Supported Field Types

Overview

CollabPortals supports 20+ Airtable field types. Each field type has specific rendering in view mode (data table) and edit/create mode (forms). This reference covers how each type behaves.

Text Fields

Single Line Text

• View mode: Plain text
• Edit/Create mode: Standard text input
• Notes: Most common field type. Supports any text value.

Multiline Text

• View mode: Text with line breaks preserved (truncated in table, full in detail view)
• Edit/Create mode: Expandable textarea
• Notes: Good for descriptions, notes, and longer content.

Rich Text

• View mode: Formatted text with bold, italic, lists, headings
• Edit/Create mode: Rich text editor with formatting toolbar
• Notes: Supports Markdown-style formatting.

Email

• View mode: Clickable mailto: link
• Edit/Create mode: Email input with format validation
• Notes: Validates email format on submission.

URL

• View mode: Clickable hyperlink (opens in new tab)
• Edit/Create mode: URL text input
• Notes: Displays the URL as a clickable link.

Phone Number

• View mode: Plain text (formatted phone number)
• Edit/Create mode: Phone number input
• Notes: No specific format enforcement, accepts any phone format.

Number Fields

Number

• View mode: Formatted number (respects Airtable precision settings)
• Edit/Create mode: Numeric input
• Notes: Supports integers and decimals.

Currency

• View mode: Number with currency symbol (e.g., $1,234.56)
• Edit/Create mode: Numeric input with currency symbol prefix
• Notes: Currency symbol and precision come from your Airtable field configuration.

Percent

• View mode: Number with % suffix (e.g., 75%)
• Edit/Create mode: Numeric input with % indicator
• Notes: Value stored as decimal in Airtable (0.75 = 75%).

Rating

• View mode: Star icons (e.g., 4 out of 5 stars)
• Edit/Create mode: Interactive star selector, click to set rating
• Notes: Maximum rating comes from your Airtable field configuration.

Selection Fields

Single Select

• View mode: Colored badge with the selected option text
• Edit/Create mode: Dropdown menu with all defined options
• Notes: Options and colors come from your Airtable field configuration. Users can only choose from predefined options.

Multiple Selects

• View mode: Multiple colored badges
• Edit/Create mode: Multi-select dropdown, add and remove tags
• Notes: Users can select multiple options from the predefined list.

Boolean

Checkbox

• View mode: Check icon (checked) or empty (unchecked)
• Edit/Create mode: Toggle switch
• Notes: Simple true/false field.

Date and Time

Date

• View mode: Formatted date string (e.g., "Mar 11, 2026")
• Edit/Create mode: Date picker with calendar UI
• Notes: Date format follows Airtable field configuration.

Date + Time

• View mode: Formatted date and time (e.g., "Mar 11, 2026 2:30 PM")
• Edit/Create mode: Date picker with time selection
• Notes: Includes both calendar and time inputs.

Relational

Linked Records (multipleRecordLinks)

• View mode: Record names displayed as badges/chips
• Edit/Create mode: Dropdown selector showing record names from the linked table
• Notes: Supports multiple linked records. Can be filtered with linked record filtering to show only records relevant to the current user.

Files

Attachments (multipleAttachments)

• View mode: Thumbnail previews for images, file icons for other types
• Edit/Create mode: File upload interface, drag and drop or click to browse
• Notes: Supports multiple files. Images show previews; other file types show icons with filenames.

Computed Fields (Read-Only)

These field types are calculated by Airtable and cannot be edited through CollabPortals. They can be set to View Only or Hidden in field permissions.

Formula

• View mode: Computed result (text, number, or date depending on formula)
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (read-only)
• Notes: Displays the formula result. Format depends on the formula output type.

Rollup

• View mode: Aggregated value from linked records
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (read-only)
• Notes: Shows the rolled-up value (sum, count, average, etc.).

Count

• View mode: Number showing count of linked records
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (read-only)
• Notes: Automatically counts linked records.

Lookup

• View mode: Values from a field in linked records
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (read-only)
• Notes: Displays looked-up values. Can show multiple values if multiple records are linked.

System Fields (Read-Only)

These fields are automatically managed by Airtable.

Auto Number

• View mode: Sequential number
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (auto-generated)
• Notes: Automatically assigned by Airtable when a record is created.

Created Time

• View mode: Formatted date and time when the record was created
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (auto-generated)
• Notes: Set automatically by Airtable.

Last Modified Time

• View mode: Formatted date and time of the last modification
• Edit/Create mode: Not available (auto-generated)
• Notes: Updated automatically by Airtable when any field changes.

Summary Table

Field Type	Viewable	Editable	Required	Notes
Single line text	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiline text	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rich text	Yes	Yes	Yes
Email	Yes	Yes	Yes	Validated format
URL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Phone number	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number	Yes	Yes	Yes
Currency	Yes	Yes	Yes
Percent	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rating	Yes	Yes	Yes
Single select	Yes	Yes	Yes	Predefined options
Multiple selects	Yes	Yes	Yes	Predefined options
Checkbox	Yes	Yes	No
Date	Yes	Yes	Yes
Date + time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Linked records	Yes	Yes	Yes	Filterable
Attachments	Yes	Yes	No
Formula	Yes	No	No	Computed
Rollup	Yes	No	No	Computed
Count	Yes	No	No	Computed
Lookup	Yes	No	No	Computed
Auto number	Yes	No	No	System
Created time	Yes	No	No	System
Last modified time	Yes	No	No	System

Next Steps

• Field Permissions - Control visibility and editability per field
• Creating Records - How field types work in create mode
• Editing Records - How field types work in edit mode