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IMPORTANT UPDATE: As of Issue 6, The Orange Couch has been managed through Notion instead of Airtable. Check out the Issue 6 Notion page here. You may duplicate it for future issues.

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Setting Up and Managing Airtable

Airtable is not only an excellent way for Writing Center receptionist to keep track of Written Feedback appointments but also a useful tool for creating forms. Because of this, the Orange Couch team uses Airtable to gather submissions through our Call for Submissions form. There is a preexisting TOC Airtable base that tracks all of the past submission forms since Issue 2 (2021). This is the Airtable you will be using for submissions.

Duplicating Tables in Airtable

1. Before you can beginning setting up Airtable, you must gain access to the Writing Center Airtable account. Afterword, you will be able to adjust the table as needed.

2. Duplicate the most recent table, which are labelled with past years. For example, if you’re setting up the Airtable for the issue being published in June 2023, you’re going to duplicate the 2022 table; for the issue being published in June 2024, you’re going to duplicate the table from 2023; and so on.

   

3. After you duplicate the form, click on the tab and select “Rename table.” Rename it with the current year. Make sure to also update the form name to include the current year—i.e., changing “The Orange Couch Submission Form 2023” to “The Orange Couch Submission Form 2024” and so on.

   1. Make sure that you do not select the “Duplicate Records” option when duplicating a table as that will import the submission from the previous year.

Creating an Empty Table

• If you plan on having the given year ’s form be vastly different from those prior and would want to start the form from scratch, click the plus sign next to “Add or import” and select “Create empty table.”

  

• After the new table has been created, select “Form” under the “Create” field in the bottom left corner.

• After selecting form, make sure to rename the form “The Orange Couch Submission Form [year]” and make sure it’s set to “Collaborative” edit, then hit the “Create new view” button.

  

• Do not get rid of the “Grid” view as you’ll need that to access submissions later on in the process.

Altering Initial Submission Description

The initial submission description appears under the name of the form and will contain the basic information that interested contributors should know prior to submitting, including:

• Deadline date and time, including timezone
• Feedback Requirement for submitting
  • must receive feedback from the Writing Center through either an appointment, attending one of our writing groups, or any applicable workshops
• Managing Editor’s (GA’s) DePaul Email

Constructing the Description

As writers should only be able to access the Submission form through the “Submission Details” page of The Orange Couch, the description area should serve as a brief reminder of those requirements. The description should thus use the following format:

1. The first line of the description should state that one piece can be submitted per form.