Toggle Table/Database views like in Notion to save space in docs

[Simon_Heuschkel]

Hey, it would be great to be able to toggle views on the same table/database, instead of having to create separate views that bloat the doc. For example, currently I have to create a separate Kanban, Gant, and Calendar views of the same table in CODA. A simple toggle would save allot of space in the doc. Notion already supports this.

[Andrei_Kharlanov]

If this gets implemented it would be useful to have an option to decide what views are shown in that list on each section/page the view of the table is placed.

[Mario]

Nice idea @Simon_Heuschkel!

I’d also love to have those different views changing from one user to the other, i mean,
if userA prefer the “detailed view 1” and userB prefer the “detailed view 2”, they should find always their last choice on the doc and not one for every users in the same doc!

The same could applies for other like cards or calendars

[Sarah_Arminta]

I’d love this feature.

[Alex_Parks]

Oof this would be a game changer! Probably 30% of my biggest doc could be reduced just by being able to toggle one table between a few different views vs having several separate ones

[Daniel_Asher]

Coming from Notion, I ran into this problem almost immediately. I don’t want to delete a filter (that was carefully put assembled) just to see the raw data!!

I’m surprised that a massive amount of screen space has to be used just for a few views.

Please prioritise this.

Thanks!

[joost_mineur]

Hey @Daniel_Asher ,

Are you aware of the fact that you can hide columns?

Greetings, Joost

[Daniel_Asher]

Yes. This is part of a single view. In Coda, a view requires having a new linked database, taking up HUGE amounts of precious screen real estate. 7 views on Coda mobile? Very hard to use…

I am interested in having a drop-down, or buttons showing custom views for a table.

@joost_mineur have you ever used Notion?

[Paul_Danyliuk]

I’m very surprised at the comments here. May it be that you’re using Coda wrong and only asking for this feature because of the baby duck syndrome?

IMO, being able to create whatever views and put them wherever (same page, separate pages, canvases in tables etc) beats Notion’s dropdown approach any time.

There’s no much perf cost to having many views btw. You can easily have 100 views in 100 separate pages and just jump pages.

[Agile_Dynamics]

those of us who use notion extensively in business will have a clear understanding of the advantages of the feature being asked-for here. (while those who have not used this, will have difficulty appreciating just how powerful this is.)

in a single rectangular area of a dashboard, we can have one of several views displayed.
each view is based on the same table but has its own view-type (kanban, table, card gallery), its own filter, grouping and sorting and a different set of columns.

on a well designed dashboard this allows the user to switch easily between alternative views of the data. its intuitive and very easy - fast-paced decision-making is aided greatly by this.

in coda, we can have all the same views but they do not overlay onto the same rectangular space. so the user must scroll up or down to get to those different views, and if we are using multi-column layouts on the page, all the other views to left and right scroll past as well. we could put the views on different pages and flick between them - almost as good but not quite.

i built a solution for a client using the canvas-column feature of coda v3. it works exactly like the notion multi-view but it takes a bit of setting-up.

let us say you have a table called DATA, for which you want these multiple views.

• create a Table, say VIEWS for these views. let it have 2 columns. Name (text) and View (canvas).
• for each view type, add a row, give it a Name and open the View(canvas) to edit it.
• there you create a view into DATA as required - view type (board, table, gallery, chart, etc…)
• apply all the grouping, filtering, sorting column-selecting as required

now you change VIEWS from a table to a detailed-display and edit its layout

• the Name appears on the top as a heading
• the View canvas-column appears below showing the data layout you require

so now the user can switch between views as needed. you can add a ControlValue selection box to filter the view you want or you can list the View items using the @rowname notation as a line of text (which is how notion does it)

now each ‘table’ in your multi-column page can feature multiple views of your data. so i might have a 2x2 alignment where each of the 4 regions can be switched to different views with a single click.

when i get to my office tomorrow, i will post an example doc.

max

ps. one advantage of this coda approach over notion is: we can place a view for ANY table inside the canvas cell. and the view can have ANY features allowed in a page. multiple buttons, formulas and even several tables and charts etc. coda blows notion away EVERY time!

[joost_mineur]

Hey @Daniel_Asher ,
Yes I have, but only to check it out and compare it to Coda. I understand that you might want the best of both worlds, but obviously it doesn’t work that way. At the end of the day, I prefer Coda, but certainly Notion has a few nice features too. Once you know one program really well and the other program not quite that well, it feels like like we really really need this or that feature. In Coda, it is often already available…the Coda way.
Like Paul says and Max explains: once you know your way around, you would be surprised what you can do in Coda.
I agree that what you are asking for works nicely in Notion (and I guess I misunderstood your original posting) and if that’s what you want, you have to use Notion and accept that you are missing out on all the goodies Coda offers.
For many things I use a slightly different approach: I create subpages and on the main page I have Coda show quicklinks to the subpages. Each subpage has it’s own view of the table, along with some other goodies (buttons, single field formulas, etc.).
The approach from Max has some benefits as well, but I often need some page locking features that are not available (yet) on the canvas, therefore I use subpages quite often.
I hope you are going to find what you need,
Greetings, Joost

[Daniel_Asher]

Hi @joost_mineur,

thanks for your detailed post and for the subpage workaround.

My understanding is that applications like Notion and Coda exist PRECISELY BECAUSE users want the best of ‘both’ worlds. A doc is a combined document, spreadsheet, form etc.

This space is the Suggestion Box, and for Coda to include a table’s views in an inline tab bar is a great suggestion. The subpage workaround is very poor UX design, as a subpage extinguishes all the table’s context. So the very essence of Coda’s value premise is damaged by the lack of this feature.

For those of us who are impressed by Coda, flagging up significant UX issues is a positive contribution, especially in the right space, at the right time.

Cheers,
Daniel

[Daniel_Asher]

Hi Xyzor_Max,

Sounds intruiging if time-consuming. Please post the example doc!

Thanks

[joost_mineur]

Hey @Daniel_Asher ,
I know this is the suggestion box and I think it is great that people have ideas for a better Coda (or Notion).
My own wish list is pretty long and particularly for tables I would like to see some more options.
When I said “you might want best of both world, but obviously it doesn’t work that way” I was referring to the current status of Coda. At this point you have to make a choice as to which program fits best to your needs, or is going to fit best short term. And we have to be happy with some workarounds for the time being.
When the people in this community suggest workarounds it is not because they are opposed to innovation, it is because they have figured a way to do certain things that is not always that obvious - it does not (always) mean they are opposed to the suggestion.
I am looking forward to many more features in the future; original ideas or copied from other packages, same difference to me :-).
Greetings, Joost

[Daniel_Asher]

@joost_mineur
Generally agreed.

When I said “you might want best of both world, but obviously it doesn’t work that way” I was referring to the current status of Coda.

I’m not sure of the value of this comment. It’s so obvious that it only functions as an emphatic. Emphasising the obvious usually has subtext. In this case the subtext read (to me!) “be happy with the way current status of Coda and don’t ask for more”.

From your comments this obviously wasn’t your intention.

Thanks for the clarification - and bring on Inline Table Views!