Please Think Front End / Back End

[Alex_Webster]

I have very recently discovered Airtable and I have to say that I love it. For personal data and projects it would always be my first choice.

TL;DR: views and forms IN the app like embedded views/forms, please

I want to move some of my clients from Podio to Airtable, but I am too scared to do so. It is far too easy for ordinary users to delete data, break relationships, enter garbage, fail to enter required fields…

In short, the data is TOO accessible to too many users.

I’d love to expose data in a limited way via forms and views that limit accessibility and validate data entry. I had toyed with the idea of ONLY using embedded forms for data entry, but that seems like a terrible approach.

This isn’t a very specific feature request, but I wish that, in addition to its awesome ‘back-end’, Airtable had a ‘front end’ layer that allowed me to control data entry, access and visibility, based on field-level, item-level, table-level and user-level privileges.

Thanks!

[Dominic_Falcao]

Some version of this is also high on our interest list, though I imagine it would add quite a bit of complexity.

We want to be able to restrict users to be able to edit only particular info (especially info that they themselves added, such as form data).

[Noel_Howell]

+1 here! I can’t add too many people to my team bases and restrict visibility either. If I could share info between bases, then maybe I could get around the permissions that are lacking, but neither is possible.

[QuantumStep]

Hi @Alex_Webster, I can totally relate to your concerns about limiting access and ensuring data integrity with multiple users in Airtable. One option you might want to consider is the DataGuard extension.

DataGuard lets you set up validation rules to ensure data accuracy and prevent the entry of incorrect or incomplete information (like required fields and proper formats) before it’s saved. It also helps enforce unique values and prevent accidental modification of critical data.

While it doesn't handle granular user-based visibility, it’s a good tool for controlling data entry quality and can help mitigate some of the issues you're worried about when exposing data to less technical users.