Creating Airtables for Clients

Hm if I were you I would:

1. Set up one Base per client instead of one Table per client
2. Given that they’re not tech savvy, I would create Interfaces for them and invite them to those so that it’s easier for them to use
   1. That is to say, they will not have access to the Base (data layer, automations, etc), as changes made there might break a lot of things
   2. An Interface can have multiple pages and can:
      1. Show data from different tables
      2. Show data from the same tables in different ways
         1. e.g. Gant view, Gallery view vs a more typical spreadsheet type view
3. If they’d like to move everything, you could then move the entire Base into a Workspace where they’re the admin

If the data for each client is linked in some form (e.g. in your example of Employees and Equipment, maybe the Employees need to be able to check out Equipment or something) then it would be good to have them in the same Base with linked Tables, but I’m assuming that’s probably not the case

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I looked online for tutorials about client portals, but they seem to focus on filtering the same types of information for different clients to see. That won’t work for me, because the purpose of each table is different.

Assuming you go the Interface route, Portals should also work fine as a cheaper alternative to a full seat for your clients ($8 vs $24 on the Teams plan).  Portals really just means that they only have Interface access instead of Base access

Each client would have access to their own Base, which would have its own Interface, and so Portals would be helpful with cutting costs, does that make sense?

Actually, I just discovered that there are options for dedicated Portals on an upgraded billing plan. The tutorials I watched focused on rigging up a free DIY portal kind of thing. As long as the dedicated Portal system can give editor access to the interface of each Base, everything should work out!

I still wonder if an entire Base can be exported if one day the Client decides to buy their own Airtable seat on day.

Thanks for your help!!

I still wonder if an entire Base can be exported if one day the Client decides to buy their own Airtable seat on day.

Hm, wouldn’t you just move the Base into their Workspace instead?