Hi everyone, I want to sell my docs, but not as an editable document, but as an application. So the use cases are these:
Multiple teams can use my docs but cannot see / interact with other teams’ data.
When I update the docs, everyone got the update.
It doesn’t matter if users can copy the docs, as they won’t get the update I made later.
It doesn’t matter if users have to sign-up and subscribe certain Coda plans, as I can adjust the pricing plan accordingly.
Is there any way to do this in Coda?
Thanks!
Notes: this question is related to Can sell doc and doc update but it’s been more than a year and has been closed. Checking if Coda has launched an update for this use case
The only issue is that by providing access to a document people will theoretically have access to the data. They could just open up the source and see anything that is filtered.
My understanding of this request is that clients get copies of the doc, they then use it as they see fit. But it is still possible for Kenji to make improvements to the doc, and share that with the copies out there.
It is a little bit like a phase 5 of the current 4 phase plan that Coda is working on:
phase 2: permissions in target & source doc are the same and you can view, not edit
phase 3: permissions in target & source doc are the same and you can view and edit
phase 4: permissions in target & source doc are not the same and you can view & edit
phase 5: permissions in target & source doc are not the same and you can view & edit, ONLY in the target doc. In other words, data is not synced back to the original doc.
So the idea that multiple users use the same doc and whenever @Kenji_Prahyudi updates it they also all get the same update.
This helps because if people make copies of the doc they wont receive the updates or have to move all of their data to the new template every time theres an update.
Yeah actually it doesn’t matter if it’s the same or different docs, as long as it’s scalable and one update for all. I already see solutions @Scott_Collier-Weir mentioned, and yes the problem is exactly as what Scott mentioned as well.
And from what @Piet_Strydom mentioned, does Coda have a more detailed explanation / documentation regarding these phases? Now I’m curious if phase 5 can really accommodate this use case
Your idea sounds great! To achieve it in Coda, you can use permissions settings to restrict access, automation for updates, and set up a subscription model. While Coda doesn’t have a specific feature for selling documents, with some creativity, you can make it work. Good luck!
I don’t have time to go into all the specifics (they have been discussed in numerous topics in this community), but what you want to do can not be done in Coda at this point in time.
Allowing people to copy the doc gives them access to any filter you might have setup, undo it and have access to all data in the copy (which is current up to the time and date of the copy action).
Using the search box with some smart search terms or educated guesses will reveal other peoples data.
There are a couple more issues, but these two should make it clear that you don’t want to go this route.
I love Coda, I use it every day, but it is not designed to do what you are asking for.
Happy coding,
Greetings,
Joost
Hi @mr_shad Thank you! Yes I’ve been tinkering with Coda a lot, but like @joost_mineur said, whatever I’ve done to achieve those use cases, it always has drawbacks (i.e., data privacy if we put all the data in one docs, or have to edit the docs one by one if we put each of the users’ data on separate docs).
So I think, at least for now, it’s concluded that there’s no way to achieve those use cases perfectly. Let’s just hope someday Coda will provide a way to achieve this. The docs will be nearly as powerful as a standalone app by then
…but this sounds complicated/hard work. There is clearly a gap in the market here that both Coda and Notion are not seeing. There are other low code platforms like Softr that do this, but Softr has ridiculous pricing structures where you have to pay them $135/month to use charts whilst IN DEVELOPMENT. Forget Sotfr
This seems like the way to go for now. I have an idea and want to use Coda but I would need to sell my template on the basis that it’s bought as sold with no future updates. i.e. It would suit companies already using Coda and can them update the template themselves for their needs… but what’s to stop some one buying the template and then reselling it as their template?
