Video Storyboard

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Introduction

This is a very high level overview of some of the functionalities available in Coda. It is not meant as training material, but just to familiarise the viewer with some Coda concepts.

Introduction 2

The landing page is called a workspace, a person can belong to many workspaces. For most users, the workspace would be the area where the docs that they use reside. Docs are organised in folders down the left. The workspace also includes any packs or templates created from the workspace.

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Coda docs is as if Excel, Word and Access got together, had a baby and raised it on steroids. When creating a new doc, you can start with a blank page, pull in a template, or copy an existing doc from the gallery.

Important: Because of the integrated nature of a Coda doc, the scope of the contents is usually MUCH larger than for a spreadsheet or word document.

<Create a new doc>

Create a doc

Add a table

A table can be created using one of several views. The standard practice is to have a separate area in the doc for all tables, and then to use views in the “user” area of the doc.

There are several types of column for a table. Basic columns are Text, Number and Date. Of course columns can be filtered, sorted, grouped, formatted and summarised.

Others with clear meaning are the Checkbox, Properties and Reaction columns.

We’ll return to Pack, Formula column and Button columns, let’s switch to canvas columns first.

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Canvas Columns

Canvas columns allows virtually everything that a “normal” page does. It does not allow sub-pages, but does allow tables, views of tables and buttons.

Using a template, elaborate formatting for a project or for a meeting can be pulled into a canvas and reused for each project or meeting.

Buttons, the Formula language and Formula columns

Buttons, formulas and packs can be used either on the pages (canvas) or in columns.

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Buttons have a name. A description, which can be formula driven, and an action. You can select one of several predefined actions from the drop down, or you can add your own formula action. A special action is runActions(), which allows you to chain a number of other actions together.

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There are currently about 200 standard formulas, including decision formulas (if() and switchIf() ), Loops forEach() and various filters (filter(), sumIf() etc).

It is also possible to add your won, or use other people’s formulas created in packs.

Packs

Packs are extensions to the Coda base functionality and are written in JavaScript.

They come in two basic flavours - adding additional formulas or providing access to other websites through those website’s APIs. As an alternative, webhooks can also be used, including to access other Coda docs.

Two popular packs (Gmail and Outlook) allow one to pull in messages onto Coda, and to also send messages from Coda.

Another topic that is gaining popularity in packs is integrating to AI tools. over and above the native integration to AI that Coda itself is doing.

Conclusion

Coda is a document platform. It has powerful functionality as a no code tool, but growth and expansion is possible through the use of not only the formula language, but by using packs coded in JavaScript.

Currently formatting is not nearly as good as that of a dedicated word processor, but it is passable. However, Coda is not a word (or Excel) replacement, but rather a new category of software that enables extremely powerful information management platforms to be created.