When you choose to share a resource in the Quickbase Exchange, it is copied, and the data and users are removed from the copy. This article is about what you can do to prepare a resource before you submit it to the Exchange.
In this article
Remove organization-specific names and references
Even though app data is removed when you share a resource, there might be items in the app with organization-specific names. Things could be named after employees, groups, events, or projects that are specific to your organization. We recommend reviewing things to rename including:
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Field and table names
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Role names
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Report names
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Notification, subscription, or reminder names
- Branding elements
- Cross-app relationships
Test role-specific behavior
If your resource has role-specific behavior like hidden fields, restricted access, or role-specific forms, we recommend testing the roles in the app. Learn more about testing roles.
Edit for clarity
Add or edit the following items so that they provide good information for someone who is new to the app:
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An app description
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A table description for each table
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A visually distinctive icon for each table
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A description for each report
This description does not display by default; select Show description on report page in the Report Builder to display it.
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Field-level help
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Descriptive text sections on forms
Remove app-specific names and references
When you choose an app to share, your original app is not changed in any way. Instead, it is copied, which means that the app DBID and table DBIDs in the app change. Quickbase handles most of these changes behind the scenes, but if you have URL references to those DBIDs embedded in your app, those links will need to be changed as described below.
Note: When someone chooses an app in the Exchange, they get a copy of it, so they have the same problem if you just insert the new DBID into the link.
In formulas
If you have used a table DBID in formulas, replace the DBID with the table alias (visible at the bottom of the Advanced settings page in Table Settings). Break up the string to insert the table alias.
For example: "https://myaccount.quickbase.com/db/" & [_DBID_PROJECTS] & "?a=td
Review In-text sections and report descriptions
If you have links that contain DBIDs in places like text sections, rich text pages, or report descriptions, remove or redirect the links.
You can do things like:
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Move the content you're linking to on a publicly-available website and point the link to that location
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Link to a file in a cloud-based document sharing service
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Create a relative link to a location inside a table.
To make a relative link, remove the DBID and everything before it from the URL. The link shown above would look like
?a=GenNewRecordafter being made into a relative link. A link like this would tell Quickbase to create a new record in the current table (whatever its DBID).
Review hidden items
Apps might have tables or reports that are hidden. Review the User Interface tab for all roles for tables. Review the Roles and Reports Matrix page for reports. We recommend changing the visibility or deleting things.
Add sample data
Create some sample data in each table, especially if reports from those tables appear on an app or table Home page. Sample data shows how the app looks when it is in use. Check the most frequently used reports, as well as each table Home page and the app Home page, to make sure they look their best.
Review webhooks
If your app contains webhooks, they are removed when you submit the app to Exchange.
Take screenshots
Take some pictures to show what your resource looks like when it is in use. This is a good way to preview the functionality or workflow. They should show the core features of the resource.. These images should be 3:2 in relative dimensions.