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How can I use an existing Notion template with variables in a "Create New Database Item" action?

  • 13 November 2023
  • 10 replies
  • 508 views

Hi all,

 

I’m running a notion action step.

The event I’m triggering is “Create New Database Item” For content, is there a way to plug-in an existing template I made on Notion & plug-in variables into that template?

 

Thanks!

10 replies

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Blue Horizon 

Good question.

If the ability to select an existing template is not available, then you may have to explore using the Notion API.

Try using this Zap action: Notion - App Extensions

This has an AI assist.

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
B

Hi @Blue Horizon 

Good question.

If the ability to select an existing template is not available, then you may have to explore using the Notion API.

Try using this Zap action: Notion - App Extensions

This has an AI assist.

 

Really Helpful! Thanks @Troy Tessalone!

M
Userlevel 1

@Blue Horizon @Troy Tessalone i’m trying this and getting defeated. is there any way y’all can share more details on what you were able to build & how? 😅🙏

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@m_ocra 

Might be best to post your own topic with screenshots to provide more context about your steps and configuration.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
M
Userlevel 1

that’s fair thank you! TLDR, i kept getting “invalid JSON” from Notion’s API in my test but finally got it working by adding    

"children": [ preceding the { “object… 

in the body. not very well documented by Notion!

ken.a
Userlevel 7
Badge +6

That's an amazing news @m_ocra! Thank you for sharing the solution to the error you were running into. This will be helpful to other members in our community who might encounter a similar issue when using the API Request (Beta) for Notion

Happy Zapping! 

donovan
Userlevel 1

@m_ocra any chance you can share a more complete picture of how you solved this? I cannot figure out how to create a new page in a database and apply a template to it upon creation. I found this in a thread on Reddit from Oct ‘23 and would love to solve this for my own needs.

'The Notion API doesn't support applying database templates to new pages.'

\\ Donovan
M
Userlevel 1

@donovan sensitive info is covered by the obnoxious black shapes in screenshots, sorry

 

i used a combination of the `content` field in the “Create Database Item in Notion” step, plus 2 custom actions. the custom actions each create one block on the Notion page created in step 4; through this combination i effectively get a templated page.

 

the content block of  the “Create Database Item in Notion” step

 

here’s how it looks in Notion. note that i manually modified this; upon creation both blocks created by custom actions will be UNDER the content block (which tracks based on the order of steps in my zap)

 

https://zapier.com/app/extensions as a non-technical person i did have to have an engineer help me get this over the finish line when building custom actions. good luck with notion’s documentation!

 

 

JammerS
Userlevel 7
Badge +5

Hi @m_ocra, 

 

Awesome workaround. Thank you for contributing the solution to our Community. We appreciate the step-by-step guide on how you get things done. 

donovan
Userlevel 1

Thanks for the details and screenshots @m_ocra I appreciate it. I’ll be exploring this soon.

\\ Donovan

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