Track changes to records with computed fields

Paper trails get a bad wrap. They sound bad and cumbersome. And they’re usually the downfall of some unlucky character in a heist movie. But when it comes to real organizations, a written history of records and documentation  isn’t just important—it’s essential.

And in Airtable, you can create a handy paper trail by tracking information like when a record was last modified, or who created the record in the first place.

In our latest Tool Tips, we show how to create automatic documentation in Airtable with computed fields. Computed fields are field types that update based on conditions you’ve set. So, instead of going into a field and manually editing it, you can configure the field to compute on its own, over and over.

Naturally, there are countless ways to use computed fields in your workflow. But one straightforward application is to track when your records have been created or changed.

There are four field types you can choose from to keep track of information in your base:

• Created by shows which contributor originally entered the information in your record,
• Created time tracks when something was created,
• Last modified by shows which person last updated an entry,
• And Last modified time tracks when the last edit occurred.

Add one, some, or all of these fields so collaborators have the information they need upfront–and so you can stay on top of all that goes on in your base.

Check out our Tool Tips series on YouTube for more quick and helpful ways to use Airtable.