8/8/2023 – BuiltOnAir Live Podcast Full Show – S15-E05
Duration: 58 minutes
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FULL EPISODE VIDEO
Watch the full video of the show. See below for segment details.
The BuiltOnAir Podcast is Sponsored by On2Air – Integrations and App extensions to run your business operations in Airtable.
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.
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 – 00:02:56 –
An App a Day – 00:33:10 –
Watch as we install, explore, and showcase the Noloco App from the Airtable Marketplace. The app is described as “With Noloco, you can easily create internal tools, client portals, CRMs and other business tools that perfectly fit your workflows”.
A Case for Interface – 00:54:54 –
Explore Interfaces with “Timeline Updates”.
Kamille will review some recent changes to the Timeline view.
Field Focus – –
A deep dive into the The Home Screen Feature – Home Page – With the recent changes to the Home Screen, we'll help you understand how to use it.
Full Segment Details
Segment: Round The Bases
Start Time: 00:02:56
Roundup of what’s happening in the Airtable communities – Airtable, BuiltOnAir, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Segment: An App a Day
Start Time: 00:33:10
Airtable App Showcase – Noloco – With Noloco, you can easily create internal tools, client portals, CRMs and other business tools that perfectly fit your workflows
Watch as we install, explore, and showcase the Noloco App from the Airtable Marketplace. The app is described as “With Noloco, you can easily create internal tools, client portals, CRMs and other business tools that perfectly fit your workflows”.
Segment: A Case for Interface
Start Time: 00:54:54
Timeline Updates
Explore Interfaces with “Timeline Updates”.
Kamille will review some recent changes to the Timeline view.
Segment: Field Focus
Start Time:
Learn about the The Home Screen – With the recent changes to the Home Screen, we'll help you understand how to use it.
A deep dive into the The Home Screen Feature – Home Page – With the recent changes to the Home Screen, we'll help you understand how to use it.
Full Transcription
The full transcription for the show can be found here:
[00:01:42] Welcome back to the BuiltOnAir Podcast. [00:01:45] We are in season 15, [00:01:46] episode five. Good to be with you [00:01:48] live this Tuesday morning [00:01:49] got myself and Kamille back [00:01:52] and our regular guest host, [00:01:55] Scott Rose with us. [00:01:56] Welcome back, Scott. [00:01:57] Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. [00:02:00] Always good to have you back. [00:02:02] So, the BuiltOnAir Podcast [00:02:04] is a hour long show. [00:02:06] We do every live live every [00:02:08] Tuesday at 11 a.m. Eastern [00:02:10] and we'll walk through what [00:02:11] we're gonna be doing today. [00:02:13] We always start with our Round the Bases [00:02:15] to keep you up to date with [00:02:16] what's going on in all [00:02:17] the communities and latest [00:02:18] features [00:02:19] of Airtable. Then we'll do a spotlight on [00:02:22] On2Air our primary sponsor. [00:02:25] Then Scott's gonna walk us through [00:02:28] a app, a third party app [00:02:30] called Noloco and [00:02:31] show how that works with Airtable. [00:02:34] And then, [00:02:35] and then Kamille is gonna [00:02:37] walk through some updates with timeline, [00:02:39] both the view and [00:02:41] inside interfaces, I believe. [00:02:44] And then a shout out to join [00:02:46] our community [00:02:47] and then we're gonna wrap up talking [00:02:48] about the new home screen [00:02:50] and help you understand that. [00:02:52] So with that. [00:02:53] Let's get started [00:02:55] with our Round the Bases [00:02:57] couple feature updates. [00:02:59] So we talk about those first, [00:03:02] they launched mobile interfaces, [00:03:05] at least on iphone. [00:03:07] So I'm not an iphone user. [00:03:09] I can't test this yet, [00:03:11] but [00:03:12] I know there has been some reaction [00:03:15] but [00:03:17] there's some screenshots [00:03:19] of what you can do in here, some things. [00:03:23] Any of you played with it yet? [00:03:25] So, while I do work for the company Apple, [00:03:29] I also am an Android user for, [00:03:31] at least for the phone. [00:03:33] So I haven't been able to actually [00:03:35] use it, for an extended period of time. [00:03:38] Of course, all of my co-workers [00:03:39] have iphones and so [00:03:42] I was able to see [00:03:43] what [00:03:45] was like transferred over [00:03:47] and not everything, [00:03:48] not every page is available. [00:03:50] Sort of unsurprisingly, [00:03:52] the newer layouts are [00:03:54] more compatible with, [00:03:56] the mobile interface [00:03:58] and the older ones that are [00:04:00] much more custom, [00:04:02] are not, I haven't seen any charts [00:04:04] make their way over. I don't know if you [00:04:06] could have a chart at all on mobile. [00:04:09] The, the elements that moved over [00:04:12] seemed to work fine. Of course, [00:04:14] I haven't used them [00:04:15] for an extended period, [00:04:16] so I don't know if they're buggy or [00:04:18] anything like that. But, [00:04:20] Scott, have you been able to? [00:04:22] You know, I do have an iphone. [00:04:24] Unfortunately, [00:04:25] I haven't played with this yet. [00:04:28] One question that I have [00:04:30] is that it seems like are they [00:04:33] sort of ignoring the grid view? [00:04:35] Like the new [00:04:36] interfaces don't have a grid view option. [00:04:40] You can still make one, [00:04:42] it's just not surfaced [00:04:44] for whatever reason. [00:04:45] I think like [00:04:46] list view is sort of assumed to be, [00:04:50] you know, everyone's favorite [00:04:52] over a grid view, [00:04:53] but that's not always the case, [00:04:54] right? Sometimes a list is more [00:04:56] appropriate and sometimes a grid is more [00:04:58] appropriate. [00:04:59] And I haven't come across [00:05:01] a full interface build [00:05:03] where I didn't need both in [00:05:04] some instances. And the times [00:05:07] when I didn't need both, [00:05:09] I leaned towards the grid [00:05:10] over the list because it's very, [00:05:12] that's when like presentation [00:05:14] matters [00:05:15] and it's less about presenting a bunch of [00:05:17] data like all at once. [00:05:19] Sometimes you want the field [00:05:21] descriptions which aren't in a list view. [00:05:22] So [00:05:23] yeah, while they're not gonna [00:05:25] be present in that opening [00:05:27] sort of screen for [00:05:29] creating a new interface page, [00:05:30] you can still create a full [00:05:32] grid thing. And I, [00:05:34] I would imagine it's compatible. [00:05:36] I don't know, [00:05:36] I haven't been able to use it. [00:05:38] I know Kuovonne [00:05:38] is the first person [00:05:39] to respond to this thread. [00:05:41] I'm sure I'll likely agree [00:05:43] with whatever she says. [00:05:45] As soon as it's available on android, [00:05:47] I'm sure I'll have similar things to say. [00:05:50] Yeah, I will have to actually test [00:05:51] all this out. [00:05:52] I haven't actually had a chance [00:05:53] yet. Unfortunately. [00:05:56] Yeah, the, yeah, [00:05:57] the only feedback I saw [00:05:59] I don't think I have it up [00:06:00] but I know there's [00:06:01] been discussion in other, [00:06:02] in the BuiltOnAir community [00:06:04] about some of the limitations. [00:06:07] In general, [00:06:08] it looks like fairly positive feedback. [00:06:17] Alicia says I like the look of this view, [00:06:19] but I hate the feel of in online [00:06:20] editing [00:06:21] in this view. [00:06:22] That's one of my issues [00:06:23] with the list view, [00:06:24] one of my multiple issues, [00:06:25] which is why I like the grid view better. [00:06:27] I would agree. Like I said, [00:06:29] I feel like it's best for [00:06:31] presenting and less about [00:06:32] like [00:06:33] I need to edit data that might be [00:06:35] filtered a certain way, only show me my [00:06:37] records, things like that [00:06:38] for list view. It's great. If I just like, [00:06:41] here's all of your projects, [00:06:43] you know, you don't need [00:06:44] to edit a bunch of stuff [00:06:45] at once, one or two fields fine. [00:06:48] But if you really are [00:06:49] getting in there, [00:06:50] list view is not quite [00:06:52] ready for that, I would say. [00:06:53] I know they're making improvements and, [00:06:55] and whatnot, it's improved [00:06:57] more frequently than the grid view [00:06:58] because it's newer, but [00:07:01] I would [00:07:02] I would agree with Alicia [00:07:03] and Scott that it's not, [00:07:05] it's not purpose built for editing [00:07:08] so much as presenting. [00:07:12] Wonder [00:07:13] is this interesting tidbit, [00:07:14] I'm just reading this. [00:07:16] You added drag and drop [00:07:17] back to side sheets. [00:07:19] So if you pull up the thread [00:07:21] that we covered, [00:07:23] I believe the week before [00:07:24] or the week before that, [00:07:25] Phil Rose who works [00:07:28] at Airtable responded that, [00:07:32] you can now [00:07:34] disable, [00:07:36] the newer build system for detail pages [00:07:43] in the interim. [00:07:44] I'll see if I could pull that up [00:07:45] if you, if you don't have it. [00:07:46] Yeah, I don't have that up. [00:07:50] Yeah, I think, I think just reading [00:07:52] through the comments in general, [00:07:54] people's responses have been [00:07:56] positive saying it's a little [00:07:58] buggy but promising. [00:08:00] So a good start. [00:08:01] I don't know if it's quite [00:08:03] production ready yet. [00:08:04] But, [00:08:05] yeah, it's certainly not done [00:08:07] because there are certain things [00:08:09] that aren't [00:08:09] available and I would imagine [00:08:11] there are some things that [00:08:13] won't be available ever. Like, [00:08:15] I imagine the, those super [00:08:17] old layouts just won't ever be [00:08:19] compatible with mobile [00:08:20] and I think we're just gonna [00:08:22] have to bite the bullet on that. [00:08:23] However, [00:08:26] all of the newer stuff [00:08:27] should in theory [00:08:28] eventually become available and also [00:08:30] Android. Come on now. [00:08:32] Yeah. [00:08:33] Yeah. [00:08:34] So, [00:08:35] yeah, I mean, as long as it's [00:08:37] coming soon they can release, [00:08:39] you know, early. But, [00:08:42] yeah, that definitely needs to be there. [00:08:48] Yeah, it also looks like Airtable [00:08:51] employees are responding. [00:08:52] So that's good. [00:08:55] Oh, [00:08:55] there it is. [00:08:56] We're actively working on Android [00:08:58] or they, or they should, [00:09:00] I [00:09:00] mean, [00:09:02] not exact [00:09:03] day yet. [00:09:05] I have that other thread up if [00:09:09] that too. [00:09:10] So I misspoke this is someone else [00:09:13] at Airtable. Phil was the person [00:09:15] who responded first from Airtable, [00:09:16] this is someone else, but they're [00:09:18] basically saying in the interim, [00:09:20] while they're working on improving [00:09:23] site sheet behavior [00:09:25] or detail pages in general, [00:09:27] you can [00:09:29] convert a newer detail page [00:09:31] to what they're referring to [00:09:34] as the legacy layout or [00:09:35] legacy format. So you would look [00:09:38] for the three dots [00:09:39] in the top right corner and [00:09:41] convert to legacy [00:09:42] layout. [00:09:44] Just so, you know, you can't reverse this, [00:09:47] you can't take an old or legacy [00:09:49] layout and convert it into the new system. [00:09:52] So once you do this, you know, [00:09:53] you'll have to make a [00:09:54] new one if you want to use [00:09:55] some of the features that were added to [00:09:57] the [00:09:58] newer sort of system. [00:10:00] So they also highlight the things [00:10:02] that they're actively working [00:10:04] on some of which [00:10:04] is in response to [00:10:06] the various bits of feedback [00:10:07] that they've received, including [00:10:09] being able to more directly edit [00:10:11] the fields themselves [00:10:12] from within an interface. [00:10:13] Being able to customize rows [00:10:16] and columns that to me [00:10:17] is promising because they [00:10:19] could have just said rows, [00:10:21] they said columns, which is, [00:10:23] you know, good for me because [00:10:25] I feel like I'll be able [00:10:26] to drag or at least [00:10:27] control the size of individual [00:10:29] elements on the page [00:10:31] in two directions rather [00:10:32] than one. [00:10:33] They say gray tinting will be [00:10:36] added for visual separation. [00:10:38] Previously, we were able to [00:10:41] do either gray or whatever the [00:10:42] light version of the color [00:10:44] of the interface [00:10:46] was where now it seems like we're [00:10:48] only getting gray. [00:10:51] OK. Field helper text will be [00:10:53] available on interfaces. [00:10:55] You can have helper [00:10:56] text on a form view [00:11:00] where it'll say like the name [00:11:01] of the field and underneath it [00:11:03] much like a field [00:11:03] description, it will give you additional [00:11:05] place to put description that seems [00:11:07] like it would be useful and they say [00:11:09] more is coming. So [00:11:12] yeah, so I would go back to this thread. [00:11:15] This is the one called changes to [00:11:17] side sheet behavior. It's on page three, [00:11:20] if you wanted to read that in more detail. [00:11:22] Yeah, it seems like they maybe [00:11:24] they listen to our podcast [00:11:25] because it seems like [00:11:25] they gave us this legacy option [00:11:27] shortly after we talked [00:11:29] about this a few weeks [00:11:30] ago. [00:11:30] But really what I think is it's, [00:11:32] it's a reaction [00:11:33] to all the backlash that they [00:11:34] had on the forums. [00:11:36] Yeah. So way back when [00:11:37] with the I don't remember [00:11:39] the precise order of [00:11:40] events, the with the homepage change, [00:11:43] which we'll be discussing [00:11:45] later, I believe. [00:11:46] If we have the time for it, [00:11:48] you were able to opt out [00:11:50] of the home page [00:11:51] for some period of time and then that [00:11:53] cut off. Now, were there changes [00:11:56] implemented after the opt-out period? [00:11:59] No, I think it was the same. [00:12:00] I think it was just delaying [00:12:02] the inevitable. [00:12:02] Whereas in the perfect world [00:12:04] such as like we seem [00:12:06] to be seeing with this change, [00:12:07] you know, there's a change [00:12:09] coming in the pipeline, [00:12:11] you don't have to use it [00:12:12] yet. And while they're [00:12:14] still sort of cooking, [00:12:15] you're able to give feedback [00:12:17] and say actually this doesn't work, [00:12:18] it'd be great if it would [00:12:20] do this et cetera. And by the time [00:12:22] you're not allowed to opt out anymore, [00:12:25] those, the major things will be addressed, [00:12:27] not everyone's gonna be happy. [00:12:28] Of course, you can never have [00:12:30] a truly perfect product, but like [00:12:31] no bugs, number one [00:12:33] and then you don't lose [00:12:35] features or functionality. [00:12:37] So hopefully this is a [00:12:39] better implementation [00:12:41] of that idea, being able to [00:12:43] continue as you are used to [00:12:46] for a particular project [00:12:48] while still getting to test [00:12:50] some of this new functionality [00:12:52] and see what works and doesn't work. [00:12:54] Yeah. Yeah. This is the way to do it, [00:12:56] the way to do it is what you just said, [00:12:58] give people a choice, [00:12:59] they can test it, they can give feedback, [00:13:01] hopefully they implement that feedback [00:13:03] and then they roll out [00:13:04] the new change instead of just [00:13:05] one day, we all wake up [00:13:07] in the morning and boom, [00:13:08] there's this whole new, [00:13:09] a whole new way of being suddenly. [00:13:13] Yeah. [00:13:14] Yeah, for sure. [00:13:16] Yeah. So lots of lots of changes [00:13:19] there and, and I think, [00:13:20] you know, a lot, we've alluded [00:13:22] that a lot of the changes [00:13:24] that they're making [00:13:24] were in preparation for these [00:13:26] mobile updates [00:13:27] which are now we're starting to see. [00:13:29] So [00:13:32] definitely making that a priority. [00:13:34] Kamille predicted that. [00:13:35] Kamille, [00:13:36] was that your prediction that that's why? [00:13:38] I have vocalized it. Sure. I think [00:13:41] a sort of pattern with Airtable's, [00:13:43] they'll have some [00:13:45] major thing cooking in the [00:13:46] background, [00:13:47] in this case, mobile ready Interfaces [00:13:50] and that is something [00:13:51] that many people had [00:13:52] requested for quite some time. [00:13:53] If you go way, way back [00:13:55] to when interfaces [00:13:56] were first launched as a beta, [00:13:58] some of the things people [00:14:00] wanted was available [00:14:01] on mobile because at the time, [00:14:02] the Airtable mobile app [00:14:04] wasn't cutting it [00:14:05] for a variety of reasons. [00:14:08] And then [00:14:09] it took presumably all three years [00:14:11] to sort of work on it. [00:14:13] I'm sure it was [00:14:14] a [00:14:15] gargantuan [00:14:15] task and then slowly but surely [00:14:18] they were adding little things that [00:14:21] culminate in [00:14:23] the mobile ready view because [00:14:26] Airtable as it existed, [00:14:28] you know, 2020 2021 [00:14:30] wasn't compatible, [00:14:32] so they had to make little changes [00:14:34] along the way [00:14:34] in order to drop this release. [00:14:37] So things like the newer [00:14:40] interface pages that are [00:14:41] less customizable, [00:14:43] that means they're easier [00:14:45] to put on mobile. [00:14:46] And that's why those are the ones [00:14:48] generally speaking [00:14:50] that work on mobile, [00:14:51] while the other ones are kind of 50 50 [00:14:54] sometimes they get converted [00:14:55] over and sometimes they weren't. [00:14:57] And things like the list view. [00:14:59] Although we just said it's, [00:15:01] it's not great for [00:15:01] mass data editing, [00:15:03] those moved over into the [00:15:04] mobile interface from what I've [00:15:06] seen again. I haven't been able [00:15:08] to test it myself fairly smoothly [00:15:10] because they [00:15:11] were built [00:15:12] at the time. [00:15:13] They were already thinking [00:15:15] about mobile. That's my inferring, [00:15:18] you know, [00:15:19] unsure how accurate I am. But I feel like [00:15:22] that's kind of what happened. [00:15:24] Dan, is your takeaway from this [00:15:26] that Kamille needs an iphone? [00:15:27] Is that? Because that's what my takeaway. [00:15:30] I will say. [00:15:31] I'm, I have a Mac as my personal computer. [00:15:35] You know, I'm I'm halfway there. [00:15:38] It's just that my phone is six months old. [00:15:40] I don't need a new phone. [00:15:42] That's, that's true. [00:15:43] I used to work with Apple for six years. [00:15:48] So. Oh, [00:15:49] nice. And now Kamille [00:15:50] has been there full time six months. [00:15:52] Congratulations. [00:15:54] Yeah. [00:15:55] Well, here's a [00:15:56] Kai kai gives us some closure. [00:15:58] It, it appears that grid views [00:16:00] do not work on mobile. [00:16:02] So if you actually have an [00:16:03] interface that uses a grid [00:16:04] view, the entire [00:16:06] interface doesn't show. [00:16:07] So you have to switch it [00:16:09] to a list view to work. [00:16:10] Now. That's interesting. [00:16:12] So like if the page contains a grid view, [00:16:16] the whole page doesn't get [00:16:18] that I think [00:16:20] is not great [00:16:21] what I would want, right? [00:16:23] I'm assuming this is an older page [00:16:25] that was fully customizable, [00:16:27] you drag and drop everywhere. [00:16:28] What I would [00:16:29] want to see is that all the elements [00:16:32] on the page that could be converted over [00:16:35] presumably the text, right? [00:16:37] You know, the number field stuff [00:16:39] at the top that might give you context and [00:16:41] things, even a record picker [00:16:43] might get converted over [00:16:44] and there you get a box [00:16:46] that says element could not [00:16:47] be rendered or something [00:16:49] and then to clarify [00:16:50] to the user that it's not in [00:16:52] error. It's more that, you know, [00:16:54] grid reviews coming [00:16:55] soon or something like that. [00:16:57] I would prefer to see that [00:16:59] rather than the whole page not being [00:17:02] you know, available. Yeah. [00:17:04] Yeah. [00:17:05] Yeah, that [00:17:05] would [00:17:06] be [00:17:06] cool. [00:17:07] All right, let's move on. [00:17:08] Let us know in the comments, what, [00:17:10] what your reaction is to mobile [00:17:12] and, and what you wanna see there. [00:17:15] There was another one that [00:17:17] came out, [00:17:18] this one came out on that Tuesday of [00:17:20] last episode, [00:17:22] linked record creation [00:17:24] deletion and various elements. [00:17:27] This is probably one of [00:17:28] my favorite sets of improvement, [00:17:31] few interfaces in some time. [00:17:33] Of course, when I get to play [00:17:34] with mobile, [00:17:35] I'm sure I'll like several things [00:17:36] about it and dislike several [00:17:38] things about it. But this update [00:17:39] for, you know, [00:17:41] the desktop interface experience is like [00:17:45] so many automation saved of [00:17:48] nonsense workaround for [00:17:50] adding new records and deleting records. [00:17:55] You know, if you guys remember [00:17:56] the dreaded lock icon [00:17:58] at the bottom of the screen [00:17:59] before they even [00:17:59] have a screenshot of it. [00:18:00] Yeah. There it is. There's a screenshot [00:18:02] that said you cannot add new records. [00:18:04] At least it told you at least [00:18:06] it told you you couldn't do it. [00:18:07] Sure. [00:18:08] But now you can, [00:18:10] now it looks like it's, [00:18:12] OK. Yeah. So list grid calendar [00:18:14] and timeline [00:18:16] elements. So, most of them. [00:18:19] Yeah. All except calendar. [00:18:21] No, no. [00:18:22] Well, what's [00:18:22] missing? [00:18:24] Yeah, that might be all of them, [00:18:26] huh? [00:18:26] OK. [00:18:28] Nice. Yeah, I was wondering [00:18:30] if it was just list view but [00:18:31] they say grid, [00:18:33] I feel like a real amateur [00:18:34] if I've forgotten the view type. [00:18:36] Yeah. [00:18:37] There we go list, gallery, kanban, [00:18:40] calendar, timeline and grid. [00:18:42] Yeah, that's [00:18:42] all. [00:18:44] So what I like most about [00:18:45] this update is that they've separated out [00:18:48] adding records in line [00:18:50] and adding records via a form. [00:18:52] And this is most applicable [00:18:55] to the list and grid views [00:18:57] where in line adding, [00:18:59] you know, makes sense. [00:19:01] Because [00:19:03] when you add in line in a grid, right [00:19:06] values might come in if it's grouped, [00:19:09] you know, the the grouped value will come [00:19:11] in if it's not an editable field, [00:19:13] if it's a non calculated field, [00:19:15] but [00:19:16] there's nothing that prevents [00:19:18] you from leaving required [00:19:20] fields empty in that [00:19:21] case. [00:19:22] So using a form is a great way of saying [00:19:25] here's what you need to fill in [00:19:29] here. You know, [00:19:30] we're not gonna bother [00:19:32] showing you this field, [00:19:33] unless this value is filled in [00:19:34] with a particular value, [00:19:36] you can have defaults set for a form, [00:19:38] those are great in those instances. But [00:19:41] for the reverse, [00:19:42] if you just wanna add, [00:19:44] you don't have like data constraints [00:19:45] like that. And you just want to add [00:19:47] a whole bunch in it, in one go adding in [00:19:49] line is very useful. [00:19:51] You can toggle those on or off separately, [00:19:54] a minor complaint. [00:19:57] If you want to delete records in line, [00:20:00] you have to turn on adding records in [00:20:03] line. [00:20:04] I feel like those should be [00:20:06] separated out as well because I don't, [00:20:08] I'm thinking of like a junction table, [00:20:10] right? I don't necessarily want to add [00:20:12] records in line because [00:20:13] I want to pick from, [00:20:14] you know, I wanna make sure [00:20:16] I have unique records [00:20:16] and I could do that more [00:20:17] easily through a form, [00:20:19] but I want people [00:20:20] to delete line items easily. [00:20:21] So that's kind, that's more of a [00:20:24] minor sort of complaint. [00:20:26] But other than that, [00:20:27] basically everything in this update [00:20:30] is stuff that I have personally been [00:20:32] wanting for for quite [00:20:34] some time because it is [00:20:36] just so many [00:20:39] bases and so many interfaces had [00:20:43] you had to have one button [00:20:45] for each, for each element, right? [00:20:46] For your user [00:20:48] that says, [00:20:49] create a new record and it would [00:20:51] fire some automation. [00:20:52] You'd have to wait for, [00:20:53] you know, the automation to complete and [00:20:55] you don't necessarily [00:20:57] have to do that anymore. [00:20:58] Which is great. [00:21:00] Yeah, I wonder how many are [00:21:02] like Karlsten here [00:21:03] that has been holding off [00:21:05] building interfaces [00:21:06] because of this feature. [00:21:08] You can now start using interfaces. [00:21:12] I think it was probably surprising [00:21:13] for most people [00:21:14] when they were building their [00:21:14] interfaces for the first time [00:21:16] and they're like, oh, [00:21:17] wait, what you can't do this. [00:21:18] I, I kind of understood it [00:21:20] when it was in its beta phase. Right? [00:21:22] Because, like, creating a linked record [00:21:25] under the hood, I guess it, [00:21:26] you know, it adds some complexity [00:21:28] there. And then when [00:21:30] interfaces moved out of [00:21:31] beta and was just like a full launch, [00:21:33] I was like, oh, we still can't do that. [00:21:37] It was like a major missing. That's, [00:21:40] it was so bizarre to me [00:21:41] that once it moved past beta [00:21:43] and it still wasn't there. [00:21:45] I think we're like a year after, [00:21:48] right? I think it was in beta [00:21:49] for two years [00:21:50] and now it's been a year since it's [00:21:51] no longer a beta. [00:21:52] And now we're getting this feature [00:21:55] so strange. It took sort [00:21:57] of, [00:21:58] yeah, better late than never, I guess. [00:22:00] But [00:22:01] if I can [00:22:02] tie everything back to some grand [00:22:05] conspiracy within Airtable, [00:22:06] they probably had to do [00:22:08] this before they could do mobile. [00:22:11] If you expect to just press [00:22:14] the button for like that, [00:22:15] that floating plus button [00:22:17] that was always locked. [00:22:18] You expect to press that in a [00:22:20] mobile environment rather than having [00:22:22] a custom button appear some strange way [00:22:25] in whatever Airtable decides it goes in [00:22:28] a mobile sort of view. [00:22:30] So I feel like they, again, [00:22:32] they had to do it [00:22:33] in order to launch mobile. [00:22:36] Yeah, [00:22:36] that makes sense. [00:22:39] All right. Next one another, [00:22:40] we've actually been, [00:22:42] you know, sometimes some [00:22:44] weeks it's very negative [00:22:46] on decisions made by [00:22:47] Airtable. I think this one [00:22:49] relatively happy with, with the stuff. [00:22:53] Here's one, if you were dying [00:22:56] for slack, more slack integration, [00:22:59] they've introduced actionable messages. [00:23:03] And so what that means is [00:23:05] inside of Airtable, you can actually, [00:23:07] or inside of automations, you can actually [00:23:10] create these messages that have [00:23:12] buttons associated with them that then [00:23:14] trigger [00:23:17] the trigger another automation [00:23:19] that that can do stuff in Airtable. [00:23:22] So [00:23:23] I started to play with this. [00:23:25] I I need to get [00:23:27] I need to get it approved to do this. [00:23:29] So maybe in a future episode, [00:23:30] we'll we'll show how this works. But [00:23:34] kind of cool. I don't know that [00:23:36] people were demanding it but [00:23:38] yeah, I don't, yeah, [00:23:39] I never heard anybody [00:23:40] demand this but it is kind of cool. [00:23:41] This is actually [00:23:43] the first time that one of their actions, [00:23:45] their automation actions can do [00:23:46] something natively that [00:23:49] make cannot do native natively, [00:23:52] which is, [00:23:53] which is interesting because [00:23:55] this is not possible [00:23:57] with make. I don't even know [00:23:59] how they did this but it's very cool. [00:24:01] Yeah, Slack has always been one [00:24:04] of the like first party [00:24:07] integrations that Airtable [00:24:08] had. Like before automations [00:24:10] were part of the product, [00:24:12] you would always be [00:24:13] able to like send to Slack or, [00:24:15] or sync your notifications [00:24:17] to Slack or something. [00:24:18] That was always an option in Airtable. [00:24:20] And then automation came and then they [00:24:22] got an action like, you know, [00:24:24] same with Google Drive and Google [00:24:26] Mail and whatever. [00:24:27] So this is like, [00:24:29] you know, [00:24:31] maybe Slack is just the favorite [00:24:33] that they have this very specific. And [00:24:35] it seems like it'd be fairly [00:24:37] useful for teams that are [00:24:39] spending a lot of time in Slack [00:24:42] and you have very standardized sets of, [00:24:45] you know, actions that you do. [00:24:47] I don't know if my team is gonna [00:24:49] be able to make use of it, [00:24:51] but it seems like it would be cool. [00:24:53] I am curious how [00:24:56] the different buttons are set up. [00:25:00] I can kind of see it in that screenshot [00:25:01] but I do wonder, is it just a dialogue [00:25:03] that [00:25:04] comes up and says, [00:25:06] you know, pick another automation [00:25:08] to launch or is it something that like, [00:25:12] does it open a update record dialogue? [00:25:14] And it's just that step that is [00:25:16] triggered by that button? [00:25:18] I don't know, like it, it [00:25:20] makes me think of like [00:25:22] branching automations [00:25:23] like you can do with make. [00:25:26] But I don't know if it's [00:25:28] of that [00:25:29] complexity. [00:25:33] Yeah, I was also reading [00:25:34] so I actually don't know [00:25:35] the answer to that. [00:25:36] I was reading somewhere [00:25:37] that it will only wait [00:25:39] for someone to click on that for [00:25:40] a certain number of days [00:25:42] or something and then it expires, [00:25:43] I believe. [00:25:47] So for so I guess the automation [00:25:49] in a way is, [00:25:51] I guess what this, see this [00:25:52] on a future episode [00:25:53] because I haven't played with [00:25:54] this yet either this, [00:25:55] since it just came out [00:25:56] a couple of days ago. [00:25:59] So there is, it's almost like [00:26:01] your automation is like [00:26:02] waiting in a pause state [00:26:04] in the background and then [00:26:05] it does something [00:26:05] when you click on one of those [00:26:06] buttons. [00:26:07] Oh, [00:26:08] interesting. [00:26:10] Yeah. So [00:26:11] there's queued up, [00:26:12] like your automations will be queued up [00:26:13] in the background. [00:26:14] I don't know if they, [00:26:15] if there's a visual [00:26:16] for this when that happens [00:26:17] and each one is waiting [00:26:18] for a button press, [00:26:20] I guess to finish its run [00:26:21] essentially. Yeah, [00:26:22] I I need to test this out because that's, [00:26:24] you know, I mean, [00:26:25] that's substantially different than [00:26:27] the other actions and [00:26:29] what they do because it's just, it's one, [00:26:32] one sort of go [00:26:33] for all the other types of actions [00:26:35] that happen one after another [00:26:36] as soon as the other one finishes. [00:26:38] So the concept of like waiting [00:26:41] for a user response isn't something that's [00:26:45] really represented in other action steps. [00:26:50] Yeah. Yeah, I could be wrong [00:26:51] on this too, [00:26:52] but that's, that was my understanding [00:26:53] from reading the documentation on it. [00:26:56] Yeah, I mean, looking at this, [00:26:58] it says [00:26:59] if they click on approve there's one [00:27:01] field updated. So [00:27:05] yeah. [00:27:06] Oh OK. So it's like [00:27:08] it's almost like a conditional, [00:27:11] you know, a conditional action [00:27:13] step one for each button [00:27:15] that will [00:27:16] update the record that triggered it [00:27:19] in some way. [00:27:20] I don't think it pauses. [00:27:22] I think it'll go on to the next step [00:27:25] if you're out [00:27:25] of the next step because this just, [00:27:27] this action is just to send the message [00:27:30] and then it, [00:27:32] yeah, [00:27:32] it seems like the whole automation [00:27:35] will continue. But that one step [00:27:37] is sort of like maybe it's not [00:27:39] pause per se, [00:27:40] but that one step is still waiting. [00:27:42] But you know what, [00:27:43] maybe it has nothing to do [00:27:44] with the automation. [00:27:44] Maybe they're just doing it [00:27:45] with the API behind the scenes. [00:27:48] Yeah. [00:27:48] So maybe the automation [00:27:50] is never paused and never waiting at all. [00:27:52] That, that part of it. [00:27:54] Yeah. [00:27:54] OK. [00:27:55] Yeah. [00:27:55] Well, that kind of makes sense. [00:27:57] You could have another automation [00:27:58] that triggers [00:27:58] when approve equals check. [00:28:00] You know, just have another automation. [00:28:02] I could see you not necessarily [00:28:05] needing it all to be one automation if, [00:28:07] especially if there's a wait time [00:28:09] for the person that clicked the button. [00:28:11] Yeah. Yeah. [00:28:12] So, [00:28:13] yeah, I can, can do good stuff, [00:28:15] Melanie. Definitely true. [00:28:16] Enterprise probably [00:28:17] demanded it [00:28:18] almost certainly. Yeah, [00:28:20] it's like, yeah. [00:28:22] Yeah. You know what? [00:28:23] That's what it must be. [00:28:24] They must somehow encode those [00:28:25] buttons with an API call to Airtable. [00:28:27] So the automation is completely out of [00:28:30] the picture by the time [00:28:31] the person clicks on the button. [00:28:33] Yeah, [00:28:34] that must be the way [00:28:35] that they're doing it. [00:28:37] I feel like this is a wild guess. [00:28:40] I feel like each button they set up, [00:28:43] gets its own web hook [00:28:45] and each web hook, right [00:28:47] will, will complete the, [00:28:48] the tasks you assign to it. [00:28:50] But I, [00:28:51] I feel like that's what's happening [00:28:53] under the hood that the button [00:28:54] simply fires a [00:28:56] web hook with the predefined [00:28:58] values attached to it. [00:29:00] Yeah. And, [00:29:02] oh, I'm sorry, what was that? [00:29:03] I just a wild guess. [00:29:05] Yeah, [00:29:06] they do have that limitation on. [00:29:08] There's a certain number of web hooks [00:29:10] you can have if you're using the API. [00:29:11] So this may [00:29:13] this probably works around [00:29:14] that limitation is my guess if they're, [00:29:16] if they're using web hooks. [00:29:18] Yeah, I think so. [00:29:20] But I think it's very cool though. [00:29:21] I mean, none of my clients have requested [00:29:22] this, but [00:29:24] like Melanie said, [00:29:25] somebody in enterprise [00:29:26] probably really needed it [00:29:27] and demanded it. [00:29:29] Yeah. [00:29:31] Yeah. More discussion on that in our [00:29:34] in the BuiltOnAir [00:29:35] community [00:29:37] looks like it's still not being [00:29:39] fully rolled out. If [00:29:41] I am. See, I think it is fully rolled out [00:29:43] now because I, because I did see it in [00:29:45] a base that didn't have a [00:29:47] slack automation before. So [00:29:49] I think it's fully rolled out [00:29:51] at this point. [00:29:53] All right. Last one, [00:29:54] then we'll move on. [00:29:55] Russell found a new feature that I [00:29:57] don't believe was, [00:29:59] was announced by Airtable. [00:30:00] So now in the sidebar view [00:30:03] in interfaces, [00:30:05] there's now a print button icon. [00:30:09] So I have seen this for [00:30:12] at least a couple weeks [00:30:14] I feel like it was there [00:30:15] at the time the new side sheets [00:30:17] were released [00:30:18] or before it because old side sheets, [00:30:21] I think still also have this button. [00:30:24] I could be wrong. [00:30:25] There's a couple buttons [00:30:27] in the top right for a side sheet, [00:30:28] there's the close button, [00:30:30] there's the [00:30:32] get linked to, [00:30:34] you know, the Unique URL [00:30:35] and then there's the print button. [00:30:37] I know at least the link button [00:30:39] is there for old side sheets. [00:30:41] I don't know if the print button [00:30:43] is there, but I feel like it is. [00:30:45] I've tried it, [00:30:47] it's sometimes it works well [00:30:49] and sometimes it doesn't, [00:30:51] it's for things that, like, [00:30:54] are very wide that don't print well, [00:30:57] if you have a very wide grid view. [00:30:59] Right. It's still gonna cut off. [00:31:02] I don't know how to get around that. [00:31:05] But, [00:31:06] yeah, it's, it's useful if you [00:31:09] just want a simple print, [00:31:11] of a not particularly complex side sheet. [00:31:17] Yeah. [00:31:18] Yeah. [00:31:19] Yeah. What I kind of don't like [00:31:21] is that it, it prints it [00:31:23] like an input format. [00:31:26] And not like, you know, [00:31:28] a text read format. [00:31:30] Yeah, there's two, there's two options, [00:31:33] one for like format for printer and one [00:31:35] for not, [00:31:35] format for printer [00:31:37] will remove backgrounds. [00:31:40] I wonder if that also removes like [00:31:43] the outline of a field edit thing. [00:31:45] But I would agree that [00:31:47] I would want, if it's printing [00:31:48] not to come with those [00:31:50] outlines because they're not useful, [00:31:52] you know. Right. [00:31:53] Right. [00:31:54] So, [00:31:56] all right. Yeah, more discussion [00:31:59] there on, on updates so [00:32:01] that that concludes [00:32:03] we'll move on with, with time. [00:32:05] Those are some of the features [00:32:06] that came out this week [00:32:07] and keep you up to [00:32:08] date on what's going on there. [00:32:10] So let's move on On2Air. [00:32:12] If you were watching last week's episode, [00:32:15] we talked a little bit more in depth [00:32:17] of the changes that were going on in [00:32:18] On2Air so [00:32:19] I'll refer you to last week's episode for, [00:32:22] for some more behind the scenes on, [00:32:25] on that. But for today, [00:32:27] just gonna focus on [00:32:28] our [00:32:28] backups, which is, [00:32:30] we are now focused on backups [00:32:32] and that's what we are going forward. [00:32:34] We'll develop from there and, [00:32:36] and branch out, but we'll be focused in [00:32:38] managing your data [00:32:40] helping it easier to interact [00:32:42] with your, with your [00:32:43] attachments and data inside of Airtable. [00:32:46] We have some great case studies [00:32:47] that you can learn about on our website. [00:32:49] So [00:32:50] check it out at oon2air.com/backups [00:32:51] we'll get you more information [00:32:54] about our backups [00:32:56] and you can sign up [00:32:58] and start backing up your data. [00:33:00] Best practice to make sure that [00:33:02] you have your data in more than one place [00:33:04] outside of the Airtable backups. [00:33:07] Ok, with that. Let's learn about [00:33:10] Noloco. [00:33:13] All right, [00:33:14] you wanna share your screen? [00:33:16] Yeah, let me share my screen here. [00:33:27] First, you gotta tell us [00:33:29] what that name means, [00:33:30] oh yeah, Noloco means no code, low code, [00:33:36] which is the [00:33:37] the world we find ourselves in [00:33:39] with Airtable, [00:33:41] which I guess is, [00:33:42] would be considered low code. [00:33:44] So, you know, there's a bunch [00:33:47] of so Noloco is, [00:33:49] I feel like noloco is sort [00:33:51] of flown under the radar [00:33:53] and I've been playing with it [00:33:55] a lot lately over the last month [00:33:56] because I set up [00:33:57] a, a client with Noloco, [00:33:59] and this is one of the portal tools [00:34:02] that is available [00:34:03] for Airtable. It's you know, [00:34:05] it competes against [00:34:06] glide, softr, mini extensions, stacker. [00:34:13] Those are the ones that [00:34:14] come to my head right now. [00:34:15] Pori is Pori a portal one also? [00:34:19] OK. [00:34:20] And this one [00:34:22] has been the most powerful [00:34:25] and the most full featured one [00:34:28] that I have found so far [00:34:30] now, it is a little bit confusing [00:34:32] to set up. And one of the good news, [00:34:34] one of the good things about it [00:34:36] is that their tech support [00:34:37] is so incredibly [00:34:38] responsive that, [00:34:40] that if you do get stuck, [00:34:42] they're right there to help you with it. [00:34:44] And so I've been pretty [00:34:46] pleased with this so far. [00:34:48] And, [00:34:50] and they're actually [00:34:51] let me just show you this [00:34:53] is our website here [00:34:54] and they're actually, [00:34:55] they connect to more than just Airtable. [00:34:58] They are even, they even have their own [00:35:02] built in back end database system. [00:35:04] So you don't even actually [00:35:06] need to use another app [00:35:07] like Airtable to feed your [00:35:09] data into this. So you could actually use [00:35:11] them as your database source as well. [00:35:13] But you could see it ties [00:35:15] in the Google Sheets. [00:35:16] They're working on smart [00:35:17] suite in [00:35:18] integration and sales force integration. [00:35:20] And so it's really cool. [00:35:22] So for people that are watching, [00:35:23] that may not know what [00:35:24] a portal is. [00:35:25] A portal is the name that they give to [00:35:30] a web app where [00:35:32] people can log in and just see [00:35:35] the records that [00:35:37] are related to them. [00:35:39] So for example, [00:35:40] like a customer logging in and just seeing [00:35:42] their own invoices from the past [00:35:45] or [00:35:46] a manager logging in from one [00:35:48] company and only seeing [00:35:51] his employees but not [00:35:52] the employees from any other companies. [00:35:54] So if you're using Airtable in any way [00:35:56] to manage data [00:35:58] for lots of different customers, [00:36:00] lots of different companies or [00:36:02] lots of different [00:36:03] anything and those things need [00:36:06] to be broken up where people can only see [00:36:11] the records that apply to them. [00:36:13] That's where you would turn [00:36:15] to one of these portal tools. [00:36:16] And [00:36:17] so this has been my favorite one [00:36:19] so far and I want to show you [00:36:20] a little very [00:36:21] brief demo of how you would [00:36:23] set it up with Noloco. [00:36:24] So what I have here in Airtable [00:36:27] is I created a very basic [00:36:29] invoicing system called farm sales. So [00:36:35] I've got a table here of some [00:36:38] products that the local farmer is selling, [00:36:40] selling some dairy products [00:36:42] and some meat products here. [00:36:43] And then we've got [00:36:44] a list of customers here [00:36:46] and we've got their name, [00:36:47] phone number, email all that [00:36:49] and then each customer [00:36:51] is linked to one or more invoices. [00:36:54] And so here's where you can [00:36:56] set up the invoices and then [00:36:58] each invoice has multiple line items on it [00:37:01] and you can see the line items here. [00:37:04] This is, [00:37:05] you know, all the line [00:37:06] items for all the invoices. [00:37:09] And so this is our basic system. [00:37:12] And so let's say that we wanted [00:37:14] to create a portal [00:37:15] where the customers can log [00:37:17] in [00:37:17] and they can see their previous invoices [00:37:20] and they can also generate new invoices. [00:37:23] But of course, we don't want them [00:37:25] seeing any of the other customers. [00:37:26] We don't want them seeing any of the other [00:37:28] invoices from other people. [00:37:30] And that's where a portal comes in. [00:37:32] So [00:37:34] I'm assuming that eventually, [00:37:35] I mean, this is just an assumption [00:37:37] maybe Airtable [00:37:37] will roll out portal like functionality in [00:37:40] interfaces. But [00:37:42] I don't know for sure about that. [00:37:43] You can set it so that you only [00:37:46] see records where the email [00:37:48] address is yours or [00:37:49] the Airtable collaborator [00:37:52] field is yours or you are in [00:37:54] a group that is assigned [00:37:56] to a particular collaborator field. [00:37:58] But it it's not, you do have [00:38:00] to set that up for each [00:38:01] like grid element or can be [00:38:02] an element whatever [00:38:03] that you put on the page. [00:38:05] So it's not automatic, [00:38:06] but you can do it. The [00:38:07] primary like advantage of using [00:38:10] Noloco [00:38:10] or some other third party is [00:38:12] that the pricing structure is likely more [00:38:15] hospitable to your wallet [00:38:17] than doing it all within Airtable. [00:38:19] And they also typically have [00:38:21] more customized customizable options. [00:38:24] In Airtable, of course, [00:38:25] you're paying for every editor [00:38:27] or creator. Whereas in [00:38:30] systems like Noloco and stacker et cetera, [00:38:33] you're [00:38:35] priced differently and it ends up [00:38:38] being less than it would be if all of your [00:38:40] users were directly with an Airtable. [00:38:43] That is true. That is true. [00:38:44] And that's also one of the [00:38:46] main reasons that thank [00:38:47] you for pointing out all those [00:38:48] reasons why people would probably [00:38:50] choose a portal. [00:38:50] And the other key reason [00:38:52] which goes along with [00:38:53] that was not only is it extremely [00:38:54] expensive to do it in Airtable, but [00:38:56] every single person [00:38:57] has to have an Airtable account. [00:38:59] Yes. So that's sort of in, [00:39:01] in many instances, [00:39:03] you don't really want your the [00:39:05] public, the general public [00:39:06] to, to even know you're [00:39:08] using Airtable really or [00:39:10] you know, you don't necessarily [00:39:11] want them to jump through [00:39:12] the hoops of creating [00:39:12] an Airtable account [00:39:13] just to get access to it. [00:39:15] And with this, you just send [00:39:16] them a link to a website [00:39:18] and with Noloco, they actually create [00:39:20] an create an account with Noloco, [00:39:21] but you can brand it with your own domain. [00:39:24] You know, people don't even [00:39:26] need to know that you're using Noloco. [00:39:27] You could just put it [00:39:28] right on your website. [00:39:29] And and so [00:39:31] it's sort of a more public [00:39:34] friendly option in a [00:39:36] way, [00:39:37] by the way to your point about the pricing [00:39:40] Kamille, [00:39:41] this is what the pricing would look like [00:39:44] if you're creating a customer portal. [00:39:46] This gets a little confusing here. [00:39:48] This is the starting price 138 per [00:39:51] month, [00:39:52] but that's [00:39:53] just to sort of get you in [00:39:56] to create [00:39:59] the the app. [00:40:00] If you want to start adding [00:40:02] in what they call external users, [00:40:04] that is the, that's the general public. [00:40:07] It's 99 an extra $99 per month, [00:40:11] $99 per month for 100 users. [00:40:14] So that's a about, [00:40:15] so that's significantly [00:40:17] cheaper than Airtable. [00:40:18] So that's $1 per user. [00:40:20] So they distinguish [00:40:21] between internal users. [00:40:23] That's people like us [00:40:25] and the people watching [00:40:26] the podcast who are building the [00:40:28] system. [00:40:29] So $138 per app per month gets you [00:40:33] I think one person that can log in [00:40:36] and build the system [00:40:38] and then for every in additional [00:40:40] internal user that's a builder, [00:40:42] it's $19 a month. [00:40:43] And then this is when you open it [00:40:45] up to the general public. [00:40:46] $99 per month for 100 people [00:40:49] from the general public to access. [00:40:55] Ok, cool. So I just want to show you [00:40:57] real quick how we would set this up in [00:40:58] Noloco. So here we saw [00:41:00] our Airtable system here [00:41:01] and we are going to build an app [00:41:05] and so I'm just gonna talk you through [00:41:07] just the basics just to give you a demo [00:41:08] of how you would do this. [00:41:10] They have some templates [00:41:11] here that you may want to use. [00:41:12] But we're just gonna start [00:41:14] from scratch here. [00:41:15] We'll click on create new app. [00:41:16] And [00:41:17] if you're not using your own [00:41:20] domain, they ask you to choose [00:41:21] an app name here. [00:41:22] Well, actually the domain [00:41:23] thing comes later anyways. [00:41:25] So you always start by [00:41:26] choosing a unique app name. [00:41:27] So I will just call this [00:41:29] farmsales.noloco.co [00:41:32] and then I'm going to choose Airtable [00:41:35] as the source [00:41:37] and we're already connected here. [00:41:39] And so I am going to choose [00:41:41] my farm sales base [00:41:42] here [00:41:43] and this is gonna be the name of it. [00:41:45] And now it's connecting the Airtable and [00:41:49] it's asking me which [00:41:50] tables I want to bring in. [00:41:52] So I'm going to bring in all [00:41:53] these tables. [00:41:58] So when you first [00:41:59] start setting this up, it's [00:42:01] it's easy to, to quickly get up [00:42:03] and running. But this tool is so complex [00:42:06] that [00:42:07] you, that you, you would [00:42:09] not believe how much it can do. [00:42:11] It has built in [00:42:12] formulas just like excels, [00:42:13] you can do formulas right here. [00:42:15] It actually has its [00:42:16] own automations built in. [00:42:18] So you can do fancy things [00:42:20] within Noloco [00:42:21] where like it'll populate a field [00:42:23] with some piece of data and then you could [00:42:25] send that data back to Airtable. [00:42:27] So where it does calculations [00:42:28] and other things [00:42:29] here then goes back to Airtable. [00:42:31] It lets you create buttons. [00:42:32] It's the [00:42:34] the depth of this tool [00:42:36] is really, really impressive. [00:42:40] And I'm still learning it myself [00:42:41] because I just started [00:42:42] playing with it about a [00:42:42] month ago. [00:42:43] And my clients, my one client, [00:42:46] they're using it and [00:42:47] they love it so far. [00:42:49] And [00:42:51] and so basically, OK, [00:42:53] it finished the setup phase. [00:42:55] And so this is [00:42:56] where you can continue building [00:42:58] your portal or this is where you can start [00:42:59] building your portal. [00:43:00] So over here in the left margin here, [00:43:03] this is how you navigate through. [00:43:06] This is what they call the app. [00:43:08] So this is what your customers [00:43:10] logging into the portal will see. [00:43:13] Everything from here onwards. [00:43:14] They're not gonna see [00:43:16] this dark black vertical [00:43:17] thing here. [00:43:18] They're gonna see from here onwards [00:43:20] and you could set your own [00:43:21] logo up here as well. [00:43:22] That's the Noloco logo right there. [00:43:24] So when our customers log in, [00:43:27] we know that [00:43:28] we don't really want them [00:43:30] seeing our customers database. [00:43:31] So what we're gonna do [00:43:32] is we're gonna hide this from them. [00:43:34] So you click on these [00:43:35] little three dots here. [00:43:36] We're gonna hide that from the sidebar [00:43:38] and we may not even want them [00:43:39] to be able to navigate [00:43:40] to the products table. [00:43:41] So we're gonna hide that as well. [00:43:43] And [00:43:44] we may not need them to see [00:43:46] a list of line items. [00:43:47] We really just want them [00:43:48] interacting with their invoices. [00:43:51] So when they log in, they're gonna see [00:43:53] everything that is above the line here. [00:43:55] So they're only gonna see invoices. [00:43:57] So right now you can see [00:43:59] that we have all the invoices [00:44:02] for all of our customers. [00:44:03] And so what we're gonna do is [00:44:05] we're gonna go into [00:44:06] this next section here, [00:44:07] which is called data [00:44:08] and data. This is for us only. [00:44:10] So the customers will never [00:44:12] see what we see here. [00:44:13] This is showing us the information [00:44:15] that it's pulling from Airtable. [00:44:17] So these are the four tables [00:44:19] that I had in Airtable. [00:44:21] And [00:44:23] and I don't think we need [00:44:25] to do much of this set up here. [00:44:27] Let me just see what this is. [00:44:30] Yeah, I think let me just see [00:44:31] something here real quick. [00:44:33] Ok. [00:44:34] Right. So what we need to do [00:44:36] what we wanna do, [00:44:37] I'm gonna get to that later. [00:44:39] What we wanna do is we wanna set this up. [00:44:40] So invoices are filtered based [00:44:43] on the customer who's logging in. [00:44:46] So before we can actually [00:44:48] set the permissions on that [00:44:50] we actually need to go to our users [00:44:52] because we need to tell [00:44:54] Noloco who actually [00:44:55] are our users. [00:44:56] So, what it does by default [00:44:58] is it brings in anybody who is set as [00:45:00] a collaborator on your account. [00:45:04] And I think it only brings them in [00:45:05] if they're a creator or an owner, [00:45:06] not 100% sure about that. [00:45:08] And what we wanna do is we want to create [00:45:14] a whole user's table. [00:45:16] So what we're gonna do [00:45:17] is we're gonna click on, [00:45:18] go up here and click on sync [00:45:19] your users. [00:45:20] You can see that it's a little bit [00:45:21] confusing when you're first learning [00:45:23] this because things are sort of spread out [00:45:25] all over the screen. [00:45:26] So there's a lot of discovery, if you're, [00:45:28] if you're trying to learn it [00:45:29] on your own, [00:45:30] there's a lot of discovery of where [00:45:31] you go on the screen. [00:45:32] And so where I just went right [00:45:34] here was all the way up [00:45:35] here to the upper right. [00:45:35] And I chose sync your users. [00:45:37] So then we're gonna tell it [00:45:39] what our new user list [00:45:41] is. And so I'm gonna call this [00:45:44] our customers [00:45:45] and I am going to choose [00:45:47] our customer's table [00:45:48] and then it asks you [00:45:49] to map the email address [00:45:51] and the first name field [00:45:53] I actually have first [00:45:54] and last in the same field. [00:45:55] So I'm just gonna map the first name field [00:45:57] and then it says, [00:45:58] what is their user role? This, [00:46:00] this really shows you the complexity [00:46:02] of this program. [00:46:03] We're not gonna talk about [00:46:04] user roles today, but you can create [00:46:06] all these different user roles [00:46:09] and depending on who logs in, [00:46:10] they can see different screens, [00:46:12] they have different functionalities, [00:46:13] certain things disappear. [00:46:15] I mean, this thing is so [00:46:16] in depth like you, [00:46:17] you wouldn't even believe it. [00:46:19] And so, but this is a very basic setup. [00:46:22] So what I'm telling it is [00:46:23] pull all the customers from [00:46:25] my customer's table [00:46:26] and those are our users of this [00:46:28] app. So I'm gonna click on save here [00:46:31] and it does take a couple minutes [00:46:33] to set up. It says right here, [00:46:34] your users are now syncing [00:46:36] in the background. [00:46:37] Please check back in a few minutes. [00:46:39] And it'll send you an email [00:46:40] when it's done syncing. So it's currently [00:46:43] bringing in all the customer data [00:46:46] from this customer table and we have 501 [00:46:49] customers in this table. [00:46:51] So then let me refresh this to see [00:46:53] how it's doing on the sync so far. [00:46:55] Let's see. [00:47:00] All right, we got 21 in so far. [00:47:02] So it's in the process of syncing [00:47:04] and now that it's in the process [00:47:06] of syncing, [00:47:07] we can go back to our data table [00:47:09] here. [00:47:10] And now what we wanna do [00:47:11] is we wanna tell it [00:47:13] that for our invoices table, [00:47:15] we don't want the customer [00:47:17] to see all of the invoices [00:47:19] from the whole system [00:47:20] because they would see everybody else [00:47:22] So we wanna set permissions [00:47:24] for the invoices. [00:47:25] So, what we're gonna do is we're [00:47:26] gonna click on this little icon right here [00:47:28] and we're gonna enable permissions [00:47:30] and then [00:47:32] it gives us this table here [00:47:34] and we're gonna say it says, [00:47:36] should these users [00:47:38] oh, so it says apply these permissions [00:47:39] to users with the following roles because [00:47:41] we chose that everybody [00:47:42] in our customer's table [00:47:43] is considered a user. [00:47:44] That's the role, the default role. [00:47:46] And we it says, should these users [00:47:48] have access to all records? [00:47:50] We actually do not want them [00:47:51] to have access to all records. [00:47:53] So we're gonna turn [00:47:53] this off and we're gonna create [00:47:56] a new rule that says that [00:47:58] when [00:48:00] the customer [00:48:02] is [00:48:03] one of [00:48:06] the logged. So basically [00:48:08] this is the customer [00:48:10] linked record field. [00:48:11] So that's what the link represents there. [00:48:13] So just going back to Airtable real quick. [00:48:16] This is, [00:48:17] well, actually, I don't actually [00:48:18] it's not a link record field. [00:48:19] Oh yes, it is. I'm sorry, I apologize. [00:48:21] It is because it's from the invoices [00:48:22] table. [00:48:23] And so that little icon [00:48:25] means it's coming from this [00:48:27] column right here, this field right here. [00:48:29] So when the linked record field [00:48:32] named customer in invoices [00:48:34] is one of [00:48:37] the logged [00:48:38] in [00:48:38] user [00:48:40] from the customer's table [00:48:42] and you choose the customer's name [00:48:43] right here. So see this is where it gets a [00:48:45] little bit confusing with these dropdown [00:48:47] menus and the different icons and [00:48:49] things like that. [00:48:50] I actually got this wrong multiple [00:48:52] times when I tried to set it up, [00:48:53] but their tech support [00:48:54] talked me through it [00:48:55] and, [00:48:57] and basically the reason it's is one of [00:49:00] is because you can have multiple [00:49:02] customers. For example, [00:49:03] if multiple customers are all [00:49:05] at a company [00:49:06] and they're logging in with a company [00:49:07] email address, then it could be [00:49:09] any of the customers [00:49:10] that are linked to that [00:49:11] company. So in other words, [00:49:13] this linking can go multiple tables deep. [00:49:15] That's actually what my clients are doing. [00:49:18] So it gets very, very detailed [00:49:20] and I'm just gonna wrap up [00:49:21] in a few minutes here [00:49:22] because I know we're running a [00:49:22] little bit late on time, [00:49:24] but I'm gonna save this [00:49:26] and that should be all [00:49:28] the setup that we need to do. [00:49:31] And so now [00:49:33] what we're gonna do is we're [00:49:35] gonna go back to our app. This is what our [00:49:37] customers see now [00:49:38] and we're gonna go into the invoices. [00:49:42] Now you can actually see here. [00:49:44] It's actually showing us exactly what our [00:49:46] customers are going to see [00:49:48] when they log in on, [00:49:49] in this left margin area. [00:49:50] Here [00:49:50] down here, there's a toggle, [00:49:52] it's a build mode [00:49:53] toggle and you have to toggle [00:49:54] this [00:49:55] on and off when you're working with [00:49:57] Noloco when I toggle it on, [00:49:58] it gives me all the other [00:50:00] tables that we've hidden. [00:50:01] I mean, I'm sorry when I to, [00:50:02] yeah, when I toggle build mode on, [00:50:04] I see everything when I toggle it off [00:50:07] it's as if I'm a customer that's logged [00:50:09] in, [00:50:09] but nobody's technically logged in yet. [00:50:12] I'm still looking at it as an admin. [00:50:13] But what you can do here is [00:50:15] you can view it as another user. [00:50:17] So what you do is you click on this [00:50:20] and this gives you the, [00:50:21] this gives us a list [00:50:23] of all 501 customers that are in [00:50:24] our customer's table. [00:50:26] And so now we're gonna pretend [00:50:27] that we're logging in as somebody. [00:50:29] So we're gonna log in as Stacy Schmaltz. [00:50:32] I'm gonna choose select [00:50:34] and now boom, [00:50:36] it's showing us what Stacey [00:50:38] is going to see [00:50:39] when she logs into the system. [00:50:40] And it says down right here, [00:50:42] we're logged in as Stacy Schmaltz [00:50:44] and she only has two invoices [00:50:46] in the system. And if I come back here, [00:50:48] we see that Stacy. [00:50:52] Yeah, she only had, well, [00:50:54] this is showing all the line items. [00:50:55] This is actually not showing her invoices. [00:50:57] If I were to actually [00:50:59] let's go to this table instead. [00:51:01] If I were to actually, I could have [00:51:03] just put in a look up field there. [00:51:05] But if I were to actually sort this, [00:51:08] wait a second, [00:51:09] let me do it this way. [00:51:10] I'm gonna, I'm back here on this table. [00:51:12] Let me sort this Stacy Schmaltz [00:51:15] only has two invoices, [00:51:17] invoice number 10 01 and [00:51:18] 10 08. [00:51:20] And if you come in here, [00:51:21] you could see that's accurate. [00:51:22] And so if we come over here, [00:51:24] this might be easier. [00:51:25] If I actually group by the customers, [00:51:26] you could see it [00:51:26] better. [00:51:27] So John Wick has four invoices. [00:51:29] This one actually has no line items on it, [00:51:32] but let's go in [00:51:33] and what we're gonna do is [00:51:34] we're gonna view this as John Wick. [00:51:36] This is what would happen [00:51:37] when John Wick logs in [00:51:38] this will change to show his four invoices [00:51:42] and then you can go on from there, [00:51:44] you can edit what happens [00:51:46] when they click on [00:51:46] one of these lines, [00:51:48] it takes you into a detail of that screen. [00:51:50] And if you go into [00:51:52] if I clicked on this edit button [00:51:54] up here, this is me as John Wick, [00:51:56] me as the customer [00:51:57] going in and I could edit it. [00:51:59] You could turn on and off [00:52:00] the edit ability [00:52:01] of these fields if you want. [00:52:02] And if you go into build mode, [00:52:05] this is where you as the builder [00:52:07] can start adding fields, [00:52:09] move things around, [00:52:10] you can put text on the screen, [00:52:12] you can embed videos, [00:52:13] you can do all sorts of [00:52:14] cool things. And can we stay on [00:52:17] this page really quickly because a lot of [00:52:19] with the [00:52:20] logging in as one person [00:52:22] and you know, just seeing their records, [00:52:25] you can do that in interfaces. [00:52:26] Of course, [00:52:27] we just went over how expensive it is [00:52:28] to do so, [00:52:29] but you can't do it. But I think this is [00:52:32] what [00:52:33] is where a lot of the value [00:52:35] add for things like Noloco is [00:52:37] embedding video embedding [00:52:39] I frames, which means you [00:52:40] can embed a whole other [00:52:41] website or another app in there. [00:52:44] I don't know how complex [00:52:45] you can get with an I frame [00:52:47] if you could give it a variable [00:52:48] URL. So [00:52:50] that might change depending [00:52:52] on what record is in there. [00:52:54] That is a lot of like the value app for [00:52:58] Noloco and I, [00:52:59] I've only played with it [00:53:01] a little bit and it, [00:53:02] there's, there's so much in here, [00:53:04] you probably could do a whole episode. [00:53:07] And I really like the the edit mode where [00:53:10] you start off just looking at your data [00:53:13] and you have an edit button to actually [00:53:15] edit the records and interfaces. [00:53:17] It's all live where, [00:53:19] you know, [00:53:20] it's either editable or it's not. [00:53:21] There's no sort of toggle for that. [00:53:23] That's Yeah, totally. [00:53:24] And I'll just wrap up [00:53:25] by just saying two quick things here. [00:53:27] The [00:53:28] the complexity of that you, [00:53:29] you would not believe how complex this is. [00:53:31] And to your question [00:53:33] that you just asked, [00:53:34] you know, check this out, [00:53:35] I put an I frame here [00:53:36] on the screen and of course, [00:53:37] you can move these things around [00:53:38] wherever you want. [00:53:39] And look at this, you can actually [00:53:41] make it [00:53:42] pull from a data field. So it's completely [00:53:46] customizable. [00:53:47] So it'll change dynamically [00:53:49] based on a field [00:53:50] or you can import a URL or [00:53:53] A [00:53:54] or [00:53:55] a. Yeah, that's great. [00:53:56] So, you can have an [00:53:57] Airtable formula that outputs [00:53:58] some embed URL and plop it right in there. [00:54:02] That's [00:54:02] great. Yeah, exactly. And so this is, [00:54:05] so I'll stop here, but this is just the, [00:54:08] this is just the tip of the iceberg. [00:54:10] You could see that [00:54:11] every single field here has [00:54:13] its own set of options that you can, [00:54:16] that you can, [00:54:17] that you can change. [00:54:19] There's a lot more, you can have filters, [00:54:22] you know, sorting and limiting records. [00:54:24] There's buttons that they've got built in [00:54:27] with a lot of functionality like it [00:54:29] goes on and on and on what you [00:54:31] can do with this. So I'll stop there. [00:54:33] I said I'll stop there before [00:54:34] but not really. I'm gonna [00:54:35] stop. [00:54:36] Awesome. [00:54:37] Thank you. Yeah, that gives you [00:54:39] a little taste of where [00:54:41] you can get with [00:54:42] Noloco. So [00:54:43] try that out. [00:54:45] I'll quickly give a shout out to [00:54:48] our BuiltOnAir community join us. [00:54:49] We'd love to have you in [00:54:51] and we're gonna wrap up [00:54:52] with Kamille talking about [00:54:53] timeline updates. [00:54:57] OK. So, there have been [00:55:00] a lot of different changes that are [00:55:03] somewhat recent with the timeline. [00:55:06] I think some of them were launched [00:55:08] like yesterday [00:55:09] or the day before and some of [00:55:10] them were launched [00:55:11] a week ago, [00:55:12] I just wanted to give an overall [00:55:14] sort of view of it because [00:55:16] they're not all available everywhere. [00:55:19] And some of the additions [00:55:21] that I think are quite useful. [00:55:23] So when you open up [00:55:24] a timeline view in the data layer [00:55:28] for the first time in [00:55:29] a while, it will give you [00:55:30] just sort of a alert [00:55:32] that things are different. [00:55:34] It's a very simple timeline view. [00:55:37] One of the things that [00:55:38] annoyed me to no end was [00:55:41] that if you were very zoomed out [00:55:44] and you had very small events, [00:55:47] events that only lasted one [00:55:49] particular day, [00:55:50] they became practically like unreadable. [00:55:54] One of the changes that were [00:55:56] added a couple of weeks ago is that [00:55:58] labels will now stretch beyond the [00:56:02] beyond the actual width of the event. [00:56:05] So you could still read what they are or [00:56:07] in this case, the right most event [00:56:09] you can see there's a couple [00:56:10] of them stacked. [00:56:11] You can highlight over to get [00:56:14] the name of the event if it's not shown [00:56:16] elsewhere on screen. [00:56:18] What you can also do now [00:56:20] you can turn on wrapping labels, [00:56:23] which isn't particularly [00:56:25] useful in this view. But [00:56:26] if I adjusted the [00:56:29] height of records [00:56:30] and then the width of records, [00:56:32] I would be able to have those [00:56:33] labels wrap around [00:56:35] instead of extending past. [00:56:37] So that's somewhat new. [00:56:40] The newest one is record width. [00:56:42] So the default is precise [00:56:44] width aligned to the [00:56:45] exact dates. In this case, [00:56:47] all of these events [00:56:48] are I believe one day long. [00:56:50] The second option expanded is new [00:56:53] So width fills up each interval. [00:56:56] Right now, [00:56:58] I'm gonna turn that on [00:57:00] and you can kind of see what happened. [00:57:03] I have my view set to year split into two [00:57:05] weeks. [00:57:06] If I set that to set split into quarters, [00:57:10] these are going to expand out to [00:57:13] whatever this interval is. [00:57:15] Obviously, if it were day, [00:57:18] it would be even more [00:57:19] precise down to the hour. [00:57:21] And I believe it works at every one [00:57:24] of these scales. So this is really useful [00:57:27] for [00:57:28] timeline views that [00:57:30] have a lot of records [00:57:32] that are spread out in time. And [00:57:35] don't [00:57:36] last you know, weeks, [00:57:39] several events that are only [00:57:41] one day long, [00:57:42] but you have to look at them across a [00:57:44] whole year. You no longer have [00:57:46] to really, really zoom in [00:57:48] in order to understand [00:57:50] what each record is. [00:57:51] So those are two of the more [00:57:54] recent sort of adjustments made to [00:57:57] timeline views. They are available for [00:58:00] the data layer version of a timeline [00:58:04] just as a note. If you've turned on [00:58:07] the apparent setting record [00:58:09] with expanded, [00:58:10] you won't be able to drag and drop [00:58:12] anymore because it's not [00:58:14] actually the width that it is, [00:58:16] it doesn't really make [00:58:17] sense for me to be a [00:58:19] to drag this into a whole different [00:58:21] quarter because remember this is only one [00:58:23] day. [00:58:24] So what day in that quarter [00:58:26] will it land on? Airtable [00:58:28] doesn't wanna make that [00:58:29] guess for you [00:58:30] So just so, you know, if you, [00:58:32] if drag and drop edibility is important, [00:58:35] then don't turn on that option. [00:58:38] Moving into what interfaces look like, [00:58:44] you have that option [00:58:46] for the full screen timeline view. [00:58:48] If you look under appearance, [00:58:51] it's still there under record width. [00:58:55] And the last sort of place [00:58:57] that you could put a timeline [00:59:00] is as a individual [00:59:02] element and I don't believe [00:59:07] that is an option. [00:59:10] I looked at it yesterday [00:59:12] and it seemed like it wasn't there, [00:59:14] but actually it is there. [00:59:15] Maybe it didn't, [00:59:17] maybe the release [00:59:19] hadn't been complete yet, [00:59:20] but never mind. [00:59:21] I was going to say some features [00:59:23] are available in some places [00:59:24] and some aren't [00:59:25] turns out I was wrong. [00:59:26] It is available everywhere. [00:59:27] So [00:59:28] any place you could put a timeline, [00:59:30] it would seem you have this new option for [00:59:32] expanded. [00:59:34] I'm gonna be using that [00:59:36] probably [00:59:37] quite, quite a lot. [00:59:39] One of my more recent timeline builds, [00:59:41] I had to use a formula [00:59:43] that created a false end [00:59:46] date so that small records [00:59:49] could appear longer just [00:59:50] so that you could see them on a timeline. [00:59:53] And now I don't have to do that. So, [00:59:55] yeah, [00:59:56] it's a great improvement. It's wonderful. [00:59:59] That's awesome. [01:00:01] And I am glad that you can [01:00:03] put that everywhere. [01:00:04] I was under the impression that [01:00:05] this version, the individual plop [01:00:08] timeline didn't have it, [01:00:09] but it appears it does [01:00:11] see those are the good surprises [01:00:12] we love from Airtable. [01:00:14] Yeah, [01:00:15] it's good to know they're actually [01:00:17] still updating the core [01:00:19] view elements and not [01:00:20] just only in interfaces. [01:00:22] Yes, [01:00:23] I think that's a good sign that, you know, [01:00:26] we are still getting improvements [01:00:28] to the data layer because [01:00:29] while a lot of my end users [01:00:30] are gonna be in interfaces, [01:00:32] I'm still gonna be [01:00:32] building a lot in the data layer [01:00:35] and you know, I want new features. [01:00:37] Yeah. [01:00:38] Yeah, [01:00:40] very good. Well, that wraps up. [01:00:41] I do have a hard stop at the top, [01:00:43] so we'll hold off on the home screen. [01:00:45] I know Scott was anxious to, [01:00:47] to share his info. [01:00:48] We'll have to have you back on and [01:00:49] see how you really feel about home screen. [01:00:53] Perfect. Perfect. [01:00:55] Sounds good. Well, [01:00:56] thanks for coming on Scott [01:00:58] showing us that [01:00:58] Noloco demo and Kamille as always [01:01:02] and we will see everybody [01:01:03] next week on the BuiltOnAir Podcast. [01:01:05] Have a great week. [01:01:06] Thanks. Bye bye.