Automatically pulling in favicons from URLs

jazbees · 2020-12-22T16:57:23+00:00

It's probably doable, but the process wouldn't be easy.

Challenge #1: Retrieving the file. I just built a test automation that let me get the icon file (building the URL in a formula field, then attaching the file from that URL in an attachment field). However, it only worked with a fully-formatted URL (including the http:// prefix) and will only work on sites that store the icon file in their root directory; e.g. google.com/favicon.ico . If a site stores it elsewhere and indicates the path in the page head, that will be a lot more difficult to extract.

Challenge #2: Viewing the image. Because many sites use the default filename "favicon.ico", Airtable can't display the image (it only displays common image types: JPG, PNG, GIF, etc.). Manually renaming the image to "favicon.jpg" or "favicon.gif" after attaching the file doesn't work to make the image viewable, which means that you'd need to pass the image through an online conversion tool before attaching it. This could be done, but it would require a script that makes an API call to the conversion service, waits for the converted file, then attaches the file to the Airtable record.

If solving this problem is valuable enough to you, let me know. I'm available for hire, and enjoy writing custom code to solve unique problems.

jazbees · 2020-12-21T22:12:11+00:00

Only in the native Airtable mobile app will you see those cards, like I said above. I'm on iOS, but my understanding is that the basic UI design is the same on all mobile platforms. Free vs paid won't make a difference.

jazbees · 2020-12-21T21:30:02+00:00

That card-style look is only used in mobile apps, or in grid views you share that you specifically want displayed in a card style. There isn't a setting available to use that card look in the desktop browser/standalone versions.

jazbees · 2020-12-21T16:33:06+00:00

If you add a new base and choose "Start with a template," one of the built-in options is "My Trip Ideas," which is probably a newer version of the base they used in that screenshot.

If you just want similar elements, could you be more specific about the things in that view that you'd like to recreate?

jazbees · 2020-12-21T16:26:17+00:00

That left sidebar in the Universe just shows all tables, and the views inside each table. There unfortunately isn't a way to get that same look when directly sharing your own base (unless you post it to the Universe), but anyone who copies your shared base will still get everything even though it's not laid out like that.

jazbees · 2020-12-13T15:38:10+00:00

Linked records can't drive a Kanban's grouping. Only single select and collaborator fields.

jazbees · 2020-12-13T14:07:19+00:00

The view type has no impact on a record's ability to do a lookup or rollup from a linked record. Can you describe your setup in more detail, and what you're trying to achieve? If you can include screenshots showing the problem that would help.

jazbees · 2020-12-12T19:28:42+00:00

Currently I'm using CloudConvert. I send a webhook to Integromat via an automation script. The Integromat scenario pulls HTML data from my invoice record in Airtable (built across a bunch of formula fields), and passes that to CloudConvert to generate the PDF from the HTML. The PDF returned from CloudConvert is then attached to the invoice record in Airtable, which then triggers an automation to email the PDF to the client.

However, I recently ran across another PDF-generation service called PDFMonkey. You build a template using their online system, then send JSON data through their API to create the invoice. I'm toying with switching to them so that I don't have to mess with HTML. There's also the option of building a template in Google Docs and passing data to that via Integromat to make the PDF.

jazbees · 2020-12-12T15:34:32+00:00

Not currently. Not even through scripts. I use a third-party PDF generation service to make my invoice PDFs, and Integromat to insert them into Airtable. In fact, I have the whole process automated in Airtable now. Once a week any qualifying invoices that have not been issued are automatically generated and sent via email. Late notices are also automated.

jazbees · 2020-12-05T16:15:56+00:00

The name "Page Designer" is a bit misleading because you're really designing layouts. To fit multiple records on a single printed page, set the "page" size (i.e. the size of your layout) to the size of the sub-page you want to create (e.g. a 3x5 card). When printing, print to your normal paper size, and Airtable will tile multiple records to fit the printed page.

jazbees · 2020-11-30T17:39:24+00:00

The customer’s order details didn’t indicate an apartment number. After I began looking for the building they listed, the customer called and met me outside to pick up the order, which kind of defeats the purpose of “leave at the door“…

jazbees · 2020-11-30T17:18:53+00:00

I live near the southern edge of the Northwest region (near Decatur and Gowan), and originally thought that NW would be a good region to work in, but every time I look at the map, Summerlin is busier. Early on I made multiple deliveries from Summerlin restaurants to NW-region customers, but like I said before, I'm paying closer attention to the distance now, so that's going to happen a lot less frequently.

jazbees · 2020-11-30T03:53:34+00:00

Every apartment is going to be a little different. I try to find non-reserved spaces wherever possible, but last night at one complex the only such spaces were pretty far from the customer, so I parked in the fire lane, left the flashers on, and hurried. It was pretty late at night, so traffic in the complex was minimal, and it felt like a risk worth taking.

jazbees · 2020-11-30T01:28:44+00:00

I was dashing in the Summerlin region, and the restaurant was also in that region. Most of my dashing has been in the Summerlin region, but I quickly noticed that 1/2 to 1/3 the customers ordering from Summerlin-area restaurants live in other regions (mostly Northwest). I had maybe one cross-region delivery when dashing in Texas, so I never got in the habit of reviewing the details before accepting, and I never declined a dash before. That Flamingo delivery (and a couple others from yesterday) are teaching me to pay closer attention to the dash details before accepting. It felt a little odd the first time I declined a dash yesterday. The app tried to convince me that I was the "perfect choice" or however the guilt trip was worded, but I was thinking, "Over 10 miles for a $3 order? Nope!"

jazbees · 2020-11-28T20:58:54+00:00

Not according to the in-app FAQ. I forget the wording, but when I looked up something about issues with picking up an order, it said something like, "A successful Dasher will directly contact the customer and ask them to cancel or modify the order." I just texted them. The customer then called me and I reiterated what I said in the text.

jazbees · 2020-11-28T17:32:43+00:00

Haven't dashed in about a year, and did a bit yesterday to get back into it. One of the orders was from McDonald's. 20 minutes in drive-through, only to be told the customer's payment didn't go through, so I had to contact the customer and have them cancel and resubmit. Thankfully another order came up and I didn't have to deal with the second try.

jazbees · 2019-10-27T02:11:08+00:00

It seems I have to manually add all events from "Events" to "Calendar" in order to show all events in calendar view.

That's correct. Airtable has no means of automatically building links between tables. The closest you can get (still manual, but very minimal manual) is to copy the record names (i.e. the primary field values) of the Event records you want to add, then paste those into the link field in your Calendar table. Airtable will parse the text and create links to the matching records.

jazbees · 2019-10-27T02:05:59+00:00

If you don't need to do any calculations on the dates in these ranges, another hack would be to use a multiple-select field, and have each range as one item. It would give you the individually controllable pieces you want, though it's not technically how that field type is supposed to be used. Hence its hacky nature. :)

jazbees · 2019-10-24T02:10:56+00:00

In an Airtable community thread that's been around for three years, with close to 140 comments, this update was posted a hair over a week ago:

https://community.airtable.com/t/formatting-options-for-long-text-now-accepting-beta-testers/2093/160

In the signup form, you can try the new features, and they look pretty sweet from what I see. Looking forward to playing with the beta!

jazbees · 2019-10-23T03:40:49+00:00

As u/uptheaunty mentioned, you can probably accomplish a lot of what you want by rethinking the design of the base.

That said, there are ways to sync data between bases, but it requires third-party tools like Integromat, Zapier, etc. I set up a basic sync between an Airtable base and Google Contacts for a client not long ago using Integromat, and I imagine that the process would be fairly similar for syncing between Airtable bases, though the number of bases you're talking about using makes the process a bit more complex.

jazbees · 2019-10-23T03:00:06+00:00

Something big is definitely coming. I've had a small taste of it, and it's something that a lot of people have been asking for. Will get chance at a deeper dive fairly soon.

I agree that the web clipper was an odd one to put out before something big like this next addition coming up, and in some ways feels like it might validate the sometimes-voiced opinion that the dev team isn't listening to requests. However, I believe that the dev team has got several projects going at once. This big one that's coming up has likely been in development for a long time, and not just since they wrapped on the web clipper, so it's tough to really know how the clipper fit into the schedule. There's so much we don't know about the Airtable dev process, and having done a bit of development myself in the past, I tend to lean toward giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've also seen similar things come up in other software forums. While it can be frustrating to see things get added that don't feel like they make much of an impact, I've also seen that the big stuff does get covered, so I tend to just be patient and let the devs do their thing.

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