All the features of Notion databases + Feed View
The New Feed View
Feed is a Notion database view that shows pages in a card format, displaying properties (optional) and page content. It is mostly used on databases where quickly scanning page content is useful, such as company announcements, journal entries, and blog posts.
To add a Feed view to a database, click the "+" icon on the view tabs, select Feed, and configure the view — property visibility, property order, author, page icon, filters, and sorting. A second option is to add Feed view by using the /linked view of database command on any Notion page, or as a Tab when the Tabbed Layout is activated on a database layout.
CSV Import
We can import a CSV from scratch to create a new database, or we can merge a CSV with an existing database. The "Merge CSV" option is on the top-right three-dot menu of a database when in full page view. When we merge a CSV file with an existing Notion database, we can map the CSV columns to the Notion properties, decide which columns to include, and determine whether to map their values to existing properties or create new ones. The screenshot below shows this mapping process.
Merging a CSV with a Notion database - setup CSV columns
Database Settings
Notion is primarily composed of Blocks. A block is anything in Notion, including Databases. A database is a collection of structured data where each row is a page that can be expanded. When we set up a Database in Notion, we use the Database Settings, which is a small pop-up menu located on the right side of a database and contains all the database settings. We can open this menu by selecting the Settings icon at the top right of a database, next to the New button.
Database settings menu on the right
Database settings are all we need to set up a Notion database. Each instance of a database (i.e., the source or any linked view) has this menu available. Some settings are only modifiable by users who have Full Access to the source database.
Some settings are instance-specific (i.e., they only apply to the current instance you are editing). Others are global (i.e., making a change ripples through the whole database for everyone). Here are instance-specific settings (more on each of them later in the post):
Layout
Property visibility
Filter
Sort
Group
Lock database
The other settings are global. Changing something in them will apply to the entire database, effectively modifying its structure. You can notice this distinction is also highlighted in the Database Settings menu in the screenshot above — the first section has the "View settings" header (i.e., changes apply only to the current view); the second section is titled "Database settings" (i.e., global, structural changes to the database).
When I build a system in Notion, I make sure I always address all the Settings in each database I create and any linked views throughout the workspace. I consider this important — paying attention to details and ensuring quality control. It can become routine, unless you decide it is not so by considering the truth that everything is always new, no matter how many times you have done it or how familiar the interface looks to you. More on this and other mindsets here.
Now let's look at each Setting and its meaning.
Layout
Each instance of a database in Notion can be displayed in its unique way out of a limited set of options. We call these options "database views". Database views are ways to visualize the data from the Notion database. Each instance of a database can use a different view. At the time of writing, the available views are Table, Board, Timeline, Calendar, List, Gallery, Chart, Feed. Each view has certain qualities to it that make it fit specific use cases better than others.
For example, Timeline and Calendar views require date properties. If there are no date properties in the database, there is no point in using those views. In each instance of a database, we can create multiple views. There is a "+" icon at the top of each database instance to do that. When I build databases in Notion, I like adding multiple useful views to the Source database first, because those can be reused in linked database views that I add later to dashboards or database templates. Finally, the Layout menu lets us define some stylistic choices for the database view—vertical lines, page icons, column wrapping, and the position of where a page gets opened when the user clicks on a database item (page).
The Layout Settings in Notion Databases
Property visibility
This determines the properties (columns) shown in the database view and their order.
Filter & Sort
A filter is a way to define which subset of the database pages we want to see in the database view. We can filter based on one or multiple properties. We can use advanced filters to concatenate multiple filter conditions using AND or OR statements.
Sort is a way to sort the database pages based on one or multiple properties in the database, in ascending or descending order. For example, sorting a Task database view by Due Date in ascending order displays Tasks in order from the oldest to the latest or future Due Date.
When we add filters or sorting to a database view in database instances with other users, select “Save for everyone” to make the change apply globally for everyone. Otherwise, the filter and sort rules will only apply to you, the user who set those conditions.
Group
Grouping allows for visualization of the database pages nested within expandable toggles—groups. Board views can have groups and sub-groups, which is useful for creating swimlanes or other multi-grouped views, such as visualizing Tasks by Priority and by Project. We can group a database view by any property besides Rollups. Rollups are an advanced property type that pulls a specific property from a related database item. Rollups can only exist if there is a corresponding Relation property from which to pull data in the database. Sometimes this limitation, if we want to call it like so, can be removed by using a Formula property instead of or in addition to a Rollup, as long as the Formula result is not an Array/List.
Copy link to view
The name explains it. Copy the link to the current view of the database.
Lock database
We can also find this setting on the top-right three-dot menu in a full-page database. When a database is inline, we can open it in full page by clicking on the double-headed arrow next to the database settings menu. By locking a database instance, we prevent structural changes — i.e., adding/removing/editing properties, creating automations, changing the layout of a view, showing/hiding properties, and more — but we maintain the ability to add pages and modify existing pages in the database.
When a database is locked, we can modify its content, but we cannot modify its structure. Anyone with editing access to the database can unlock it, no matter who locked it in the first place. Unlocking a database happens by clicking on the “Locked” sign, and selecting whether to unlock the database instance “for me” or “for everyone”. If we “unlock for me”, the database instance remains locked for everyone else. If we “unlock for everyone”, the database instance gets unlocked for everyone, allowing structural changes to people with editing access.
Edit properties
Here is where we can edit existing properties (i.e., their type and configuration depending on the property type), add new properties, or remove existing ones. If there are deleted properties, we can also access them from the dedicated menu here, and restore them, keep them as they are, or fully delete them one by one or in bulk. Properties are the foundations of any database. They are akin to columns in a spreadsheet, except they have a specific data type (e.g., text, number, relation, select). When creating databases in Notion, I usually determine beforehand their properties based on the data and workflows needed, so that I can create the properties once and configure all the useful database views accordingly.
Automations
Automate workflows within the database or across related databases. Read my Notion Automations guide or watch the video included within.
More settings
There is more.
Sub-items
Sub-items are a way to nest database pages within other database pages, in virtually infinite levels. When we activate sub-items in a database, Notion automatically creates two Relation properties that point to the same database. One named “Parent item” (accepts only one value), and one titled “Sub-item” (accepts multiple values). Once activated, we can configure sub-items on each database view, selecting whether we want to display them nested within a toggle (i.e., the parent item is expandable), flattened (i.e., no toggle, all database items shown at the same level, and sub-items display a reference to their parent inline next to their title), only parent (i.e., only show parent items and hide sub-items from the view), or disabled, which disables any sub-item trace in the view, although the feature and the relation properties remain. Read my guide (includes video) to dive deeper into sub-items in Notion.
Dependencies
Similar to sub-items, activating dependencies creates two new Relation properties in the database: Blocked By, and Blocked. When an item is dependent on another item, it means that there is some common denominator between them that prevents progress until addressed or completed. Dependencies are often employed in Project Management system, where Project B can’t start until Project A is completed, or a specific aspect of Project A is completed. In a Timeline view, dependencies display as an arrow connecting the dependent items. Once Dependencies are activated in a database, we can select whether to shift the dependent items automatically upon a date shift, not shift at all, or only shift when there is an overlap in dates. I explained the details of these settings here.
Connections
Connection properties in a Notion database are special properties that connect with a third-party tool. Currently, Google Drive, Github, Figma, and Zendesk. When we use one of these properties, we can select items/files from the selected tool within each Notion database item, creating a Connection referencing data across tools.
Turn into Tasks
This setting turns any Notion database into a Tasks database. Read more here. A Tasks database must have three properties: Assignee, Due Date, and Status. Database items from Tasks databases are aggregated into Home, which is usable by workspace members at the top of the left sidebar menu. We can undo a Tasks database at any time from the same menu option.
Customize layout
Layout is how pages in a specific database look when opened. It allows the configuration of the properties at the top of the database pages. Once you customize the layout of a database, it applies to all existing and future pages in the database. Here is my guide (including video) to Notion database layouts.
Tabbed Layout - Differences in Database Settings
When you customize the layout of database pages (last point above), there is one option to activate “Tabbed layout”. This allows us to create Tabs at the top of the database pages. Each Tab is a linked view of a related database. Here you can understand what that means and see it in action.
In a Tabbed database view, the Settings explained above are minimized — many of them are not present at all. A Tabbed database view is not the place to make structural changes to a Notion database. It is a simple feature that facilitates setting up and visualizing relations across databases.
The stripped-down view and database settings in a Tabbed view
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