Searchable Database

HI There,

I'm wanting to host a really basic searchable database on a couple of sites.  The database is really basic and needs to include a company name, stand number and a web address.

I can't seem to find anything that works in a simple & responsive way.  I've explored Caspio - but it's a complicated product that is not responsive without adding extra code, plus its expensive, and my client needs to keep costs way down. They will also need to be able to maintain going forward and are not tech savvy.

Also - Caspio once embedded breaks the editing capabilities of the page its hosted on, which is not good. 

What I'd love is a plug in or something easy to use, that means everything is hosted on Squarespace and there is no double handling or external subscription required.

Crossing fingers someone on here has found a unicorn, :)

This isn’t the unicorn you’re looking for (you have to pay a fee for >25 entries, etc) but it might be worth checking out.

community box

Thanks so much - that looks interesting and definitely a better option than Caspio - would prefer a one off fee or free if it exists but VERY grateful!  

Did you ever find a solution to your need of a searchable database? I'm working with a client who maintains a  recommendation list (in Word format) of counseling/treatment centers, but they want to convert it to a searchable database. I'm curious where you landed. 

Your pal IRL too 😉

/ak

I'd be curious about this too - same problem here!

There are a number of ways to do this, some of which require you to use a third-party solution and some of which can be built in a Squarespace Collection. It really depends on the specifics of your requirements.

"I need a searchable database" isn't enough information for someone to give you a solution 🙂. We can throw you a bone with the names of some third party products, but they may not help. It's much better if you can provide:

• a link to the website, whether it's in progress or fully built. Note that the link needs to be public, so if it's a trial, you need to set a password and tell us what it is.
• full details of the data you want to display.
• details of where the data is currently held.
• details of why/how visitors need to be able to search the data
• a mockup of how you'd like to see it work

Hi!

I have the same problem. I'm all right brain and clueless how to do any coding....

Client has an excel file with item number, location, specs and details, etc. It's not big, maybe 200 items. I want to be able to key in just the item number and the location/name would result in the search.

• a link to the website, whether it's in progress or fully built. Note that the link needs to be public, so if it's a trial, you need to set a password and tell us what it is.
• full details of the data you want to display.
• details of where the data is currently held.
• details of why/how visitors need to be able to search the data
• a mockup of how you'd like to see it work

16 hours ago, MWRDesignGroup said:

Hi!

I have the same problem. I'm all right brain and clueless how to do any coding....

Client has an excel file with item number, location, specs and details, etc. It's not big, maybe 200 items. I want to be able to key in just the item number and the location/name would result in the search.

Login to:   https://caper-gar-842p.squarespace.com/config/

 

Password: GIFTreview922

 

Data: want user to be able to put in item number and the results would pull up the location and description (tree database kept in excel file).

Excel file.

Users find tree tag and can come to this site to put in the tree tag number which will give the tree name, location, girth, age and local history details.

See attachment.

 

Thank you SO much!!!!

• a link to the website, whether it's in progress or fully built. Note that the link needs to be public, so if it's a trial, you need to set a password and tell us what it is.
• full details of the data you want to display.
• details of where the data is currently held.
• details of why/how visitors need to be able to search the data
• a mockup of how you'd like to see it work

I see @bangank36 has this plugin to convert Google Sheet to Filterable Table.

You can contact him.

Same here @paul2009. Had a client wait 3 years to move to Squarespace because of this one hurdle. We're doing it anyways while we look for a solution. This is their current table search page, which uses the ultra basic TablePress plugin to look up brands and models they service.

Some have recommended Caspio but it looks too complicated.

There are some overly complicated solutions using google spreadsheets. Others have implemented similar. Lots of chat in this forum.

Could Awesome Table, Sheet2Site (expensive), or that Custom Table Block plugin be a solution?

Another user suggested "You can create table with Code Block, then you can add filter/search function." ?

Thanks for any expert advice. Awesome Table or some very easy plug and play/free option would be ideal.

Cheers,

Jesse

So cool. Awesome-Table.com was a perfect solution! Definitely worth checking out.

8 minutes ago, mrjessewalker said:

Awesome-Table.com was a perfect solution

The pricing is not awesome.

$39 per month is considerably more than the Squarespace website.

DataTables looks interesting.

I'd like to reopen this chat and see if there have been any better solutions? I have a client using TablePress on their Wordpress site which I'd like to rebuild for them in Squarespace but this is the main hurdle:

Ditto here!

On March 10, 2023 I also need this.

I'd like to create a searchable data base on my website also, possibly a map feature that allows people to see or link to our vendors location and contact info.

I realize this will no doubt be a plug in if it exists. 

Notion will work for this and you can use their free tier. You can use https://embednotion.com for the embed for 7.99 a month so it will auto sync updates. They have a higher tier if you need it. 

Does anyone legitimately have a solution here?

I have a basic 2 row table with a lot of data, that is from the Table Block plugin (SquareWebsites.org).  I need it to just simply be searchable?

The client will be updating a Google Sheet for this as well.

8 hours ago, SteveWeb2023 said:

Does anyone legitimately have a solution here?

I have a basic 2 row table with a lot of data, that is from the Table Block plugin (SquareWebsites.org).  I need it to just simply be searchable?

The client will be updating a Google Sheet for this as well.

 

 

Squarewebsites.org should have Search * Filter feature Have you try contacting their support yet?

8 hours ago, tuanphan said:

Squarewebsites.org should have Search * Filter feature Have you try contacting their support yet?

Thanks @tuanphan - I have went ahead and purchased their Universal Filter.  Seems to be a solid solution so far with their basic code 🙂

Hello! I am looking to build a searchable database that I can feature on my Squarespace website. We are creating a resources database that features other organizations and the services they offer. 

I want people to be able to select multiple tags as filters. For example, if someone wants to see an organization that offers both housing and health care services, they would be able to select both tags/filters and see organizations that offer both. 

I've looked at options like Community Box, but I don't love that it's a reoccurring subscription. https://www.communitybox.co/. Ideally, I'd want a one-time purchase plugin or service. 

I've also looked at the Squarespace Universal Filter, but I'm unsure if people are able to use multiple tags to filter items -- all the examples I've seen only allow you to select one tag. https://www.squarewebsites.org/squarespace-plugins/universal-filter

I suggest your first stop should be DataTables.

I don't know if it can handle the kind of filtering you need but DT has so many features I wouldn't be surprised. DT is a complex piece of code and although you can get something basic going pretty easily, if you're not into web site programming you'd probably need a developer's help.

The base product is free. Plug-ins may be free or cost. Developer services will of course cost.

If you have a lot of data the base product may not perform well and would need to be connected to an external database for better performance.

Let us know how it goes.

2 hours ago, lightfoundchi said:

I am looking to build a searchable database that I can feature on my Squarespace website. We are creating a resources database that features other organizations and the services they offer. 

You may also want to take a look at this thread:

I used Airtable. Their free version gives you unlimited bases (tables) with up to 1,000 records per base, and you can embed a base into any web page that supports iframes. You can see how we did it here (scroll down to the first section): https://citizens4community.com/resources.

I'm in a similar situation. I'm trying to create a searchable, crowdsourced database.

• A link to the website, whether it's in progress or fully built. Note that the link needs to be public, so if it's a trial, you need to set a password and tell us what it is. No published website yet. It's in the design phase on Squarespace, but I don't want to commit the $$ without knowing I can get a functional database that meets my needs. 
• Full details of the data you want to display. I'm trying to create a searchable database with mostly crowdsourced data. It will have company names, multiple employer benefit information fields, with about 20 different fields in total, along with the ability to have thousands of company entries. These fields should be either drop-down selections or manual entries from users (again, crowdsourced). 
• Details of where the data is currently held. I haven't figured this out yet. Excel? Google Sheets? It needs to be accessible by users to enter the data. I'm not sure what would be easiest. 
• Details of why/how visitors need to be able to search the data.  Users should be able to search by company, company size, city, state, or by specific benefit category. 
• A mockup of how you'd like to see it work. Don't currently have this.

The solution to pulling Google Sheet data is easy and free. I've just done this with a property developer client pulling in data for a list of home sites. Check out Sheetrock JS: https://chriszarate.github.io/sheetrock/#documentation

Sheetrock JS has many great features, including search and sort. I've used it in a simple table (responsive), but I sure you can style this data in lots of ways, so it doesn't necessarily look like a table.

I added to the Sheetrock JS to include some color styling if one piece of data matched a set criteria. Sheetrock.js pulls in the entire Google Sheet to the page in order to filter it after loading and discards the data not needed, so if you look at the HTML in your page inspector, you see only the data that fits the filtered criteria. Pretty nice solution.