Switching the reference column in a databases for entry link in a separate database
Asked by Jacob Guggenheim:

I've got two databases (call them A and B). I'd like to use the "entry link" field type in B to reference an entry in A. This works, though the column that confluence seems to default to in A is not the one I'd like to use. How can I change the reference column in A?

ex//   

DB A has two columns (column 1, column 2). ![Screenshot 2024-06-05 at 12.29.05?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/328143iF4A5529BB84C3B37/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-06-05 at 12.29.05?PM.png")

Id like B to reference Column 2 (which has values like foo, bar, blah) but the default option is link column 1 (which has data like some data, more data, and and more). ![Screenshot 2024-06-05 at 12.29.14?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/328142iE6630584CA9D949F/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-06-05 at 12.29.14?PM.png")  
Ive tried reordering the columns in A and that doesn't seem to change the reference column.


Answers:
author: Jessica
body: Hi [@Jacob Guggenheim](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5513983)

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

I understand that you are trying to reference the Column 2 from DB A, and based on my tests, the only way I could do that, was by reordering the columns, to have the content I want to be displayed in the first column in the DB A, to display in the entry link for DB B.

In that case, could you try dragging and dropping column 2 to column 1 in DB A, then removing the entry link in DB B and adding it again to see if that would work?

If that still doesn't work, please let us know if that would be okay to create a support ticket on your behalf to take a look on this.

We don't have a configuration yet to make it customizable yet, so I have created this Feature Request recently for our product team awareness:

* [Ability to configure entry link field row when linking to another database](https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFCLOUD-78533)

Regards,  
Jessica

comments: author: Jacob Guggenheim
body: Hey Jessica, thanks for the reply.   

Interestingly, this does work for the minimal example I provided above but for the larger DBs I've created previous to this post it does not. I suppose I can recreate the DBs and ensure the field I want to link is first but I would advocate for the ability to specify the "main" column either in A or specify the column we want to show as an additional field when creating the link in B.   

Anyway, workarounds you've provided are good enough for now. Appreciate the help.   

Best,

- Jacob


author: Jessica
body: Thanks for the additional context, Jacob!

How large would your DB be, for example?   

No need to share the content of your DB here, since it is a public post, but I'm looking for more information on how many entries and columns it has, and what is in each column/entry so I could try on my end.

I have tried adding 30+ entries, but it still would work when changing the columns, and the first one would still switch to display the entry link in the DB B.

If it has any issues with the workaround, I'd like to understand the scenarios where it doesn't work, so we can add it to our [Feature request](https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFCLOUD-78533) for the entry link specification. :)

Regards,  
Jessica


author: Jacob Guggenheim
body: 55 rows, 15 columns. Not sure if its the size or something else (the creation date - have yall pushed any updates since I created it a couple months ago?).


author: Jessica
body: Thanks, [@Jacob Guggenheim](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5513983)

I tried a large database based on your rows and columns and added a few more, but I still could drag and drop the columns and make the first one the data entry link information every time I changed the first column.

That said, I'm not sure what could be affecting your database with the workaround, that would only work after recreating the database or recreating the entry link.

If you would like to investigate this further, please feel free to let us know so we can create a support ticket for you or you can also create one at any time at <https://support.atlassian.com/contact/>.

Cheers,  
Jessica


Tags: cloud

confluence-cloud