Guide
When to share a Database
Sometimes Share Entity is not enough and Share Space is too much — that's when sharing a Database comes in handy.
Create without seeing everything
You'd like people to create stuff and have access to it without seeing the stuff of other people:
IT support tickets: employees should be able to create and see their Tickets (e.g. "Configure a printer") without seeing the Tickets of others.
Leads: a sales rep should be able to collect new Leads into a Database (e.g. for future outreach) without seeing all of the Leads.
Vacations: employees should be able to add Vacations, Sick Leaves, and Overtimes without necessarily seeing everyone else's.
In this case, share the relevant Database using Submitter access template and Automatically Share Entities with Assigned People via Created By Field.
Create inside a particular parent
The same mechanism applies when you share a hierarchy via Custom Access Templates for Sharing Entities:
Product and its Epics, Features, and Stories;
Project and its Tasks;
Client and their Contacts.
If you'd like people not just to edit linked Epics but also to create new ones, add them as Submitters of the Database. They will be able to create Epics in the Products they have access to as well as "orphan" Epics.
If parentless entities become an issue for you, please let us know.
Edit only some Databases in a Space
There are some Databases in a Space that require a more careful approach to permissions:
Software Development: developers should be able to create and edit Stories and Bugs, but not Sprints and Releases — those are reserved for managers.
Vacations: everyone should be able to create Vacations, Sick Leaves, and Overtimes, but not Public Holidays.
In this case, share the Space with everyone using a less powerful access template (e.g. Viewer) — and then share the selected DBs with the privileged people using Editor template.
How to share a Database
Navigate to the Database you'd like to share (e.g., by typing its name in search) and select Share option in the context menu:
Add users and groups that should receive access, select the appropriate access template, and click Add:
You have to be Architect in either the Database or its Space to manage access of others.
What capabilities each default access template includes
You can choose between six default access levels. Here is what each of them includes:
| Architect | Owner | Editor | Commenter | Viewer | Submitter |
Database | |
⚙️ Configure and delete | ✅ | | | | | |
🔒 Manage access | ✅ | | | | | |
Entities | |
👁️ View | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
💬 Comment | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | |
➕ Create | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | ✅ |
✍️ Edit | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | |
🗑️ Delete | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | |
⛔ Revoke access | ✅ | ✅ | | | | |
🌐 Share to web | ✅ | ✅ | | | | |
How to configure custom access template
Sometimes the default set of access templates is not precise enough: people keep deleting stuff they only need to edit or someone constantly (and accidentally) edits things they should only comment on.
In this case, Admins can define their own custom access templates with a desired combination of capabilities. For example:
Can view all entities and create new ones but not edit everything.
Can view and edit all entities but not create new ones.
Can edit but not delete all entities.
These custom access templates will appear in the usual dropdown:
How to add a custom access template
To add a new Database access template:
Click Manage templates in the dropdown above
Select New Template
Come up with a name and a description
Configure what access should be included
Specify what Databases this template should be available for (all by default)
Click Add Template
The template will appear in the correct place in the dropdown now and Database Architects will be able to use it to share their Databases.
Database access templates are similar to Custom Access Templates for Sharing Entities, just defined and applied on different levels:
| Defined at what level | Used at what level |
Access templates for Entity access | Database | Entity |
Access templates for Database access | Workspace | Database |
How to reorder access templates
We recommend ordering the templates from the most powerful on top down to the least powerful at the bottom. To reorder a template, drag it by the handle and drop it in the right place:
The order is the same for all Databases.
How to manage what Databases template is available for
We recommend keeping the number of access templates for each Database to six at most — otherwise, it becomes challenging for the sharers to identify the right one.
You can hide both default and custom access templates from the sharing dropdown by managing what Databases they are available for:
If you don't want a template to be used at all, select No Databases here.
Making a template unavailable for a certain Database doesn't revoke existing access, it only prevents sharers from using the template in the future.
You can also delete a custom access template completely — given it's not currently used.
How to manage automatic access for assigned users and groups
In addition to sharing all records of a Database, you can automatically share certain records with assigned users and groups.
Check out the relevant guides for details:
FAQ
Can I override Space access on the Database level?
Practically speaking, yes:
If someone needs more access on the Database level, simply grant it on top the Space access. For example, if someone is Viewer in a Space, you can additionally make them Editor in selected Databases of this Space.
If someone needs less access on the Database level, share the Space with them without sharing all the Space's data, and then grant access for each of the Space's Database as you see fit. For example, add someone as Commenter to a Space so they could see all Views and contribute to Documents but don't extend the same access to data. Then grant them Viewer to some Databases and no access to others. Check out our video on the topic.