Notion’s New Button Feature is a Game-Changer

TL;DR

Notion Buttons enable multi-step automations inside Notion, including creating database rows, editing existing records, and opening pages automatically.

Briefing Cornell Notes

Briefing

Notion’s new “Buttons” feature turns clicks into multi-step workflows inside a workspace—letting users create pages, edit database records, and even generate structured content without leaving Notion. The practical payoff is speed and consistency: one click can log a habit, spawn a full set of default tasks for a new project, or open a preconfigured note with the right properties already filled in.

In a habit tracker example, clicking a “New day” button creates a new row in a habits database with today’s date and a generated title. The same click also updates checkbox properties and fills a formula-driven “day score” field, using dynamic values like “today” to keep the automation current. The button is configured through a gear menu that defines what happens on click—such as adding a page to a specific database, setting properties, and referencing the current context.

Buttons also solve a long-requested problem: default tasks for new projects. Instead of relying on awkward manual setup or template workarounds, a “create default video tasks” button can add multiple task rows into a tasks database and link them back to the newly created project. In the demo, the button creates tasks like “film video,” “edit video,” and “script video,” automatically assigns owners (including dynamic assignment based on “person who clicked the button”), sets initial statuses, and can even suggest due dates derived from the project’s publish date. The result is a repeatable project kickoff that stays aligned with the same workflow every time.

A third example shows how buttons can act as a centralized “create” hub across a second brain setup. A single panel offers buttons to create tasks, notes, projects, and resource areas from anywhere—useful for quick capture on mobile. One button creates a task due today and immediately opens it in a chosen view style; another creates a “fleeting note” by setting a note “type” property so it auto-archives after a set period.

Beyond creating new pages, buttons can edit existing database records using filters. A “bedtime” button demonstrates this by targeting only today’s habit row via a date filter and toggling a checkbox property to checked. The demo also uses a formula to convert checkbox completion into a progress-bar style numeric output.

Finally, the most advanced workflow uses formula-based date suggestions to create a cascade of due dates. Since buttons can’t directly set certain date properties in every scenario, the workaround is to store an “offset” number per task and compute a suggested due date from the project’s publish date (e.g., publish date minus offset days). When offsets are configured for tasks like script, film, and edit, the system generates guidance for when each step should be completed relative to the overall release timeline.

Overall, Buttons make Notion feel more like an automation platform: clicks become structured actions that write to databases, enforce defaults, and reduce repetitive setup—while still staying inside the same database-and-properties model that Notion is built on.

Cornell Notes

Notion Buttons let users run multi-step actions with a single click, including creating pages, adding rows to databases, editing existing records via filters, and opening the newly created content in a chosen view. The biggest wins shown are habit logging (creating today’s row and updating checkboxes/formulas), project kickoff automation (spawning default tasks linked to a new project with assigned owners and statuses), and centralized quick capture (creating tasks/notes/projects from one “create” hub). Buttons can also edit existing database entries by targeting records with date-based filters. For relative due dates, the demo uses a formula “suggested due date” approach: each task stores an offset number, and the due date is computed from the project’s publish date minus that offset.

How does a “New day” habit button update multiple fields beyond just creating a row?

The button is configured to add a new page to the habits database with properties like a title referencing today and a date set to today via a dynamic value. On click, it also updates checkbox properties (turning them on for the targeted habit row) and fills a formula-driven “day score” property. The configuration is managed through the button’s gear menu, where steps define the database target and the property values to set.

What replaces the old workaround for default tasks when creating a new project?

Buttons. Instead of dragging checkbox items or using template hacks, a “create default video tasks” button adds multiple task rows directly into the tasks database. Each created task is linked back to the new project using a “content relation” value pulled from the current page context. The button also sets default properties like status (e.g., “not started”) and assignees, including a dynamic variable for “person who clicked the button.”

How can a button open a newly created task or note automatically?

Buttons can include an “open page” step after the “add page to a database” step. The configuration lets users choose the page created by the automation (e.g., “new page added from this automation”) and select a view style such as “side Peak.” This means the user clicks once and lands directly in the new record with properties already filled.

How do buttons edit an existing database record instead of creating a new one?

Buttons can use an “edit pages in” action with filter criteria. In the habit example, the button targets only today’s record by filtering the habits database on the date property using “is” and “today.” Once the filter matches the correct row, the button modifies a property—such as checking a checkbox—on that existing page.

How are relative due dates generated from a project’s publish date?

The demo uses a formula-based workaround. Each task has a numeric “offset” property, and a “do suggested” (suggested due date) formula computes the date by subtracting the offset from the project’s publish date (pulled via a rollup). For example, if publish date is March 29 and a task offset is 5, the suggested due date becomes March 24. Offsets are set per task (script, film, edit) so the due-date guidance cascades relative to the release date.

What makes the “central create hub” useful in a second brain workflow?

It provides one place to spawn new items—tasks, notes, projects, and resources—without navigating to each database first. Buttons inside the hub can create records in different databases and then open them immediately. The demo also shows property defaults like setting a task due date to today or setting a note “type” to “fleeting,” which triggers auto-archiving after a time window.

Review Questions

When configuring a button that edits existing records, what role do filters play, and how does a date-based filter ensure only the intended row changes?
Describe the multi-step structure of a button that creates default tasks for a new project, including how tasks are linked back to the project and how assignees/statuses are set.
How does the offset + formula method produce suggested due dates relative to a project publish date, and why might this be necessary instead of directly setting due dates in the automation?

Key Points

1
Notion Buttons enable multi-step automations inside Notion, including creating database rows, editing existing records, and opening pages automatically.
2
A habit-tracking button can create today’s database entry and simultaneously update checkbox properties and formula-based progress fields using dynamic values like “today.”
3
Default tasks for new projects can be generated with a single button that adds multiple task rows, links them to the new project via a relation, and sets assignee and status defaults.
4
Buttons can act as a centralized “create” hub for quick capture, creating tasks/notes/projects from one location and immediately opening the new records in a chosen view.
5
Editing existing records relies on “edit pages in” plus filters; date filters can target only today’s row so the button changes the correct record.
6
Relative due dates are handled via a formula workaround: store a per-task offset and compute a suggested due date from the project publish date minus that offset.

Highlights

One click can both create a new database row and update related properties like checkboxes and formula-driven scores—turning habit logging into a single action.

Buttons replace default-task workarounds by directly spawning linked task rows inside the tasks database when a new project is created.

A “create” hub button panel can centralize quick capture across multiple databases, including tasks due today and fleeting notes that auto-archive.

Relative scheduling is achieved by combining a task-level offset with a formula that derives suggested due dates from a project’s publish date.

Topics

Notion Buttons
Database Automations
Default Tasks
Quick Capture
Relative Due Dates

Mentioned

Thomas Frank
Tony Santos