How best to mass-input multiple fields into database? What's the best UI?

phanorb · 2021-01-20T03:09:24.848Z

I have a bunch of baseball cards and basketball cards. I’d like to to enter them into a Bubble database using the following fields:

Sport (baseball vs. basketball)
Company (Topps vs. Upper Deck)
Player Name
Card Number
Value

Let’s say I want to enter 50 - 100 trading cards into my database and a friend of mine has about 20 - 30 trading cards to enter into the database. We definitely want to be able to type in the values mentioned above. What’s the best way for a Bubble user to type in and enter in a lot of values at a time?

For example, I wouldn’t want to have to hit “Enter” at the end of every single row. Or, is that unavoidable?

Should I use a Repeating Group, a spreadsheet plug-in, design a form that has a bunch of input fields? Please help us understand the pros & cons of each method, thank you!

cmarchan · 2021-01-20T03:34:07.422Z

phanorb · 2021-01-20T04:12:59.433Z

Of the 20 videos…the part that is most relevant to my question is 8/20 where they use a pop-up form to input data. The pop-up form is NOT useful to my use case where I want to mass-input a lot of data.

I should have asked my question in a different way. What is the best User Interface to mass-input data like the trading cards info that I mentioned above? The user is expected to enter in tens of rows at a time.

To be clear, I do not want to know HOW. I just want to get people’s feedback on the BEST METHOD for inputting a lot of rows into Bubble’s database. Thank you.

cmarchan · 2021-01-20T04:48:26.534Z

My vote would be for a spreadsheet-type experience

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Hey Bubblers we’ve got an exciting plugin for you! Editable Data Table like Excel - This plugin lets you show your database content to a user in a very friendly and intuitive way (much like excel or airtable) Here are the instructions how to make the plugin work. Go to your app settings http://prntscr.com/inntef . Go to API tab and enable option “This app exposes a Data API” http://prntscr.com/inntz1 . Choose a data table which you’ll use in Editable Grid. Go to Data > Priv…

phanorb · 2021-01-20T08:09:45.651Z

Thank you cmarchan! I thought about using that particular plug-in but was wary because of some negative comments. But based on your vote, I feel a little better about trying it out.

phanorb · 2021-01-22T00:26:58.544Z

I just bought the Editable Data Table plugin that you linked to ($35) but I cannot find any instructions on how to add new records to a Bubble database using the grid.

Instead, there are only instructions on how to display values from an already existing database. This leads to a chicken-egg problem in that I don’t have a database yet! I want to build a database from nothing by inputting values into it by using the Editable Table.

So…how do I add new values into a Bubble database using this plug-in? Any link to instructions would be greatly appreciated!

cmarchan · 2021-01-22T03:52:32.392Z

@levon @ZeroqodeSupport Any guidance on this?

ZeroqodeSupport · 2021-01-22T13:54:01.336Z

Hi, @phanorb!

You see, the plugin works in such a way that it lets you show your database content to a user, meaning that the database is not empty and has already records. It is not intended to create a database. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Best,
Zeroqode Team

phanorb · 2021-01-22T15:17:04.054Z

Uhhh, cmarchan suggested that this would be a spreadsheet-like experience, that’s why I spent $35 to buy it. Can I get a refund since it cannot do what cmarchan thought it could? This is day 2 of my bubble experience and I’m very new to all of this.

To be clear, I came to the Bubble forums with questions. I received advice and I followed it in good faith. Now I’m told that the plug-in doesn’t do what I was told it would do. Thus, can I get refunded the $35?

Pat · 2021-01-22T16:04:36.768Z

I am not familiar with the plugin but if my understanding is correct, you can edit existing data. Maybe one way, from the top of my head, to make this work is to have an input first where the user will provide the number of things he wants to add to the db. Then have a button with a workflow which generates those things. However, I would advice to just go with a repeating group before going down the plugin route.

phanorb · 2021-01-22T16:24:43.633Z

Hi Pat, we know that the plug-in can edit existing data. That was never the reason for buying the plug-in. If you start from the beginning of this thread, the original question was whether it would allow mass-input of data in order to create & populate a database.

Cmarchan suggested the plug-in would do what I was looking for. I took his advice and purchased it. Then, the Zeroqode team specifically said it could not do what Cmarchan thought it could do. Thus, I’m asking for a refund.

bcart0v · 2021-01-22T16:33:26.114Z

If you would like a refund on a plugin, email Bubble support and explain what happened, they are very understanding.

If you are entering a lot of data, doing an excel sheet or one at a time is roughly going to be the same amount of time, IMHO.

Personally, I would recommend building a group like this;

image1429×690 51.5 KB

On the left is all the inputs, on the right is the repeating group that reflects the data file it’s saving to. You enter the information you wish to track, hit save, it saves the inputs as a new entry and shows in the repeating group on the right, clears the inputs and just repeat the process

phanorb · 2021-01-22T16:36:56.879Z

bcart0v, this is SUPER helpful thank you. I will email Bubble support.

Also, seeing this visually is very helpful to my understanding of what you’re talking about. I’m going to try this on my own. Thank you, thank you!

bcart0v · 2021-01-22T16:49:31.422Z

Hey no problem,

Here’s a screen shot of the save function, I’ve blurred out the irrelevant details to your case, but it’s very simple

image1730×120 7.88 KB

It goes Create New Thing > Reset Relevant Inputs > Reset Group.

All those inputs are inside a group, so it’s just easy to reset the group to make sure nothing is left behind.

ZeroqodeSupport · 2021-01-25T15:38:22.686Z

Hi, @phanorb!

As @bcart0v suggested, would be better to contact the Bubble support directly because all the payments go through the bubble marketplace. Describe your case, I believe they can help you. And we are so sorry that the plugin did not meet your expectations fully.

Best,
ZQ Team