QuickBase Straight Up

Files are getting bigger and online storage space is becoming more abundant, so it’s no surprise that many QuickBase users have sought alternatives to the fees incurred when you store more than  QuickBase’s 100MB limit. For those users who have maxed out their storage space, QuickBase Nation is offering a new service that provides an expanded 500MB of free file storage for QuickBase.

If you need more than 500 megs, stay tuned for QuickBaseNation’s Preferred Membership — available in November.
Â
Setting It Up
Â
Configuring QuickBase Nation’s file storage service is easy. QuickBase Nation piggybacks off of your QuickBase account, so the first step is to log into QuickBase. Then, in a new browser window, navigate to QuickBaseNation.com and sign into your free QuickBase Nation account. Once logged in, click the Free File Storage link.
Â
The file storage utility currently allows you to add expanded file sharing capabilities to one table. From the list of tables, select the one to which you want to add the expanded file storage, and come up with a name for your files (it should be a singular noun; for instance, correspondence or photo).

 

QuickBase Nation will then add a set of three fields to your table: upload, download, and delete. These will allow you to manage your attached files through a simple interface. Add the three fields to your forms and reports to fully integrate the new file storage capabilities into your application.

 

Make a Map

Mapping piggybacks off of a pre-existing QuickBase page, so the first step toward mapping your data is to log into your account at QuickBase.com. Leave that page open, and in a new tab or window navigate to QuickBaseNation.com. Create an account through the free and simple registration process. Upon logging into the Mapping utility, you will see a list of all your QuickBase tables. Pick the one with the address data, and QuickBase Nation will read it right out of QuickBase.

The next (and final) step is to pick out the fields that contain your address data. In most circumstances, these will be “Address 1,” “Address 2,” “City,” “State,” and “Zip.” But if the whole address is in one field, just enter that on the first line and leave the rest of the lines blank.

Then select a field to be the identifier and a title, and click on Submit. We used our IKEA table, but of course, you can map any addresses you have in QuickBase — up to 50 addresses per map.

Hit the Road

Voila! Here’s your data: a breathtaking snapshot of IKEAs across America. Clicking on any red location indicator on the map will bring you to the QuickBase page for the record, and the data is presented in a format that should make it a snap to hop in the car and proceed to the nearest retailer. Unless you live in Nebraska.

Keep in touch! Be sure to let us know if you come up with any particularly clever uses for Mapping. And if you would like us to customize this tool for your specific uses, please let us know that, too.

Then click on Connect to New Data Source   

Then choose ODBC DSN.

Then choose QuickBase via QuNect.
Now you’ll need to choose your QuickBase table.

You can edit the recipient list.

Microsoft Word allows you to apply filtering and sorting criteria. It even allows you to find duplicates. The rest of your mail merge conforms to the standard capabilities of Microsoft Word.

Having an ODBC driver for QuickBase opens up alot of possibilities beyond mail merges in MS Word. You can use Crystal Reports or MS Access to generate highly customized reports with sophisticated headers, footers and page breaking. You can flow data into worksheets easily to apply the power of Excel charting to your QuickBase data. You can use FuzzyDupes to dedupe your contact table after importing a list from a trade show you attended. Or you can create a linked server to QuickBase in SQL Server to facilitate moving data between SQL Server and QuickBase. The possibilities are endless!