Transposing your data

Two ways to transpose in Coda

Back and regular transpose

In this blog post we discuss transposing data in Coda. There are two main ways to do this:

1. “Backwards” Transpose: This is for display purposes, like showing quarterly results. You store your data in rows, but for a better visual, you flip it into columns. In this blog post I explain the basics.
2. Regular Transpose: This is more common, especially with form data. Each form field becomes a column. This is useful when you have similar data types, like multiple phone numbers or contact methods, and you want to track them with “valid as of” dates. It’s also helpful for things like weekly planning, where each working day is linked to the same type of data (a work schedule). Forms are often easier for users to fill out this way, especially since many prefer not to edit tables directly.

It would be great if Coda had a built-in transpose function, like spreadsheets have. While transposing isn’t rocket science, it’s a common task that could be simplified.

The confusion

In Coda, you store data in rows with columns, each with distinct data types like numbers, people, dates/times, or text. Each row represents an object, enriched by the data in its columns, including the display column (often labeled ‘Name’). These columns become…