Getting Started with Airtable Automations
Certifier Automations is a simple 2-step “trigger → action” system that issues credentials the moment your data arrives. With Airtable automations, you have two main options:
Push Data From Any Source to Airtable (Automated Flow)
Use Airtable as a universal bridge – send data from your CRM, LMS, event form, or any other system into a table, and Certifier will issue credentials for each new record.
Work Directly in Airtable (Manual Flow)
Use a table to fill in records directly – whether you’re working solo or sharing it with your team. Once a record is fully completed, Certifier issues the credential instantly.
Before You Begin: Copy Our Sample Base
To get started quickly, copy our sample base. It contains three tabs:
Instructions & Tips: Overview and reminders for each step.
Input Table: Draft area where you fill in names, emails, and any extra details.
Live Table: The table that Certifier monitors for new, complete records.
⚠️ Important: Regardless of your workflow, we recommend starting with our template or an empty table. Only add records with actual recipients' data after activating the Automation.
If you’re working with a table that already has records, they will be skipped once the Automation is activated.
If you’re creating a table from scratch, delete the sample records Airtable adds by default. Even if you fill them out with data later, Certifier will skip them, and no credentials will be issued.
How Airtable Automations Work
Trigger – The event that starts the automation. Here, it’s when a new record is added to the Live Table.
Action – What happens next. Certifier reads the new record's data, then issues the credential.
Automated vs. Manual Flow
The main difference between Automated Flow and Manual Flow is the way new records with data will be added to the connected table (Live Table).
Here's how each Flow works in practice:
Automated Flow
Your external tool (CRM, LMS, form) adds a new record to the Live Table.
Certifier instantly issues the credential for that record – no manual work after setup.
Manual Flow
Draft in the Input Table. A working area where you and your team fill in records completely at your own pace.
Publish to the Live Table. Once a record is 100% complete, copy and paste it to the Live Table. Certifier sees the new record and issues the credential immediately.
💡 Why This Matters: Airtable fires a “new record” trigger as soon as any cell in that record changes. If you type into only some columns, the automation may fire on incomplete data, causing skipped or erroneous entries.
By preparing records in the Input Table and only moving finished records into the Live Table, you ensure Certifier always receives complete, valid records.
Step-by-Step Setup
This guide walks you through setting up your first automation using Airtable. Let's get started!
Step 1. Create Your Automation
Go to Automations → + Create Automation.
Select the Airtable template.
Press Use Template.
Step 2. Configure the Trigger
Open the Trigger Configuration
To get started, click on the Trigger. The setup will be preconfigured for you – you'll just need to press Continue to move to Configuration.
Configure the New Records Added Trigger
Connect your Airtable Account via OAuth: Press the Connect Airtable button, and complete login via secure OAuth – click on Continue and Allow.
💡 While connecting, you'll be asked to provide access to all your resources (1) or specific bases (2):
Please note that to update the shared resources, you will need to re-add your Airtable account.
Once you do that, your account will appear as selected. If you need to use a different account, just unfold the options and select or connect another one:
Select the Base and the Table: Click on the field below Base and choose our Airtable base you copied earlier. Then, select +Table from the Optional Prompts section and choose Live Table. If you don't see the table you want to use, press Load more.
⚠️ Important: Always select the +Table option from Optional Props. The other options aren’t used in our automation.
Once you're ready, press Submit. And that's it! Your Trigger is set up 🤓
Step 3. Configure the Action
Open the Action Configuration
Click on the Action. The setup options are automatically selected, so just press Continue to move to Configuration.
Configure the Issue Credential Action
The final step involves mapping the data and configuring how you want to issue your credentials.
Group: Select the group to which you want to issue credentials. Click on the field to expand it, then choose the group's name from the list.
💡 Tip: To map a field to a column in your table, type {{ into the input box and select the matching column name from the list.
For example:
Recipient Name →
{{Recipient Name}}Recipient Email →
{{Recipient Email}}
Repeat this for any additional custom attributes you’ve set up.
Recipient Name: Map to the column that stores the recipients’ full names.
💡 Tip: If first and last names are in separate columns, combine them in the Recipient Name field by adding a space between the two columns.
Example: {{First Name}} {{Last Name}}
Recipient Email: Map to the column that stores the recipients' emails.
Issue Credential: Choose whether you want your credentials to be automatically issued when your automation is triggered (True) or if you prefer to save credentials as a draft and publish them manually from the Certifier dashboard (False).
💡 Tip: If you want to test an automation before making it live, set Send Credential to False. This will create credentials as drafts only – nothing will be sent to recipients. Once you’ve confirmed the workflow works as expected, recreate the automation with Send Credential set to True to send them out.
Send Credential: Choose whether you want your credentials to be automatically emailed to the recipient once issued (True) or not (False).
Custom attributes (optional): If you see additional fields, these are custom attributes available on your account (for example, course name, speaker name, etc.).
To use them in the automation, map each one to the corresponding column in Airtable – just like you did with Recipient Name and Recipient Email.
⚠️ Important: Certifier tracks the column position and column name you mapped (e.g., {{Recipient Name}}, {{Recipient Email}}).
After activating your automation, do not reorder columns or insert new ones in between – this will break the mapping and cause the automation to fail.
Once you're happy with everything, press Submit.
Step 4. Finalize & Activate
Now, there's just one more step – you'll need to:
Click Save & Activate.
Give your automation a clear name (e.g., “Conference Invites via Airtable”) and press Next.
💡 Tip: Give your automation a clear name (e.g., include your group name) so you can easily spot it – especially if you're planning to connect multiple tables. Don’t worry, you can rename it anytime after activation.
You’ll see a confirmation warning saying that Certifier will issue credentials for all future records in your connected table. Check the box and click Confirm & Automate to proceed.
And that's it! Once you choose to activate it, your new automation will be live. 🥳
⚠️ Important: Once your automation is active, it can’t be edited.
If you need to change anything – such as re-mapping columns, adding new custom attributes, or updating your credential settings – you’ll need to delete the automation and create a new one from scratch.
What It Looks Like in Practice
A new record appears in the Live Table – either pushed from some source (Automated Flow) or copied from the Input Table (Manual Flow).
Within a few minutes, Certifier issues the credential and marks the record as “Processed.”
Your recipient receives their credential.
Critical Rules After Activation
Once your automation is active, these rules are essential to prevent errors, duplicates, and broken setups. Read each one carefully.
Rule 1: Existing Records Will Not Be Processed
When you connect an Airtable table with existing or pre-filed records, Certifier will ignore them after you activate the automation.
Start adding recipients’ data to the new records only after you activate the automation.
⚠️ If you’re creating a table from scratch, delete the sample records Airtable adds by default. Even if you fill them out with data later, Certifier will ignore them, and no credentials will be issued.
Rule 2: Don’t Rename the Base or Tables
Renaming the base or any table will break the automation – Certifier looks for the exact names you selected during setup.
Rule 3: Don’t Reorder Tables
Moving tables into a different order will cause Certifier to lose its connection to the correct table.
Rule 4: Don’t Move or Insert Columns
Certifier tracks columns by name and order. Moving them or inserting new ones will break your mapping and cause errors.
Rule 5: Be Careful with Processed Records
Certifier always starts from the next unprocessed record. This leads to several pitfalls:
Inserting above processed records → duplicates: If you’ve already processed records 1–5 and then insert a new record anywhere above record 6, your original record 5 shifts into record 6. Certifier sees record 6 as “next” and issues a duplicate for that person, while your new entry stays unprocessed.
Deleting and re-adding in the same positions → skipped: If you delete records 1–5 (all processed) and paste new entries into positions 1–5, nothing happens. Certifier is still waiting for record 6, so your new records won’t trigger.
Rule 6: Always Include Name & Email
Each record needs a valid Recipient Name and Recipient Email. Records missing either – or with improperly formatted emails – will be skipped.
Rule 7: Allow Processing Time
Allow 3–5 minutes for each record to process. Re-adding or moving records while processing is underway can cause conflicts or duplicates.
Rule 8: Don’t Edit Processed Records
Any edits to already-processed records will be ignored. To correct data, update credentials in the Certifier dashboard.
Keep that in mind and enjoy the automated workflow! 👑
Need more help?
If you still have some questions, do not hesitate to contact us via the chat icon or email us directly: [email protected].