What is Airtable
Airtable is a “no code” database application which gives you powerful functionality while still being easy to use. Airtable is similar to spreadsheets like Excel and Google sheets except for one major difference: the ability to link records. You can create one to one, one to many, and many to many relationships. You can also use formulas to perform calculations in your bases. Below are some of the main areas to understand if you are just getting started.
Architecture
Workspace
A workspace is where all of your bases exist. You can have multiple workspaces. For instance, you could have a personal workspace where you want to only have bases that you work on and you can also have a teams workspace that you can share with others.
Base
A base is the main container that you want to store data in. Bases are made up of tables and records. A base must have 1 table but generally has more. An example might be creating a base for meals. Within this base are tables for ingredients and recipes.
Tables
Tables are the individual tabs at the top of bases. You can link from one table to other tables in the same base. Tables have a default view similar to a spreadsheet. You can have many different field types to your tables.
Records
Records are the individual rows in a table. They contain all of the data as defined by the fields. An example may be if you had a base called ‘Vehicle’ a table called “Maintenance” and a record may be your last oil change.
Field Types
You have many different field type options that offer a lot of flexibility and many also come with formatting options.
Link to another record
Use this field to connect records with records in different tables in the same base. When you select this option, you will have to select 1 table. If you want to link with multiple tables, you have to add additional columns using this field.
Single line text
A small amount of text – usually a title or name.
Long text
You can use this to store multiple lines of text that may be used for notes or descriptions.
Attachment
The attachment field type allows you to add files to your records such as documents, images etc. You can upload files from your device or there are a plethora of integrations such as Google Drive and Dropbox that allow you to add files. Adding images is particularly used if you use the Kanban or Gallery views.
Checkbox
The field is a boolean field and allows you to make if something is true.
Multiple select
This field type is useful for grouping many different attributes about the data in your table together. For instance, using the meals example above, you may have a record called “hamburgers” that use the multiselect field for tags like beef, grill, american food. You can then filter by those tags to see only the meals that are tagged with beef or grill or american food.
Single select
The single select field only allows you option as opposed to the multiselect which allows many. This field is usually used for things like status (not started, in progress, complete). This field is useful when using the Kanban view.
Collaborator
Other people that are able to make edits to your bases.
Date
A place to store date information. You can also toggle on “include a time” if you want more granularity such as for appointments. There are multiple date formats you can choose from. This field can be used with the Calendar view.
Phone number
Pretty self explanatory.
Same as above.
URL
A link to a website.
Number
This can either be a decimal or an integer and you can also allow for negative numbers.
Currency
Similar to numbers but specifically used for money.
Percent
Pretty self explanatory
Duration
The length of time measured in minutes and seconds.
Rating
A star rating system. You can choose how many stars (1-10) you want to have available for ratings.
Formula
Similar to formulas in spreadsheets, you can use formulas to perform calculations and to join data from different records.
Rollup
If you are using linked records and want to get a summary of values of those linked records you can use a rollup.
Count
If you are using linked records and want to count the number of records from a link table, you can use count.
Lookup
If you are using linked records and want to see the value from another field in the record you’re linking to, you can use lookup.
Created time
If you use this field it will automatically stamp the date and time that a record was created. You can choose the date format and whether or not to include the exact time.
Last modified time
If you use this field it will automatically stamp the date that a record was last changed or updated. You can set it to stamp any change or you can do it based on updates to specific fields.
Created by
The person in the base who created the record.
Last modified by
The person in the base who last modified the record. You can set it to stamp any change or you can do it based on updates to specific fields.
Autonumber
Generates a number automatically. This is useful for creating unique ids without manually needing to create them.
Barcode
Can be used with Android and iOS apps.
Button
You can use the button to trigger different actions that you define.
Views
Views allow you to view your data in different ways. You can use things like filters, sorting, and conditional formatting (except for in the Form view). If you’re using it for project management you may use the Kanban view. If you’re using it for planning content, you may used a calendar view. If you’re using it to keep track of decorating ideas, you may use the gallery view. You can create many different views for each table.
Grid
This is the traditional “spreadsheet” view where you can add data in a tabular fashion.
Kanban
Based on one single select field from your table. You can drag and drop records (cards) to different values in the single select field. In the case of project management, from ‘not started’ to ‘in progress’.
Calendar
You can pick one date field from your table to use with this view. If you want to use multiple date fields, you must create multiple views and select them individually.
Gallery
This view is similar to Kanban in that you can move it around but there is no grouping that is used. You can customize the cards with which data from the table you want to display. This is usually used for image based projects.
Form
You can create a form to allow others to submit data to your table. This could be used for things like a signup form for a school event or opt-ins for a newsletter. The data will be added as records to your table.
Blocks
Blocks are things that extend functionality such adding charts and other integrations to your base.