Family history macro buttons in Notion

Macro buttons can be created in your family history Notion workspace to speed up data entry and promote consistency. When you click on a Macro button it completes a series of actions. Use macro buttons for repetitive processes, such as the creation of pages for research questions, tasks and notes (see my article, Develop family history projects in Notion).

Where to store your macro buttons

Go to your Home Page, click somewhere down the bottom and type /page to create a new page to store your macro buttons. You can move this page to your Resources page later (or put it there now if you have already set up a Resources page).

Macro button for a new project

When clicked, this button will add a new Project Page to your Projects Database and then it will open that Page.

• Type /butt and select the block option Button. This opens the button form.
• Click on the smiley face at the top to choose the icon for your button. As this button will add a new Project, use the same icon you used in your Projects Database. I use the file-box icon.
• Click on the light grey text that says New button and type NEW PROJECT. This will be the text on the button.

First Action:

• Click on + New action, just above the blue Done button
• Select the second option, Add page to
• Then, where it says:
• Do
• + Add page to Select database v
• Click on the v to bring up a list of all your Databases, select Projects.

Second Action:

• Click on + Add Action (just above the blue Done button)
• Select Open page, form or URL
• Then, where it says Open Select Page v
• Click on the V to bring up a list of Pages. Above that list of Pages are two options, select Page Added.
• It will now say Open Page added v in Centre peek v      Click on the v after Centre peek and change it to Full Page.
• Click the big blue button that says Done.
• You should now have a button on your Page that says NEW PROJECT.

Macro button for a new research question

Repeat the process, but name the button NEW RESEARCH QUESTION and insert the icon you used in your research questions database.

Macro button for a new task

Repeat the process, but name the button NEW TASK and insert the icon you used in your tasks database.

Macro button for a new notes page

Repeat the process, but name the button NEW NOTE and insert the icon you used in your notes database.

Using your macro buttons

To make it easier to copy and paste the buttons as a group, you can group them inside another block which is called a Callout block.

• Type /call and select the first option called Callout. This creates a grey shaded block with a light-globe icon. You can keep that icon, or click on it and ‘remove’ it.
• Drag each button inside the Callout block, by clicking on the 6 dots that appear when you hover your mouse to the left of the button.

Copy and paste the Callout block with buttons to your Home Page or to a project page:

• click on the 6 dots that appear when you hover your mouse to the left of the callout block
• press CTRL C on your keyboard to copy it to your Clipboard
• navigate to your Home Page or project page
• click on a row above your list of databases
• press CTRL V on your keyboard to paste it to the Page.

You can also paste these onto other pages later.

Back to the Notion in family history page.