Columns, order and visibility
Each sheet arrives with the fields its record type has. You can drag a column wider or narrower, drag it into a different position, and hide the ones you are not reading. None of that changes the record — a hidden column is still a field on the row. To have the same arrangement tomorrow, save it as a view.
What you can arrange, and what you cannot#
| Control | What it does | What it never does |
|---|---|---|
| Resize | Sets the width of one column by dragging its edge | Change the value, or truncate what is stored |
| Reorder | Moves a column left or right | Change field order for anyone else, until you save and share a view |
| Hide | Takes a column off the screen | Remove the field from the record, the API or an export of the record |
| Show | Puts a hidden column back | Create a field that the record type does not have |
The last cell matters. The columns on a sheet are the fields that record type actually has; there is no custom-field editor behind the grid. If the column you want is not in the list, the field does not exist on that record, and no arrangement will produce it.
Keeping an arrangement#
Arrange the sheet the way the job needs it — the three or four columns you actually read, in the order you read them.
Result The sheet is immediately narrower and the rows are easier to compare.
Save it as a view, with a name that says what the arrangement is for.
Result The arrangement is stored as a thing you can return to, along with the filters and sort in force at the time.
Switch back to the default view when you are done.
Result The next person opening that sheet is not looking at your working set without knowing it.
Treat an unsaved arrangement as scratch work. If it took you a minute to build and you will want it again, it is worth thirty seconds to save; if you will not, leaving it unsaved is the right answer and costs nothing.
Practical limits#
- A sheet with many columns
- Every record type here is a real business record, and some are wide. Hiding is the intended remedy, and freezing the first column or two makes what remains readable — see sorting, grouping and freezing.
- A column that is empty everywhere
- The field exists and nothing has filled it. That is a statement about your data, not a fault in the grid.
- A very narrow column
- Dragging a column down to a sliver hides its contents without hiding the column, which is more confusing than hiding it properly.
- A small screen
- Column arrangement is a wide-screen activity. What survives on a phone is covered in the grid on a small screen.
Questions#
Does hiding a column speed the grid up?
Not in any way you will notice. Rows are virtualised, so only what is on screen is rendered whether the sheet is four columns wide or twenty. Hide columns because they are noise, not as a performance measure.
Do my column changes affect anyone else?
Not until you save a view and it is shared. Arranging a sheet is a reading choice; making it somebody else's default is a deliberate act with a name attached to it.
Can I rename a column?
No. A column is a field on a record type, and its name is the same name the rest of Connect and the API use. Keeping one name per thing is why an answer from the Assistant and a heading in the grid refer to the same field without translation.