Documentation

Customizing Layouts

Configure which columns appear in your views and how they're organized.

Overview

Simpl's layout system lets you customize how each table is displayed. Control which fields appear, their order, and how they're presented—separately for list and detail views.

Layout panel open

Why Customize Layouts?

Different tables need different presentations:

  • Users table: Show name, email, status—hide internal IDs
  • Orders table: Show order number, total, date—hide metadata
  • Logs table: Show timestamp, level, message—hide JSON blobs

Layouts help you focus on what matters for each table.

Opening the Layout Panel

Click the Layout button in the toolbar to open the layout configuration panel.

Layout button in toolbar

List View Layout

The list view layout controls what appears in record cards.

Column Visibility

Toggle columns on or off:

  • Visible columns appear as field pills on record cards
  • Hidden columns are only shown in the detail view
  • Some columns are always visible (like the primary key)

Column visibility toggles

Column Order

Drag and drop columns to reorder them:

  1. Hover over a column row
  2. Grab the drag handle (⋮⋮)
  3. Drag to the desired position
  4. Release to save

Drag handle for reordering

The first visible column becomes the title field displayed prominently on each card.

Quick Actions

Use the quick action buttons for faster configuration:

ActionDescription
Select AllShow all columns
Deselect AllHide all columns (except primary)
ResetReturn to auto-generated layout

Quick action buttons

Detail View Layout

Configure the detail view separately from the list view:

  • Different columns can be visible in each view
  • Different ordering for each view
  • Commonly: show all columns in detail, fewer in list

Detail view layout tab

Automatic Layout Generation

When you first view a table, Simpl automatically generates a layout:

Smart Field Detection

The auto-layout algorithm prioritizes:

  1. Title fields (name, title, label) - displayed first
  2. Timestamps (created_at, updated_at) - for context
  3. Foreign keys - for relationships
  4. Text fields - readable content
  5. Other fields - remaining columns

Primary Field Selection

Simpl identifies the most likely "title" field based on:

  • Column names (name, title, label, email)
  • Column types (short text preferred over long text)
  • Table context

Layout Persistence

Saved Per Table

Each table has its own layout configuration stored in your account. Changes persist across:

  • Browser sessions
  • Page refreshes
  • Different devices

Schema Changes

When your database schema changes (columns added/removed):

  1. Simpl detects the change on schema refresh
  2. Removed columns are automatically cleaned from layouts
  3. New columns are added with sensible defaults
  4. Existing column order is preserved

Language Preferences

For code-like fields (JSON, SQL, etc.), you can set syntax highlighting preferences:

Language preference selector

Available highlighting options:

  • JSON
  • SQL
  • JavaScript
  • Python
  • Plain text

This affects how the field is rendered in the detail view.

Best Practices

List View Philosophy

For list views, prioritize:

  1. Identifiable information - What makes records distinguishable?
  2. Status fields - Current state at a glance
  3. Key dates - When was it created/updated?
  4. Primary relationships - Related entities

Hide in list view:

  • Long text fields
  • JSON/complex data
  • Internal IDs (except primary key)
  • Rarely-needed metadata

Detail View Philosophy

For detail views, include:

  • All relevant fields
  • Full content (no truncation)
  • Complete relationship information
  • Technical details when needed

Start Simple

Begin with fewer visible columns, then add more as needed. It's easier to expand than to reduce clutter.

Layout Examples

User Table

List view columns:

  1. Name (title)
  2. Email
  3. Status
  4. Created At

Hidden in list: ID, password hash, settings JSON, metadata

Product Table

List view columns:

  1. Product Name (title)
  2. Price
  3. Category
  4. Stock Status

Hidden in list: Description, SKU, supplier ID, images JSON

Order Table

List view columns:

  1. Order Number (title)
  2. Customer → (relationship)
  3. Total
  4. Status
  5. Order Date

Hidden in list: Line items JSON, shipping details, internal notes

Resetting Layouts

To return to the auto-generated layout:

  1. Open the Layout panel
  2. Click Reset Layout
  3. Confirm the reset

This regenerates the layout using Simpl's heuristics, discarding your customizations.

Next Steps