With the help of automations, you no longer have to manually add rows with certain entries to your tables, but can have these steps performed automatically. To do this, simply define an appropriate automation for any table view.
How to add rows with automation
- In the Base header, click and then click Automation Rules.
- Click Add Rule.
- Name the automation and specify the table and view in which it should act.
- Define a trigger event that triggers the automation.
- Click Add Action and select Addrow as the automated action.
- Confirm with Submit.
Creating the automation
First define a trigger event for the automation.
- "A new entry is added"
- "Entries meet certain conditions after editing"
- "Periodic trigger"
Then select Addrow as the automated action.
In the next step, you define the entries that should appear in a row after the automation is triggered.
With a click on Add field you can define any entry.
First select the column in which the entry is to be inserted.
You can then define the entry. Depending on the selected column type, different options are available.
Finally, activate the automation by clicking Submit.
Application example
A concrete use case for this type of automation could occur, for example, when you record your weekly team meetings in a spreadsheet. You want a row with certain entries to be created automatically each week before the meeting starts, so that you only have to enter the remaining information manually.
In this context, you could pre-define the date of the meeting, the meeting room and the fixed topics, among other things.
Creating the automation
First, give the automation a name and select both the table (here: Team Meetings) and the view (here: Weekly Team Meeting) in which the automation should work.
Select the Periodic trigger option as the automation trigger event.
Then define the intervals at which the automation should be executed. To have the row with the corresponding entries added to the table every week, select Weekly.
Furthermore, you can select a specific day of the week as well as a specific time at which the automation is triggered. In our use case, it makes sense to select one hour before the start of the weekly meeting on Monday morning.
As an automated action, define the action row in the next step.
With a click on Add field you can define as many entries as you like, which will automatically appear in the row .
In order for the row to automatically record the respective date of the team meeting scheduled on the same day, select the Date column and the value The day of execution.
You can define as many additional entries as you like with a click on Add field, with which the row will be filled after the automation has been triggered. To do this, simply select a corresponding column of your table from the drop-down menu and define a value in the adjacent input field.
For example, if the team meeting usually takes place in a certain room, you can define this room as a set value. Also, if certain topics (such as new additions/leavings/anniversaries) are on the agenda for every team meeting, you can always have them entered in the row .
Testing the automation
If the automation works as desired, SeaTable will automatically add a row with the previously defined entries to your table after the periodic trigger has been triggered (here: always on Mondays at 7 am). This saves you a few keystrokes and you can then manually enter the data that is still open.
Although adjustments to the automatically added entries are possible at any time, they considerably limit the benefits of automation.
