Streamline your workflow with multi-source syncing
Staying informed is tough–especially when you have to get your data from different places. How are you supposed to keep track of everything when every team has its own Airtable base, not to mention external tools like Box and Jira Cloud?!
The answer is Airtable Sync. Airtable Sync allows you to connect outside sources to a base, feeding in the updated info you need.
Here’s how it works.
How do you use Airtable sync?
Syncing from an external source into Airtable is simple–all you have to do is choose your source (Jira Cloud, Salesforce, etc.) and connect it from within your base.
Let’s say your design team has their own base, but you’d like to reference their assets in your all-encompassing campaign tracker base. Create a new table by clicking the “+” button towards the top of your base and select “sync data from Airtable base” from the drop-down menu, then copy and paste the shared view URL. You now have a synced table of design assets that you can connect to the campaigns they support, helping you to understand how everything fits together.
📝 FYI: This is a one-way sync, so changes can only be made in the source (in this case, the design asset base).
Sync multiple sources
What happens when you want to bring in data from multiple sources? It’s not so different from setting up a single-source sync.
Say you want to sync data from Box into the table you’ve just created (with synced data from the design asset base). Click on the table name and select “add records from” to connect your Box account.
Then, map the info from Box (like asset name, asset photo, etc.) to the fields you’ve already created in your table. Now, any changes made to the design asset base or Box will be reflected in this multi-source synced table, so you can see every update the designers make, when they make it.
How to turn your sync into a workflow
Now that you have all of your assets in one place, you can make your multi-source sync a part of your workflow.
Consider creating an automation so that every time a new record is created in your sync table (after a file has been added to Box, for example), your team gets a Slack notification so they can review the asset. You can also add a linked records field so you can connect your assets directly to the campaigns they support.
While syncs stand on their own wonderfully, integrating them into your work with linked fields, automations, and more can make your workflow even more powerful.
Aggregating multiple sources of information in Airtable ensures everything is easy to find, and everyone gets the same, up-to-date data. What are you going to sync next?