We are currently building our workspace and facing a challenge regarding Space organization.
Currently, when a User Group has access to a Space (even minimum without any database access), they see all Views in the sidebar by default. This creates significant clutter.
For example, our Designers team see empty all Views if they don’t have access to any base. Or they can see views that meant only for the Producers team (and vice versa), even if they don’t need it (and if you have big amount of teams and roles in one department - it is a problem).
The Proposal: The ability to show/hide specific Views for specific User Groups.
This would allow us to:
Maintain a “Single Source of Truth” within one Space.
Keep the interface clean and relevant for each role (Architects, Designers, Producers).
Here is simple (not full structure of department without all groups and subteams). Also it is critical to have one database for huge amount of task (it will be ultra ineffective to divide databases for each team)
Also, if we have different type of Architects (with different roles (access to data) in company/ department) - now we can’t have Architets team with acces only for specific databases. (Lead Architect has access to all info, and his team members can manage only specific databases and their views).
Clarification on the core issue: To be clear, our primary goal is not just using Views as a security gate for the database. The main issue is UI noise and cognitive load.
We want to ensure that “neighboring” teams don’t see each other’s views setups. For instance:
Designers don’t need to see the complex analytical Views used by Leads.
Producers shouldn’t have their sidebar cluttered with specific Architect workflows.
Currently, everyone sees everything, which makes the sidebar messy and hard to navigate. We need the ability to hide these Views simply to keep the workspace clean and relevant for each specific role.
You could try using Smart Folders and views within the smart folders.
Thsn filter where Team Members Contains me.
It has some quirks, and the permission of the views then depends on read and edit permission of the Team entity, but I’m curious if would work out. I haven’t don’t this yet, but I this is a valid use case for it.
Thank you for the suggestion! But maybe I am wrong but Smart Folders definitely help with horizontal organization, but they don’t solve the core issue of UI clutter.
Even if a View is inside a Smart Folder, or if it’s a ‘loose’ View in the Space, it remains visible to everyone who has access to that Space. For example, a Designer will still see a View meant for the Head Lead. Even if that View is empty (because the Designer lacks database permissions), the View title still exists in the sidebar.
Our main goal is to hide the UI elements (Views) themselves based on User Groups, so people only see the tools relevant to their specific role.
Furthermore, splitting databases into different Spaces doesn’t solve the issue either. To show data from one Space in another (e.g., via Relations or Lookups), we must grant users access to the ‘source’ Space. As a result, they immediately see all the Views in that Space’s sidebar. This creates a loop
To summarize the core issue: currently, granting even the most minimal access to a Space automatically makes every View within that Space visible in the sidebar. Even if a user has zero access to any of the underlying databases, they are still forced to see a sidebar cluttered with empty Views (all views). This creates a confusing experience where the UI doesn’t reflect the user’s actual permissions or needs.
Create a Database in Main Space. Do not give anyone any general access to this Space itself. Grant access specifically in the Database settings instead.
Create a separate Space for each team, sub-team, lead, lead teams and Head — and add their specific Views for the database from the Main Space there.
This creates many extra Spaces, but it allows to solve the problem of huge amount of unnecessary and empty Views for each team.
