AirTable - Select the "next" row each time

How To
1

I want to be able to select the “next” row in a table each time the make automation is run. How do I do this?

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2

Hello @socalgrind,
Please add some more details.
Shots and details are not enough to clearly understand what you’re doing.

I hope you can understand. :+1:

3

I have quotes in an airtable like this:

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And a make scenario like this:

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I just want it to post a quote each day to my fb page. But it keeps posting the same quote over and over. I want to have it iterate through the quotes, posting a new one every day.

4

Hi, any response to this?

5

The key is to keep track of which quotes have already been posted. I don’t think your example does this. Conceptually, I would start like this:

  1. Add a Posted At timestamp column to the source table. (A simple yes/no Is Posted field is also OK. However, I’m partial to timestamps in case you want to, e.g., recycle old posts after a predetermined period.)
  2. In your Airtable module, filter to "Posted At" = BLANK() (not sure about the exact syntax). This limits your selection to rows that haven’t been posted yet.
  3. After posting to Facebook, add an Airtable module to update Posted At for the same record ID that you just posted.

That’s a pretty basic version with no error handling, no specific posting order, etc. Hope it at least gives you enough to work with!

1 Like
6

Hello @socalgrind,
As @Tully_Lanter suggests, add a flag(status) for quotes that have already been posted.

I would also recommend you use different views with filters then it will be easy to handle posted and not posted data.

:bulb:P.S.: Always search first, Check Make Academy. If this is helpful, Mark Best as Solutions :white_check_mark: and give :+1:
If you need expert help or have questions? Contact or comment below! :point_down:

1 Like
7

thanks! in step 2, where do you add that filter? in the “Formula” edit box?

8

So in the view field. What does the syntax look like?

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9

Okay, so I’m able to updated the “PostedAt” column with the date. by adding another Airtable module at the end.

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But i can’t figure out how to filter to just the empty PostedAt entries in the first Airtable module.

10

Hello @socalgrind,
First, you need to create a view on Airtable using filters. Getting started with Airtable views | Airtable Support

Some video Tutorials for Table view and filters


After creating a view and setting proper filters you get an idea and it shows only those records that match your filters.

→ Then Go back to your Airtable Search Records module on Make.
→ Refresh the base settings then all the settings from Airtable are also applied.
→ Disable that Map option for the field View
→ Then dropdown appears with the list of views.
→ Select the view accordingly.

I hope this helps.

1 Like
11

Thank you so much! That worked!!

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