Rows make up the horizontal element of your tables, while columns make up the vertical elements. Add different columns to add different attributes to your data.

Different column types provide various ways to format your data, allowing you to store data in the way that makes the most sense. The days of your numbers mistakenly turning into dates are gone, instead of keeping tallies for a vote, try using a reaction column! Column types allow you to change the column to fit your data, rather than change your data to fit a cell.

Create a column

In Coda, a row is a single, structured data item in a table. Rows compose the horizontal elements of a table. Columns are the vertical elements of a table, which allow you to store more information in your rows. Column types allow you to add various attributes to your row data.

To create a new column, click the + icon in the upper right corner of your table. From here, you can type or select the type of column you would like to create. Give your new column a title!

Change a column type

The various column types allow you to store data in a way that makes the most sense for the data. When you create a column, you can select which column type you want, but you can change this type at any point in time!

Should you decide you would like to change the type of column you’re using, click on the column type icon on the right side of the column title, hover over the column type option in the menu, and select the column type you’d like.

Column types

With over twenty different column types supported, there is a column type out there for your data. Pair your column types with formulas and relations, and the options are endless! Below are some of the most popular and powerful columns we support, but be sure to check them all out yourself. To see all of the columns available, right-click on a column header, and hover over Column Type.

Text: A text column is the foundation of many tables, great for display columns.
Number: The tried and true, a number column can be as simple or complex as you’d like it to be. You’re no longer committed to integers though, try out a scale or progress bar!
Canvas: Canvas columns are like the older sibling of a text column, allowing you to store bodies of text, images and even another table, within a single row. They are also collaborative and can be edited by multiple people at once - it’s a party!
Date: While the days of your numbers being mistakenly turned into dates are over, there are still instances you may want the date format, luckily we support a variety of dates types.
People: Instead of typing names over and over again, the people column type allows you to put names into your cells easily, and opens opportunity for the popular User( ) filter and easily enables you to notify people.
Reaction: Reaction columns allow you to easily survey votes or react to data, rather than using tallies and counting manually.
Relation: Empowering anyone to build a relational database since c. 2015!
Button: Take actions from your table by using buttons!
and many more!

Column settings

Rearrange: If you decide you would like to rearrange the order of your columns, you can simply drag and drop the columns from the headers.

Freeze: If there is a column you would like to freeze to the left of the table, you can do so by clicking the column type and selecting Freeze, you have the option to freeze none, 1 column, or 2. The column(s) will display regardless of scrolling horizontally.

Wrap: You can adjust the size of your columns by dragging them. You can wrap the column name by dragging the bottom line of the column title down. You can control whether or not the content in the column will wrap by right-clicking on the column header and selecting Wrap.

Display column: The display column, denoted by the small ribbon icon, should house the most unique information to the dataset. The display column is the default column that referenced in a relation column. Learn more about relations here. You can change the display column by right-clicking on the column header, and selecting Set as display column.

Delete: To delete a column, right click on the column title, and select Delete. This column will be deleted in all of the views of this data throughout the doc.

Hide and unhide columns

Hide columns: Just like you can change your view to have a filter or different display type, you also have the ability to change which columns in your dataset are visible in each view. Learn more about views here.

To view hidden columns, click on Columns in the right corner of your table, the table options panel will open on the right, displaying all of the columns in your database. Columns that are visible in this view will appear with a blue eye next to them, indicating they are visible. Below you will see the columns that are hidden in this view. To hide a column, click the blue eye.

You can also hide a column by right-clicking on the column header and selecting Hide.

Unhide columns: To unhide a column, once you’re in Column options, click the grey eye icon next to the column title of the column you’d like to unhide.

FAQs

Why am I not able to see all of my columns?

If you are not seeing a column you’d expect to, it is often times because the column is hidden. Learn more about hidden columns here.

How do I add an image to a table?

Right-click on the column you would like to be an image column, hover over column type and select Images & Files, select which type you would like.

Now, simply paste the links to the .jpg or .gif of the image, and you'll see them render in your Coda doc.

How can I pre-fill my columns?

Yes! Learn more about how to use default values for new rows here.

Can I use different column formats for different rows?

A column type is uniform for the entire column, meaning you can not have different formats in different rows of one column.

Can I add a time to my table?

Yes! You can find a Time column under the Date columns.