Viewing Records

Overview

When portal users log in, they see records from the tables you've made visible, automatically filtered to show only data linked to them.

Each table can be displayed in one of four layouts: table, gallery, kanban, or calendar. The table layout is the default and is covered here. For the other three, plus the row-vs-detail field split that applies to all of them, see View Types.

Data Table Layout

Records are displayed in a familiar table format with columns for each visible field. The table includes:

• Column headers - Field names from your Airtable table
• Rows - One per record
• Pagination - Navigate through large datasets
• Sorting - Click column headers to sort
• Clickable rows - Click any row to open the record detail page

Navigation

If your portal has multiple visible tables, users see a sidebar or navigation bar with table names. Clicking a table name switches the view to that table's records.

The navigation only shows tables where View permission is enabled. Hidden tables don't appear.

Automatic User Filtering

Records are automatically filtered based on the logged-in user:

1. CollabPortals identifies the user's record in the user table
2. For each visible table, it finds records that have a direct linked record field pointing to the user's record in the user table
3. Only matching records are shown

This means each user sees a personalized view of the data, and they can't see records belonging to other users.

Field Display

How fields appear in the table depends on their type and permission:

• View-only fields - Displayed as plain text
• Editable fields - Displayed as plain text in the table view (editing happens in a form)
• Hidden fields - Not shown at all

Different field types have different visual treatments:

Field Type	Display
Text	Plain text
Number / Currency	Formatted number
Single select	Colored badge
Multiple selects	Multiple colored badges
Checkbox	Check icon
Date	Formatted date string
Rating	Star icons
URL	Clickable link
Email	Clickable mailto link
Attachments	Thumbnail previews
Linked records	Record names as badges

See Supported Field Types for the full list.

Sorting

Users can sort records by clicking on column headers:

• First click - Sort ascending (A-Z, 0-9, oldest first)
• Second click - Sort descending (Z-A, 9-0, newest first)
• Third click - Remove sort

Admins can also set a default sort per table, so records appear in a chosen order the moment an end user opens the table. User-initiated sorting overrides the default for the current view; the default comes back on the next page load.

Pagination

Large datasets are paginated. Users see navigation controls to move between pages. The page size is set automatically for a comfortable viewing experience.

Empty States

If a user has no records linked to them in a table, they'll see an empty state message. If they have Create permission, they'll also see a button to create their first record.

Action Buttons

Depending on table permissions, users see action buttons:

• Create button - Appears if Create permission is enabled
• Edit button - Appears per row if Edit permission is enabled
• Delete button - Appears per row if Delete permission is enabled

Next Steps

• View Types - Display a table as gallery, kanban, or calendar instead
• Summary Fields and Record Detail - Pick which fields appear on the row vs the detail page
• Creating Records - How users add new records
• Editing Records - How users modify records
• Default Sort - Set the starting sort order for a table
• Record Filtering - Narrow which rows appear
• Linked Record Filtering - How records are scoped to each user
• Table Permissions - Control what's visible
• Field Permissions - Control which fields are shown