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Formula to calculate a date based on Task name and Check-in date

Asked Jul 16

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Hi everyone,
First of all, I'm really happy to be part of the community!

I'm trying to build a simple Task Manager for my vacation rental side hustle in Notion. Basically, I have a database for Guests, and each guest will get its page with a few properties, and an inline database for Tasks. You can see an example screenshot attached.

See Image.

For each guest, I have a pre-established set of tasks that need to be completed at various phases of the reservation, before check-in, during the stay, after check-out. This means that, for each guest, the Due Date of each task is always dependent on the Check-in, and Check-out dates. Not only that, but each task (or at least, group of tasks) have their own specific deadline. For example:
Task 1, Task 2, Task 3 - 5 days before Check-in
Task 4, Task 5 - 2 days before Check-in
Task 6, Task 7, Task 8, Task 9 - Check-in day
Task 10, Task 11 - 2 days after Check-in
Task 12, Task 13 - 1 day before Check-out
Task 14, Task 15 - Check-out day
Task 16, Task 17 - 2 days after Check-out

With that in mind, can this be done and, if so, what would be the formula to calculate the Due Date?

And one additional question: Could the formula use the properties (Check-in and Check-out) to calculate, or do I really need to add the Rollup columns to the inline database to then calculate the Due Date based on those?

Also, if you think this can be achieved in another, simpler way, please do share your ideas.

Thank you so much!
Rui

asked Jul 16 by ruiguerreiro (130 points)

1 Answer

1vote

ShaneRobinson Points2610

Hi. So as you probably already found out, this is a bit more difficult than at first glance.
What's needed is a couple Variables to handle the #Days and the possible values of:

Before Check-in
On Check-in
After Check-in
Before Check-out
On Check-out
After Check-out

And because it was easier to create it than try to explain it, I did that.

Vacation Rental Task Manager Example

You can duplicate it to your own Notion account and then check the "Due Date" formula property for the if() function used to simply test for the value of the "BOACi/o" property and then build out the function string needed.

answered Jul 16 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

0vote

ShaneRobinson commented Jul 16

PS: I could probably spend some time to make the Due Date formula more compact with nested conditionals, so it's not so repetitive.
But...in it's current format it will be easier for anyone to understand what's going on and how to make modifications if wanted.

commented Jul 16 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

0vote

ruiguerreiro commented Jul 18

Hi @ShaneRobinson
First, thank you so much for all the work.
I'm really sorry, but since the system you built is so different from what I was trying to set up, I'm a bit confused as to how to use it. So, say I have a new guest, how do I go about creating it, and add all the tasks to them?
Thank you so much!

commented Jul 18 by ruiguerreiro (130 points)

0vote

ShaneRobinson commented Jul 18

Hi @ruiguerreiro

I have 2 questions and a clarification:

Questions

Did you duplicate my template to your Notion account and then check the formula in the "Due Date" property?
How is it "...so different..." than your description and provided screenshot? I LITERALLY copied your setup, property names, table layout exactly as shown in your screenshot. The only differences are the addition of the "variable" Props needed: "Days" and "BOACi/o". And I didn't inline the Tasks DB into the detail area of the Guest Example 01 entry just to make it easier to focus on how it would work. Otherwise it is an exact copy of your screenshot. You just have to put it together as a scalable system and it will work as is.

Clarification
Your question about "...how do I go about creating it..." is outside the scope of providing free answers, tips, and even entire working formulas.

If you're not sure about next steps to make this a scalable production system, you can take the template to an experienced Notion Developer and pay them to build it out and train you on the process and workflow.

Hope this helps provide a direction for next steps in getting your app into working production.

commented Jul 18 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

1vote

ruiguerreiro commented Jul 19

Hi @ShaneRobinson
Thanks a lot for getting back to me. I apologize for not clarifying what I meant by "so different". What I was trying to express was that, in my mind, the system I was trying to develop would look a certain way, and it didn't match what I was seeing in the one you kindly provided. But that's on me. I had no idea it would be so difficult to achieve it on my own.
And I guess you're right: it being this difficult to implement, I might as well pay someone to build it for me. Maybe that's the best option.
Anyway, I did use some of your examples to build something similar to what I was imagining, and I can use that as a draft to ask someone to develop it further.
Thank you very much for taking the time. I truly appreciate it.
All the best,
Rui

commented Jul 19 by ruiguerreiro (130 points)

0vote

ShaneRobinson commented Jul 22

HI @ruiguerreiro and I'm sorry for the late reply. I'm not receiving email updates from this site when someone tags me or replies even though the box is checked below the reply box to email me.

I'm glad you found it helpful. And yes, in order to make it scalable for multiple guests, multiple listings, and/or both, it will take a bit of planning and workflow management.

Plus, Templates and possibly Notion automations should be part of the build plan.

Glad this has moved your app forward and I hope it's a great success!

commented Jul 22 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

1vote

ruiguerreiro commented Jul 23

Hi @ShaneRobinson
No worries at all. Thank you for replying :)
All the best!

commented Jul 23 by ruiguerreiro (130 points)

0vote

polle commented Jul 23

A quick note here @ShaneRobinson about notifications.

@ruiguerreiro replied as new answers to the main question instead of replying to you as comments, so he was the only one notified by his own answers to the main question.

Then his answers were moved to comments, and that is why you were not notified when he replied, because he did not. Hopefully makes sense. :)

commented Jul 23 by polle (94.3k points)

1vote

ShaneRobinson commented Jul 23

Hi @polle and Thank you so much for the add'l info and clarification. Totally makes sense and your comment above DID land in my email inbox.

commented Jul 23 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

1vote

ruiguerreiro commented Jul 26

Hi @poll
Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't realize I was doing it incorrectly. Sorry about that @ShaneRobinson
Thanks!

commented Jul 26 by ruiguerreiro (130 points)

1vote

ShaneRobinson commented Jul 26

Hi @ruiguerreiro and no worries. I’m still learning this system also.

commented Jul 26 by ShaneRobinson (2.6k points)

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