Record Name

Overview

Every record needs a name: the short label shown on gallery and kanban cards, on calendar events, as the heading of a record's detail page, and wherever the record appears as a linked record in another table. By default the portal uses the Airtable primary field, which is the first column of the table.

That works for most bases, because the first column is usually a human-readable name. It falls down when the first column holds an ID, a code, or a formula key. In that case the portal shows those values everywhere a record name should appear, and the portal looks broken even though the configuration is fine.

The Record Name setting lets you point the portal at any text-like field instead, without restructuring your Airtable base.

Setting the Record Name

1. 1

   Open the table's display settings

   In the portal admin, open the role you want to configure and expand the table. Switch to the "Display" tab and find the "Record Name" section.

2. 2

   Pick a field

   Use the "Name field" dropdown to choose which field labels the record. The default option, "Airtable primary field", keeps the historical behaviour and names the dropdown's current primary field in brackets.

   Only text-like fields are eligible: single line text, long text, rich text, email, URL, phone number, number, auto number, single select, and formula. Fields whose value is a list, an attachment, a checkbox, or a date are left out, because they make a poor title.

The Record Name saves with the rest of the portal configuration. The next time an end user loads the portal, cards, calendar events, and detail headings use the field you picked.

Where the Record Name Appears

The configured field is used as the record title in:

• Gallery view cards
• Kanban view cards
• Calendar view events
• Record detail page headings
• Linked records, wherever this table's records appear as links inside another table, including the linked-record picker shown when filling in a form

The table view is unaffected: it shows every permitted field as its own column, so there is no separate title to set.

Falling Back to the Primary Field

If the field you picked is later deleted or renamed in Airtable, the portal falls back to the Airtable primary field automatically, so records always have a name. Re-open the Record Name section and pick a current field to set a new override.

Tips

• Per role. Each role has its own Record Name setting, the same as permissions and sorting. This is rarely needed, but it is there if one audience should see a different label.
• Linked records follow the setting. When this table's records appear as links inside another table, those labels use the Record Name field too, so a record reads the same way everywhere in the portal.
• Pair with the gallery card fields. The record name is the card heading. Use the gallery and kanban card field settings to decide what shows underneath it.

Next Steps

• View Types - Switch a table between table, gallery, kanban, and calendar
• Default Sort - Pick the order records load in
• Viewing Records - How records render for end users