Getting Started with Airtable: A Guide for MISTI Staff

December 2024

1. What is Airtable? Airtable is a flexible, cloud-based database platform that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the power of a database. It’s a great tool for organizing, tracking, and managing projects or data.  
   • Airtable organizes information into bases, which are like project files or databases.
   • Each base contains tables, similar to tabs in a spreadsheet, where you store information.

2. Key Components of Airtable

Tables:

• Think of tables as spreadsheets. Each table has rows (records) and columns (fields).
• Example: In a base about student applications, one table might list all applicants, while another tracks host organizations.

Records:

• Each row in a table is a record, representing a single item, like a student, task, or event.

Fields:

• Fields are the columns that define the data type, such as text, date, dropdown, or attachment.
• Example: A “Name” field might contain text, while a “Start Date” field uses a date format.

3. Views in Airtable

• Grid View: A spreadsheet-like view for editing and reviewing data.
• Gallery View: Displays records visually, ideal for images or portfolios.
• Calendar View: Shows records with date fields on a calendar.
• Kanban View: Organizes records into cards, useful for project workflows.

You can create custom views to focus on specific fields or apply filters and sorting.

4. Linking Records

Airtable allows you to link records across tables.

• Example: In a table of students, you could link each student to a host organization listed in another table.

5. Collaborating in Airtable

• Invite team members to work on a base.
• Control permissions: View-only, edit, or full access.
• Use comments to communicate directly within a record.

6. Automations and Integrations

Airtable automates repetitive tasks, like sending notifications or updating fields.

• Example: Notify you when a student’s information is updated.
• Airtable integrates with tools like Google Drive, Slack, and Zapier to streamline workflows.

7. Resources

• What is Airtable? (YouTube video)
• Airtable Basics: Getting Started (YouTube tutorial)
• Introduction to Airtable (Official Airtable documentation)
• AI chatbots, ChatGPT , Copilot or Gemini (Enter a prompt in the AI chatbot and receive detailed instructions)

Hands-on Exercises:

Create a Base and a table to track students: These are the step-by-step guide to create a base called “Students 2025” in Airtable:

1. Log in to the CAPs Workspace in Airtable – Go to Airtable and log in to your account and access the CAPs Workplace @ Airtable MIT Enterprise account
2. Create a New Base for your MISTI program –
   • Once logged in, click on the “Create” button.
   • Select “Start from scratch” to create a blank base.
   • Name the base “Students 2025”:
     • Click on the default base name (“Untitled Base”) and type “Students 2025”.
     • Optionally, choose a color and an icon for easy identification.
3. Set Up the First Table – The first table will open automatically after creating the base.
   • Rename the Table:
     • Click on the default table name (“Table 1”) at the bottom tab and rename it to “Student List”.
     • Set Up Fields (Columns):

Field Name	Field Type	Description
Name	Single line text	First name of student
Last Name	Single line text	Last name of student
Email	Email	Contact email address
Level	Single Select	Use dropdown to select field of study
Photo	Attachment	Add a profile photo of the student
Ranking	Ranking	Rank the students
Notes	Long Text	Additional information about student

4. Add Data – Add students to the table by entering data into the rows (records).

To add more rows, click the “+” button at the bottom of the table. 

*Alternative: Copy/past or upload Excel File

Copy/past cells form Excel

Or Click on “Add a base” and choose “Import data”.

Select “Upload a CSV” or “Import an Excel file” (depending on your file type).

5. Create Additional Tables – If your base requires more organization, consider adding additional tables:

• Host Organizations: To link students to organizations they might work with.
• Trainings: To track events or sessions attended by students.
  • Click on the “+” button beside the table tabs to add a new table.
  • Set up fields in the new table similarly to Step 3.

6. Customize Views – Create different views to display data in various ways:

• Click on the “View” dropdown at the top-left corner.
• Choose a view type:
  • Grid view – Default, like a spreadsheet.
  • Gallery view – Show student profiles with photos.
  • Calendar view – Highlight dates like enrollment or birthdays.

7. Save and Share

• Airtable saves your work automatically.
• To share the base:
  • Click “Share” at the top-right corner.
  • Add team members by email or generate a shareable link.

Collect Information Using Forms

Step 1: Open the “Students 2025” Base

1. Go to Airtable and log in.
2. Open your “Students 2025” base.

Step 2: Create a Form View

1. In the “Student List” table (or the relevant table where you want to collect data), click the View dropdown at the top-left corner.
2. Under “Create a view”, select “Form” and then “Form view”.
3. Name the form (e.g., Student Submission Form) to reflect its purpose.

Step 3: Customize the Form

1. Add Fields to the Form: Airtable will automatically include all fields from your table in the form. If you don’t see all the fields drag and drop fields from the right-hand panel into the form.
2. Reorder Fields: Click and drag fields to rearrange their order in the form.
3. Edit Field Properties: Click on a field to customize its label (what users see on the form) and description (instructions or hints).
4. Set Required Fields: To make a field mandatory, toggle “Required” in the field settings
5. Hide Fields (Optional): For fields like “Enrollment Date” (if this is set by admins later), you can hide them by clicking the eye icon next to the field name.

Step 4: Design and Preview the Form

1. Add a Title or Logo: Click the top of the form to add a custom title or logo (e.g., “Students 2025 Submission Form”).
2. Customize the Thank You Message: Scroll to the bottom of the form to edit the thank you message that users see after submission.
3. Preview the Form: Click “Open form” in the top-right corner to see how it looks for users.

Step 5: Share the Form

1. Click “Share form” in the top-right corner.
2. Options for sharing:
   • Link: Copy and share the form URL with users
   • Embed: Use the embed code to include the form on a website.

Step 6: Collect Responses

1. When users fill out the form and submit it, their responses will automatically populate the corresponding table in Airtable as new rows (records).
2. Each field in the table will align with the form submissions.

Step 7: Manage and Review Submissions

1. Open the table to see the new records created by the form.
2. If you added fields not included in the form (e.g., “Admin Notes”), you can manually update those after reviewing the submissions.

Using Linked Fields, Synchronized Data, and Other Advanced Options

Using Link Fields – Link fields are used to connect related data across tables in Airtable. For example, you might link students in one table to host organizations in another table.

1. Set up the tables
   • Create the First Table (e.g., “Student List”): Include fields like Student Name, Major, and Email.
   • Create the Second Table (e.g., “trainings”): Include fields like name of the training and notes.
2. Add a Link Field
   • In the ‘Name” link Go to the “Student List” table.
   • Add a new field by clicking the “+” at the far-right of your table.
     • Choose the base and table “sync data” and “host orgs” to sync from.
     • Select specific fields to sync or include all fields.
   • Sync from External Sources: Airtable supports syncing from tools like Google Calendar, Salesforce, and Jira. Follow the prompts to connect your external account and select the data to sync.
3. Configure Sync Options
   • Choose the update frequency:
     • Automatic: Updates as changes are made in the source.
     • Manual: Updates only when triggered.
   • Enable or disable record filtering to limit what gets synced based on specific criteria.
4. Use Synced Data
   • Synced data, all the host organization on the MISTI data Base, appears as a read-only table in your base.
   • Use it like any other table for linking fields, lookups, or reporting, but you can’t directly edit synced data.

Practical Example: Linking and Synchronizing

Scenario:

• You have a “Students 2025” base to track students.
• MISTI maintains a separate “Host Org” base to manage organizations worldwide.

Steps:

1. Synchronize the “Host Organizations” table from the “Sync Data 2. ” base into your “Students 2025” base. This ensures all organization data stays consistent.
2. In the “Students 2025” base, link the “Student List” table to the synchronized “Host Organizations” table.
3. Use linked fields to connect students to their assigned host organizations.

Tips for Managing Linked and Synced Data

• Use Filters: Limit synced data to only what’s relevant for your current base.
• Automations: Set up triggers to notify you when synced data changes.
• Lookups: Extract specific details from linked tables for reporting or workflows.