Master Autolinking Items in Monday.com: Setup, Automations & Unique IDs

This is autolinking items explained in detail inside of monday.com. By the way, if you'd like us to help you set up

monday.com for your business, check out the link in the description below. Anyway, as you can see here, I'm inside

of my example monday.com system. Now, in today's video, I'm going to set up a means of autolinking one item from one

board to another item in another board through a few unique methods. Okay, so we'll start with the basics and as we go

through, it's inevitably and unfortunately going to get a little bit more complex. So, I'm going to go ahead

and create my first board. So, this is example board number one. Okay. Uh, privacy options. Again,

this is all entirely up to you. Main, accessible to anyone, private only, you select individuals. And then if you want

to share this for whatever reason, you can do. Uh, and then we have the terminology. In this instance, I'm just

going to leave it as items. So, this is board number one. And then we're going to have a few items that have

automatically populated here. And then in this instance, realistically, we're going to need another board as well.

Okay. Now, this can be cross works across multiple workspaces across different products within monday.com.

This works all the same way, but um for the simplicity of this video, uh we'll have it just in the same workspace in

the same area. So, example board number two. Again, same options apply. So, first and foremost, in order for me to

connect an item in one board to an item in another board, I need a means of facilitating that connection. Okay? And

what we're going to do in that instance is use a connect boards column. So, we want to go ahead and add a new column.

Press the plus button and search for connect boards. What we then want to do is we want to connect our example board

number one to our example board number two. So, we'll select boards and then select example board number two. And

what I implore you to do is press create a two-way connection. This is really, really important. And then go ahead and

press connect boards. So, now we've got a connection column that allows us to connect an item on board number one with

an item on board number two. So, if I call this example item, and then I'll go on to example board number two, and I'll

call this example item. Uh what we can then do is we can connect example item on this board to the example item on the

other board. And then if we head back to our example board number two, you can see that the connection now exists. That

connection column has pulled across as well. The reason it's pulled across is because we pressed create a two-way

connection. If you didn't press that, you it wouldn't be visible on the board that you were connecting to, which would

mean that if you wanted a two-way autoconnect, this wouldn't work. So please press create a two-way

connection. So now we have the connection available to us. What we then want to look at is autoconnecting

an item on this board to an item on this board. Now this is pretty straightforward in the sense that what

we want to do is we need to have a unique reference of some description that would match on both the items.

Okay. So if I add let's say a text column here and I call this unique ID or UYU ID, unique reference number,

whatever you want to call it or ref. Let's just go with ref [laughter] little bit more simple. So then we have a

reference number on an item on example board number one. And then all we need to do is have another text column. And

this is going to be a reference again. And what we would want is where the reference let's say 54321

matches the reference on an item in this board 54321 then they automatically connect to one another. So I'll remove

that connection for the time being. So imagine a form submission comes in and it has a unique reference number and

then that form submission needs to automatically connect to let's say the project where the unique reference

number or the project reference matches as an example and we want that to happen automatically. So what we need to do is

we need to go to automate in the top right hand corner here and then go to create. This is not possible from the

manage area. We need to use a templated automation within monday.com and then you need to search for connect and

usually it will come up. Okay. And then and usually come and then and then usually it will appear these different

options here. Okay. So it's within the connected and mirror columns area. What we are looking for is this essentially

this when an item is created in this board connect the item where this column matches this column in another board by

this logic. So that's one of the triggers that we could use. We also have when a status changes to no that one not

[snorts] that one we have this one when column changes connect the item where this column matches another column in

another board by this logic. And you can see here that we have a few different options. Now, I'm going to walk through

them one at a time, but let's start off with this. So, when an item is created in this board, connect the item where

this column matches this column in another board. So, we click into this pre-built template as monday.com

describes it. Um, and then what we want to do is we want to set up the automation. So, we want to firstly

select the other board. So, we're in example board number one. So, I want to search for example board number two and

go ahead and select that as the option because we're connecting an item in example board number one with an item in

example board number two where the reference number matches the reference number on each of the different boards.

And then we're going to facilitate this via the connection column that we created a moment ago. And then you've

got the buy this logic. So overwriting new matched items or adding new matched items. This is quite important that you

consider this in the sense that if you're overwriting that means that it will clear all previous connections and

just create this one. Whereas ear adding a new matched item would be that would mean that there would be multiple

connections. This would just be another connection. Okay. So typically I you leave this entirely and just leave it as

by this logic because by this logic it means added new matched item. Adding new matched item. Um, but if there's a

specific reason why you want to overwrite the new matched item and remove the old one, then you can select

that. And then all you need to do is press create automation. Okay. So now if I close this down and what I'm going to

do is I'm going to go ahead and go to settings and just set this column as required. So in order to create a new

item, I must enter in the reference number. So I'll click in and I'll call this example item number two. And then

I'm going to go ahead and enter in the reference number. Now the reference number would match the reference number

on the other board. So in this instance I believe we set it 5 4321 and then all I need to do is press create item. An

item has been created where there is a reference number that matches the reference number on example board number

two. And magically it is automatically connected because there is a match between 54321 here and 54321 here. So

you can see that that connection has now been created automatically. It's autolin the items based on the reference number.

Now that's just one automation. Okay. So when an item is created. Now this is something you really need to consider

because sometimes it's not when an item is created but actually when the column changes. Um and if you're not using the

enterprise version you might not have access to required columns. That could create a bit of an issue or the unique

reference can change or the reference number can change. So what we can do is we'll go back to our automation center,

go to create and then we just want to search for connect again and then as opposed to when an item is created, we

want to use the automation when column changes. Connect the item where this column matches this uh matches another

column in another board. So everything is exactly the same with the exception of the trigger. The trigger on this one

was when an item is created. The trigger on this one is when a column changes. Now we then get to decide which column

that changes should like trigger the rest of the automation. Now the best way of doing this is when the reference

number changes. So if the reference number changes then it runs the automation and then we connect to

example board number two and then again exactly the same setup in the sense that another column being the

ref column being the ref and then the connection column is facilitated to connect. So when the reference number

changes on example board number one, connect the item where the reference number matches the reference number in

example board number two by this logic. Okay, so it's pretty much identical. But it's important to note because I I speak

to clients every now and again and this doesn't work for them because when they they think that when they add a new

item, it's creating the item, but then they go ahead and add the reference number. Actually, that's when the the

column changes. So it's important to understand triggers within Monday. So what I'm going to do now is I'll change

this or add this as 1 2 3 4 5. Okay. So this is the reference for item number two is 1 2 3 4 5. Now you can see here

that this is blank. If I then go ahead and change this column to 1 2 3 4 5. That then triggers the changing of the

column. The reference number column has changed which triggers the automation. And as you can see here it's

automatically connected to item number two. Okay. So it's really really really important to note that that is how it

works and the distinction between the two triggers because otherwise this is not going to work for you. Now other

triggers can be when the status changes for example but one thing to point out and really important here is if I were

to select the status option I don't have the luxury of choice of selecting a particular status within that status

column. It's essentially going to run any time that status column changes. So that's why again you need to be mindful

as to how you set up those automations. Now we've set up these automations on example board number one example example

board number one. So when a a new item is created where the ref matches a ref on example number two or example board

number two or when the column changes that then doesn't apply the other way round in the sense that you on example

board number two there are no existing automations. So if I change this to 5 43 2 1, you'll note that nothing is going

to happen here. The reason being is we would need to set up exactly the same automations on this board to do the same

thing as we did on this board. So it applies to one board, it doesn't apply to both. You need to set them up on both

sides. Again, this is going to depend on how you're setting up the system. So that's the basics of autolinking. Now

the next kind of level to all of this is automatically creating reference numbers or unique IDs to

facilitate a connection. Now you have a couple of options here. You could use Zapia um to autocreate IDs. That's a

fantastic method and gives you a lot of flexibility. So if you want a very particular naming convention or you want

it to go up uh in a sequential manner is it chron chronologically. Yeah I think so. So like let's say um

CRMC so CRM crew CRMC 00001 and then the next item that's created would be CRMC 002 and you can set that up inside of

Zapia. So that's an option. Now another option kind of or actually not necessarily an option but where a lot of

people have issues is with the item ID. So you can create an item ID inside of monday.com right which is this here. The

problem a lot of people have and what people don't know is this is a unique reference for every single item. You can

see that they're all different per item and this applies to every single item on every single border. They'll always be

unique. The issue you have though is this is non-referenceable which in my opinion is quite frankly ridiculous.

Like it if that was referenceable it would solve a lot of problems. But you can see here if I click into this

automation the item ID is not available as an option to select as a match which is quite frankly ridiculous. Okay. phone

when ref changes connect the item where ref matches ref in another example board whatever but you can't select where the

ref changes connect the item where the item ID matches the item ID in another board but that's in essence because it

also wouldn't work because the item ID is unique here as it is in the same sense that an item ID is going to be

unique here what would be nice however is if you had an item ID on one board so let's say this one and then this was

automatically populating the project reference because you can customize this. So create a custom key. So let's

say CRMC and then two leading zeros apply setting. You can see how this is now an entirely different uh item ID. So

you can see 001 02 03. So this could be our project reference number. And then if I'm creating a submission, I put CRMC

001. What can't happen is the reference being a text column then automatically connect

to the item ID column. It's really frustrating. So that's something that you need to factor in. Okay. Now, what

you could look at doing is you can extract information. So you could add a text column and then you can use

autofill with AI to extract text. Now I'm actually interested to see if this is going to work or not. Can I extract

the if I go something else? The item ID from and then input being um to the ref. Let's see if this Let's

see if this works. This this might be quite interesting. What I've asked the AI column to do is extract the item ID

into the text column and that's not worked at all. Maybe I set that up wrong. Um either way, it's it's it's

never particularly good. Um the item ID functionality, I'm going to get rid of this, okay, for the time being. So, we

need to look at ways in which we can either extract information or automatically create information um that

would act as a unique ID. So you can obviously add in a unique reference number manually. That's absolutely fine.

What I have seen a lot of people doing recently and something I quite like is we take an email address and match it

with the domain. So let me walk you through this. So let's say I have my email. I've just created a submission

and it's nickrmcrew.com. Okay. Now what I can then do is I can go ahead and I can use a text column and

then run with AI and AI has been quite useful here. I can extract text. I can extract the domain from the email and

then go ahead and press save and apply. And what will happen is it will then give me the domain. So someone submits

via their email address. It then extracts the domain. The domain can then be used as the unique reference number.

So you can see here that CRMcrew.com is being extracted. Now if if that was then also the reference number of CRMcrew.com

as an example, then you could go ahead and use that as a unique reference number for that particular business or

that project. it might not necessarily work with the project. Um, and then you can go ahead and update your automation

to say that when the and in this instance the text column changes, which is when the domain's extracted, then it

automatically connects. Okay, so let me walk you through that quickly. So I go here, I'd say when the text column

changes, connect the item where the text column matches the reference column because I've not updated that in the

other board. So now if I go ahead and put in [email protected], what should happen is the CRMcrew.com

um domain will be extracted into the text column which should then trigger the automation to automatically connect

the item CRMcrew.com where it matches in the reference CRMcrew.com here which it has done. So you've got options like

that. The use of AI is actually becoming quite helpful. Um it's just a massive shame that the item ID functionality is

not available here. Now the other option you can look at is you can take an item ID column like this and

extract it into a text column using a third-party application. Okay. So you can run an automation if go automate.

Well, actually, first and foremost, you need to go to the app marketplace and make sure that you've got Autoboost,

which is probably the one that I would recommend, or General Caster installed on your system. So, either one of these.

And then I've already got it installed. So, then you would create a automation within general cer. So, you go or create

automation top rightand corner here. Or actually, what you might have to do is just go to create up the top and then

search for general caster and then click in. and you'll see a ton of different options here. Okay, so you can say um we

could perform and then the way to do it is perform formula and cast result to item name. You then need to write the

formula to extract it um from the item ID into a text column. It is a massive pain to be honest with you. And then the

other factor that you need to consider is every time General Cer runs, you are going to be charged because it's an app

on the marketplace. you have to pay for the application uh and typically the way they charge is by usage. So if you're

using a thousand uh automations a month, 10,000, 100,000, you're going to be charged respectively. So that's

something to consider here. Needless to say, the easiest way of doing it is just manually you're entering it in. If you

want if you want to get fancy with AI, you can do such as extracting a data point from um let's say an email or it

could be anything else and then putting it into a text. What I am interested to see is maybe I'll give this another go.

Can I extract the item ID into a text column via the AI automation? So autofill, let's go set a custom prompt.

Um, when an item is created, extract the item the

Let's see if I can do this. Item ID. Yeah. And Oh, this could be good actually. Cast it to the text

uh the ref. Let's see what happens. Save and apply. This could This could work. You never

know. You never know. Um, we live in hope. So, I'm going to make this um unrequired. So, remove the requirement.

That kind of worked, I think. Um, did I set this up correctly? Uh, I don't think I did. If I If I go to here, customize,

and cast it to the text column column. There we go. Let's just see what

happens and then go ahead. Let's see if this is going to work. This is quite fun. Oh, there you go. Works perfectly.

Oh, I'm a genius, man. So, if a new item's added, so aa ad a whatever. What should happen is the item ID is

automatically populated. It should then cast the item ID to the column, which it has done. Now, this becomes

referenceable because it's a text column. So I could then go ahead and I could go to um when text one changes

connect where text one matches the reference in another board. You get the idea, right? Like there's a lot of

messing around with this, but this seems to work. So if I then change this to ref dot and then I go ahead and delete this

and then I I we would need to keep the item ID. That's important that we keep it. Um but I will delete all of these.

and then let's go ahead and just delete anyway. Um, so that automatically populates the reference number on this

side. Of course, when doing a submission or whichever side you're doing a submission from, the reference number

still needs to be manually added, but again, that kind of saves a little bit of time. There's an automation in place

for that. So, this can go on forever. You get the idea with your AI stuff. Um, you've got Zapia as an option as well.

Um, and then obviously the setup of those automations hopefully has made sense and the connection columns between

them and how they connect using the text columns and the reference number that matches on both boards. I appreciate

this probably rambled on towards the end there. Um, a bit of experimenting. Hopefully this video has been helpful

giving you a bit of an insight into autolinking within monday.com. If you would like us to help you set up

monday.com for your business, we would love to help. So check out the link in the description below. Thank you ever so

much for watching and I will hopefully see you soon in the next video. Thank you and goodbye.