Can't Create -- What are the limits to admin?

Hi Keith,

It is possible to build out in one app and then translate that over to another app as you work on it. For example with help from an Account Admin you can move things like tables from one app to another if you end up building out a table with fields and reporting that you like (you can also copy tables with the right permissions). If you are looking to move over multiple tables or relationships that you have built out that can be a lot more complicated. It is possible to recreate builds from Exchange apps though, they were built using the normal build process for a Quick Base application by their original creators.

At creation there aren't any specific settings that are unchangeable in an app, like you do not designate a type of app at creation, though there are a few settings that might be helpful to think about early. For example most apps default to the time zone of the account they belong to so if your company spans a bunch of time zones you would want to go into the app properties and look over the defaults in place. Then you can make sure it matches the time settings you would expect. A blank app is really in many ways a blank canvas for you to build from. I hope the information is helpful.

 One thing I would suggest if you are looking to grow your skills and want a place to test and build separate from your work account we do have the Builder Program now. It is a free account for builders looking for a place to test out ideas and would allow you to build apps and test things out separate from your work account. You would be able to create apps here and access exchange apps to test out ideas. You can find out more about the Builder Program and sign up in just a few minutes here. 

SUPER helpful, thank you Evan! Exactly what I wanted to know. And thanks for the info on the Builder Program, I'll check it out.

Just to be clear though: say I've built a rather complicated app: many tables, relationships... as complicated as it gets. It seems like the existence of the Exchange implies there's some way to use that as a template to recreate itself in another account... but that would take app creation rights, of course.
Are you saying then that there's not really any way to do it efficiently otherwise?
It might be that, if I've built a useful app, I can convince our QB superusers or whatever they're called to copy it for me into our business domain, sort of like them creating a blank app for me this time. Is it going to be hard to set it up to do this?

The exchange is not for the purpose of duplicating apps. And would not be used unless you wanted to make your app publicly available to all Quick Base users everywhere.

To duplicate an app is just a couple of clicks when you have the permission to create apps. So you would just go to whoever in your organization has permission to create apps and have them duplicate the app.

Having said that, I far prefer to try to not have duplicate apps, if the same effect of compartmentalization of users can be achieved through Role Permissions.

For example, if there are users out of geographic offices, it would be better to have Role Permissions to keep the reporting and data separate by region rather than quadruplicating the maintenance effort to enhance functionality. A Quick Base app is often a journey, not a destination and there are always ideas for improvement..

That decision to duplicate and split an app will depend on how similar the use cases are.