A Table You Design Yourself

Part 1 of 11: A Table You Design Yourself

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I counted once. Twelve spreadsheets, across two cloud drives and one laptop, all trying to track roughly the same stuff and all disagreeing about the details. One had a column called "status," another called it "state," a third used a color I no longer remember the meaning of. That is not organization. That is a slow leak.

The thing I actually wanted was simple to say and annoying to build: a table where I decide what the columns are, that lives somewhere I'll actually look, that I can share one row of without emailing the whole file. That's a List.

What a List is

A List in InterlinedList is a table with a schema you define. You name the columns, you pick what kind of value each one holds (text, a number, a date, a yes/no, a dropdown), and then you add rows. The structure is yours. A recipe box and a bug tracker and a "concerts I want to see" list are the same feature wearing different columns.

Underneath, each list stores its shape as a small schema and each row as structured data, which is why the app can do things a spreadsheet can't: validate a field, hide a column that doesn't apply, draw a diagram of how your lists relate. More on all of that later in the series. For now the mental model is enough: you're designing a table, not filling in someone else's.

The Create New List builder with a list named Field Recording Kit and four fields: Gear, Category, Price, and Battery Powered

That screenshot is the builder. List name, an optional description, a public or private switch, and then a stack of fields where each field becomes a column. I built a "Field Recording Kit" list there because that's a real problem I have, and it's the example I'll carry through the next few posts.

The three ways to start

You don't have to build from a blank page. There are three tabs on the create screen, and they suit three different moods.

• Local List is the blank builder. Full control, you add each field yourself. This is where you land when you know exactly what you want.
• From Template hands you a finished schema for a common case (recipes, events, reading, media clips) that you can use as-is or tear apart. This is the fastest way to a working list, and it's the next post.
• GitHub-backed List points a list at a repository so your issues show up as rows. That one gets its own post near the end, because it's a different kind of magic.

One honest note about the gate

Creating a list is a Subscriber feature. I'd rather tell you that on the first page than let you build one in your head for ten minutes and hit a wall. The flip side, which genuinely surprised people I've shown this to: once a list exists, other people can be brought in for free. A teammate on the right role can add and edit rows without paying a cent. We'll get there in the sharing post.

Next up I'll start from a template and have a real, usable list before the kettle finishes. It's the least work for the most payoff, which is exactly why I didn't lead with it.

Adron