35] about that weird syncing issue [01:05:36] and figure out what's happening [01:05:38] there. [01:05:40] Could be a bug. [01:05:41] Yeah, and this is yeah, [01:05:44] you'll definitely want to go back and [01:05:48] watch the previous episode [01:05:50] and and see all the, [01:05:51] that was like mind blowing that [01:05:53] that episode. [01:05:54] So definitely worth checking out. [01:05:57] I have never ever understood [01:05:58] stacked bar charts [01:06:00] in the context of Airtable [01:06:02] and I very much like your implementation, [01:06:06] thank you [01:06:07] a little more time, I probably would have [01:06:08] in more about the how to but if anyone [01:06:13] Yeah, last week, a few weeks ago, [01:06:16] that's very cool. [01:06:17] I keep finding that the sort [01:06:19] order of single selects keeps [01:06:21] popping up in like being useful. [01:06:24] It's surprisingly new ways where it's like [01:06:26] that's really cool. [01:06:28] I am glad that Airtable respects [01:06:30] the sort order that you [01:06:32] put in for single selection. [01:06:34] It gives you the option [01:06:35] to alphabetize if you want. [01:06:37] But things like in progress to do [01:06:40] done or whatever you want that in a non [01:06:43] alphabetical order [01:06:45] and then having it carry through [01:06:47] and basically everywhere is very nice. [01:06:52] I think that's one of the number [01:06:54] of reasons why I hate look up fields less [01:06:58] just for single select [01:07:00] slots and collaborator fields. [01:07:04] Fields, [01:07:07] awesome. [01:07:08] Well, thank you all for coming on, [01:07:10] thank you Kuovonne for demonstrating [01:07:12] and sharing your wisdom with us, [01:07:14] always good to have you on. [01:07:16] Thank you. [01:07:18] And we will see everybody next week [01:07:21] on BuiltOnAir. Take care
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- [S20-E07] Full Podcast for 11-19-2024 - Chris Dancy - Most Connected Man; Automation Tips November 26, 2024#airtable #on2air #builtonair 11/19/2024 - BuiltOnAir Live Podcast Full Show - S20-E07 ___________________________ The BuiltOnAir podcast is a live weekly show highlighting everything happening in the Airtable universe. Check us out at BuiltOnAir.com/join. Join our community, join our Slack channel, and see what's happening. ------------------------ SPONSORED BY On2Air - Airtable Apps and Integrations to run […]
