Do i create different views or different table

[Timi_Phillips]

Hi I am -hoping someone can help. I have a database of contacts. I have a dropdown field in the main table where I tag each contact by it type: client, vendor, employee, lead. I have set up a table for each type because while each set share some similar information such as name, email address, phone etc… I also need to capture specific information for each contact type. Is it best to create a main list for Contacts, then a separate list per contact type with its own specific information while still linking them to main contact where I can pull up the generic data name, email address, phone etc… .

Or is it best to create a contact table and create different views? If I create one table for all the contact type with different view? Will this mean that each time I add a new contact, regardless of the contact type every single column will be displayed? Or will I only see the relevant information based on the view I am on when I click on add new contact? I hope I am making sense.

[Kamille_Parks]

You can control which fields are visible by view. Depending on how many fields you have, it may be tedious to turn them on/off per view, but you will only have to do that once.

Whether or not these should be different tables or different views will depend on how you answer the following questions:

• Do you ever want to look at all contacts in one place? If so, you should use views.
• Will you need to link a contact to something, for instance a “project”? Do you need to store who was the “client”, who was the “vendor”, etc. per “project”? If so, you should probably use tables.

[Dalton]

Hi, Dalton from Airtable here. :wave:

I agree that the best way to organize your table is to list the same types of data in the same table.

I would recommend keeping people in one tab and companies in another tab so that you can link them appropriately.

Kamille is correct that if you do have different kinds of data, creating different kinds of view will help to segment that data in the way you want to see it.

I hope this helps! If it does would you mind marking the forum as solved?

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions.