Get some tips and best practices on how to organize pages and subpages in your doc.
Coda docs start small, but get larger as teams grow and put more information into their doc. That's why pages can be a handy way to organize your Coda doc.
We'll start by saying there's no hard-and-fast rules about organizing your page list. Like most things in Coda, use whatever system works best for you and your team. However, below are some tips and best practices we use here at Coda. These tips aim to make your doc feel more organized and to help orient users visiting your doc.
Within this article, you’ll find...
Docs vs. pages vs. subpages
As a quick refresher: Docs contain pages. Pages are portions of the document dedicated to specific information - think of them like tabs in a spreadsheet. And subpages are just a type of page that’s nested under another page.
So you may be asking yourself: when should I use a new doc versus a new page versus a new subpage (or even a table)? Here’s some general guidance on that:
| Use a... | When you... |
| Doc | are starting something brand new and disconnected from an existing doc |
| Page | have top-level concepts that you want readily available |
| Subpage | want to categorize information underneath a larger topic |
| Table | need to structure data |
For more on this topic, check out this guide: New page or new doc?
Use page nesting
In the page list of your doc, you have top-level pages and nested subpages. Top-level pages are the first thing most doc users will see, so they are critical to organizing your doc. Then you can decide how the rest of the pages in your doc fit within.
Here are a few example docs and how you might use top-level pages and subpages?
| Doc type: | Use top-level pages for: | Use subpages for: |
| Home Remodel | Each phase of the remodel | Tasks, Vendors, Notes, Budget |
| HR Recruiting | Each candidate | Interview notes, Follow-ups, References |
| Project Tracker | Each project phase or each subteam | Meeting notes, Schedules, Budget, Decision Log |
| Trip Planner | Each destination | Itinerary, Notes, Logistics |
Being intentional with how you use these top-level pages and subpages can set your doc up for success. While there’s no one “right” way, here are a few common scenarios we see:
-
Use a top-level page as the central hub for a project or team, with subpages for supporting details:
Each of your top-level pages would represent a specific project or specific team. Providing an intro or broadly helpful resources like a roster on your top-level page can help collaborators navigate both your project and your subpages. Your top-level page could have things like your main goals, guiding principles, or aggregated metrics, while your subpages have tables and information to help individuals or smaller teams contribute.
-
Treat your top-level page more like a folder - a container with no content of its own:
Sometimes you just need one place to aggregate relevant information. Maybe you have collections of meeting notes, or drafts of different assets that need their own space to come to life, but you don't have a need to roll-up a key insight or top-line view of them. That's okay! Top-level pages work just fine as containers for pages nested within them.
-
Highlight your comprehensive data in a table or charts on a top-level page, and use subpages for custom views of that data:
It can be helpful for teams to have access to a comprehensive set of data, whether that's the status of all project tasks, a detailed roster for an entire team, or a high-level dashboard. However, teams might also want to easily access the most relevant details, such as the tasks belonging specifically to their team.
Consider using a top-level page to provide visibility into the “big picture” data or information, and using subpages for each team to filter, group, or view the data in the way that works best for them.
-
Limit the number of top-level sections and trust viewers to intuitively navigate and drill-down to find the desired content:
Dividing subpages across a high number of top-level pages can result in an unintentional game of hide-and-seek. If it feels like you're "splitting hairs" to determine where to host a subpage, consider consolidating some top-level pages to avoid unnecessary complexity.
-
Structure your doc as a wiki, with as many levels of subpages as you need:
Organizing an entire team or company in a doc is a powerful way to ensure everyone has access to vital information, and can contribute to keeping documentation, standards, processes and resources up-to-date. Because pages can nest for an infinite number of levels, teams or departments can break out information as granularly or broadly as needed.
Plan for growth
Your doc can grow in many different ways, and you'll know your needs better than anyone else. As a best practice for organization when you collaborate with others, it's a great idea to build an initial structure that introduces your doc to the world! Some of our favorites are:
A Welcome to this Doc page highlighting what the doc is for and how to use it. This page should live at the very top of the page list. It's a good first impression, and sets the tone for your awesome doc.
A Core Tables page (or group of subpages) to house the underlying tables that power the rest of the doc. It’s good practice to have your base tables unfiltered, so this can be the perfect place to “store away” those big tables.
A Team View page which gives your team their own workspace so they don't step on anybody's toes and can customize to their hearts' content.
A My View page that’s automatically filtered for the current user. Any individual can come here and see the tasks, projects, or FYIs that pertain to them. For instance, in a OKR tracker doc, the My View page can show a table with only the current user’s KRs.
An Archive page, under which you can nest all the pages that you no longer actively use but may be needed for historical reference.
FAQs
How do I create pages or subpages?
Doc Makers can easily add additional pages and subpages to a doc. Check out this article to learn how.
How do I move pages around?
Doc Makers can click and drag pages in the page list to reorder them or even nest them under other pages. Check out this article to learn how.
Can I hide a specific page from someone?
If you're on the Pro Plan or higher, it's possible to hide a single Page or an entire group of nested Subpages from your doc's sidebar. Keep in mind that any user can unhide pages, so we don't recommend using this for privacy or security purposes. Learn more about hiding pages here.
Can I reference a specific page or subpage?
You currently are not able to reference a page or subpage in a formula but you are able to reference them directly on the writing surface with an @-reference. Learn more about adding references here.
Can I duplicate an existing page?
Yes, you can easily duplicate and existing page or subpage. To learn how, head over to this article.
How can I see the total number of pages and subpages in the doc?
You can see the total number of pages (including subpages and hidden pages) in the Statistics section of your doc. Just follow these steps:
Click on the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of your doc
Select Doc settings
Click into Statistics
Find the page count near the top of the list, along with other statistics