u/Systems-Architect

▲ 8 r/Notion

Workaround to limit a Relation picker to only “Open” Jobs?

I’m building a Notion workspace for a small contracting/service company and running into what seems like a pretty basic limitation.

I have one main Jobs database with fields like:

  • Job Number
  • Customer
  • Site
  • Status: Open / Closed
  • Project Manager

Then I have other databases that relate back to Jobs:

  • Tasks
  • Work Log Entries
  • Permits
  • Quotes

The problem is the Relation picker shows/searches the full Jobs database. Over time we’ll have hundreds to thousands of closed jobs, and I don’t want users accidentally linking new tasks, work logs, permits, etc. to old closed jobs.

Ideally, I want the relation picker to only show jobs where Status = Open.

I know I can create filtered views of the Jobs database, and I know I can create related records from inside a Job page using linked database views filtered to the current job. That helps, but it doesn’t solve the issue when users are creating tasks/work logs from the child databases directly.

Specifically wondering if there is a way to:

  1. Limit relation picker results based on a filter
  2. Use buttons/templates to force selection from only active jobs
  3. Structure the databases differently without splitting Active Jobs and Closed Jobs into separate databases

I’m trying to avoid separate Open/Closed job databases because long-term reporting and historical records would get messy. And I don't believe there is a way to maintain relations when moving an item between databases.

Any practical setups people are using for this?

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u/Systems-Architect — 14 hours ago