How to build a database without technical experience

This article will interest you if:

• You’re interested in no-code software
• You want to learn about databases
• You want to build a database yourself
• You want to do more than just use a spreadsheet
• You want to move your data to the cloud
• You want a working database at the end

The limitations of spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are sometimes used for tasks they weren’t designed for, such as project planning, to-do lists, CRM, or product inventory. However, these tasks can become too complex for spreadsheets because they lack the ability to create relationships between data. For example, if you’re creating a project plan and need to assign team members to specific tasks, you’ll need to establish a relationship between the team member and the task. This becomes especially difficult when you also want to organize tasks into sprints or milestones and have different projects for different customers. Trying to accomplish all this with a spreadsheet while keeping everything clear and organized and collaborating with team members can be very challenging.

Spreadsheets also have limitations when it comes to storing different types of data. While spreadsheets can recognize text, numbers, dates, and formulas by default, they struggle with storing images, files, checkboxes, barcodes, ratings, or adding logic to cells. For example, you may want to restrict cell values to a set of choices or specify a number format with three decimal places.

• Spreadsheets cannot create relationships between data
• Difficult to keep everything clear and organized
• Challenging to collaborate with team members
• Limited support for different data types
• Cells with advanced logic are not possible

Relational databases

This is where relational databases come in. As the name suggests, these databases are specifically designed to create relationships between different elements (team members, tasks, workspaces, sprints). These elements are represented as tables and can store various types of information. Think of them as the same type of table you would create in a text editor, but with each column only accepting values of a predefined format. This ensures data consistency and structure. For example, if a column is formatted for prices, you can only enter prices in that column. Anything else will be rounded or considered invalid. Another column could store the names of team members as small pieces of text.

While working with spreadsheets, you may find yourself creating tables frequently. The difference is that spreadsheets allow you to enter any type of data in any cell, resulting in unstructured and unpredictable data. That’s why most websites, apps, and software use relational databases to store information. The good news is that you don’t need to be a software developer to build a relational database. Online tools like Baserow and Airtable provide spreadsheet and database hybrid solutions that run in your browser and require no technical experience. If you know how to work with a spreadsheet, you’ll find these tools familiar and easy to use.

• Databases allow you to create relationships between data
• They consist of structured tables and columns
• Easy collaboration with others
• Accessible through a web browser
• Data can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection
• Supports a wide range of data types

Building your own database

To give you a better idea of how to use a no-code tool like Baserow or Airtable, we’ll guide you through the process of building your own project management database. Although you may want to build something different, this tutorial will help you understand the possibilities. We’ll be using Baserow because it’s open-source software with many future advantages. However, the principles of a relational database are the same, so you can follow the steps with Airtable as well due to their similarities.

Creating an account and your first database

To start using Baserow, create an account. Click on the “Register” button in the top right corner and fill out the form. After creating your account, you’ll see all your databases. Although you haven’t created one yet, there will be an automatically generated “YOUR_NAME’s company” database for demonstration purposes. You can click on it to access the first table, “Customers.” The interface will resemble a spreadsheet, allowing you to edit data easily.

Create Baserow account here

Creating tables and columns

Fortunately, we already have two tables that fit our needs perfectly: “Customers” and “Projects.” However, for our project management use case, we need three additional tables: one for team members, one for tasks, and one for milestones. To add these tables, click on the “+ Create table” button in the left sidebar. Once created, open the “Team members” table and delete the unnecessary columns by clicking the downward arrow next to the field name and selecting “Delete field.” For team members, we may want to store their job titles, so we can create another field using the “+” button next to the existing fields.

Establishing relationships

Now that we have a basic understanding of managing tables and columns/fields, let’s focus on the task part of our project management database. Switch to the “Tasks” table and remove the “Notes” and “Active” fields, leaving only the “Name” field. As mentioned earlier, we want to create relationships between tables. To do this, we’ll use the “Link to table” field type. When creating a field, choose this option and select the “Projects” table as the linked table. Once you’ve done this, you’ll notice a small plus button when you click on a cell. By clicking it, you can choose a row from the “Projects” table, establishing a relationship between the two rows. Although it may seem strange at first, such as linking the “Tesla” row in the tasks table to the “Tesla” row in the projects table, renaming the “Tesla” row in the tasks table to something like “Create self-driving software” will make the relationship clear.

If you open the projects table, you’ll see another field called “Tasks” automatically created. This field represents the reverse relationship of the newly created “Project” link row table field. Here, you can see that the project “Tesla” has a relation with the task “Create self-driving software.”

Finishing up

To complete the project management database, you’ll need to create several more fields. With your basic understanding of how relational databases work, you should be able to finish it on your own. Below are five screenshots showing how each table could look.