Airtable – How to Use it to Fit Your Workflow
You may have heard of Airtable as one of the most famous and innovative project management software. But, do you know what it does? Some people are still getting a little confused by the platform. Well, no need to sweat. In this Airtable review, we will show you how to use the best project management app to fit your workflow.
Five Key Components of Airtable software
When you use Airtable software, you will see that it consists of five main blocks. The blocks are where everything is built. To start using the software, you need to understand these blocks. Let’s discuss them one by one!
The Bases in Airtable
The first time you log in to your Airtable account, you will see your workspace. From Airtable demo, you will know that these workspaces make it easy to organize your locations. Each icon you will see in the workspace is a base. The base is basically an abbreviation for a database. You can customize each base in multiple ways. These bases will help you keep track of many things.
Airtable offers various templates that will help you get your work done and running faster. The templates you will find in the software are as:
- Marketing campaign
- Product launch
- Content Management
- Software bugs
- Social Media Management
The best part about Airtable is that it is not only for business use. Instead, you can also use the software to track your personal belongings. You can even track some events personally or in collaboration with others. You will find many convenient ways to use Airtable for personal purposes including wedding planning, album recording, or apartment hunting.
To explore further the concept of bases and see variations in their usage, you need to see some of the pre-installed bases. These bases come with the default workspace. The standard bases include:
- A preconfigured project tracker
- A content calendar
- A job search template
Try to open it and explore all the features. You can also customize some things, move things around, or click buttons. The sample data is not really important. Therefore, you can use best project management app to explore and learn how the bases work in this software.
Once you have thoroughly explored all the pre-installed examples available here, simply click the “Add” button. Then, you can select “Start with Template.” There you go! You can try as many as you need. The best part is, you can also import data from the table to create a new base. What is a table?
The Tables in Airtable
Each base you create on Airtable consists of one or more tables that contain the data. These are the tables we are talking about. The data in each table is somehow associated.
For example, you may have a list of customer information in one table. Meanwhile, you can have a list of purchase history in another. Each table can contain your inventory, projects, digital assets, or anything else.
Additionally, you can rename the table and add, drop, or relocate it as you want it to be. By default, the table will be displayed in a row and column grid format. In an Airtable review, users have explained that every column is a field while every row is a record.
The Records in Airtable
Move on to the “Record.” Every table in Airtable contains records that contain specific data. Each record is a single entry. For example, you can set up a table for a specific project. In this context, each record in the table will contain details about a specific task in the project such as status, deadline, and more.
In Airtable software, it will be easy to add a new record. All you need is simply to click the empty row at the bottom of the existing record list. Or else, you can right-click on the existing record and select it from the drop-down menu.
The Fields in Airtable
Each record in this software is made up of fields. These fields can contain almost any kind of information. For example, a customer table may have separate fields for name, address, and phone number. Meanwhile, a project management table may have fields for due dates, attachments, and comments. Or else, you will see images, videos, storage locations, reorder information, and more in inventory tables.
The fields in this software are very powerful and interactive. It will be easy for you to create an attachment box. Then you can add book cover photos, product images, scheduled social media images, and so on.
The Views in Airtable
The views are one of the best Airtable features. With this feature, you will be able to see your data in the way that works best for you and your team. In essence, a view is a way to sort data by a specific field.
The various views you created will appear on the left side of the screen. Additionally, you can also have the option to create a new view. In some views, you can easily group records to easily manage GTD (Getting Things Done). You can group the style productivity lists, social media calendars, and everything in between.
Airtable provides various types of views. All views can be used with all tables but not all views are available for all data. For example, if you need to use the calendar view, the table must contain at least one data field. The data will be displayed in card format. This can be very useful for project details. Moreover, it will enable you to see the details at a glance.
How Much Does Airtable Cost?
Any Airtable review will not be completed without discussing Airtable cost. Below are the interesting pricing plans offered by the software.
- The Free plan
In the free plan, you can use the database unlimitedly. The best part is, there will be no limit to the number of people you can invite as contributors.
- The Plus plan
You can get this plan by paying $12 monthly or $120 per year.
- The Pro plan
This plan costs $24 per month or $ 240 per year.
- The Enterprise plan
For the Enterprise plan, you need to contact the company for a quote. This high-level plan extends most of the per-account limits and adds control.
Well, that was a comprehensive Airtable review to help you use the software. If you are excited to use the software, Airtable offers an excellent 14-day trial.