Explore and Set up Your Learning Workbook

[MUSIC] 0:00 Hey everyone, Guil here, a developer and instructor at Treehouse. 0:09 We've previously explored many of the core building blocks of Coda. 0:13 You've learned how Coda empowers you with docs that can serve as a simple writing 0:18 surface, a tool to manage data, a way to manage custom workflows, and 0:23 even as a way to create app-like experiences, 0:27 all without you ever needing to write a single line of code. 0:30 You've also created a data-powered doc using pages, with tables, templates, and 0:34 buttons, then published it on the web. 0:39 In this workshop you'll learn how to use Coda as a tool for learning, 0:42 note-taking, time management, and more, 0:46 by customizing a workbook doc we've built in Coda to best fit your learning needs. 0:49 Creating and tracking your learning goals helps you get the most out of your 0:55 learning experience and helps you build good study habits. 0:58 So let's get to know your Coda learning doc. 1:02 To get started, 1:04 review the instructions posted in the teacher's notes with this video. 1:05 Shown here is an example of a Treehouse workbook you may use during your Treehouse 1:09 learning journey. 1:13 Be sure to copy this doc using the link posted in the teacher's notes, 1:15 if you haven't already, so you can follow along with me. 1:17 Because this workbook is built in Coda, it's customizable. 1:20 I'll show you how to do this as it's a great way to learn how to use Coda. 1:24 In just a minute, we'll get into our first exercise, but first, 1:27 I'll give you a quick tour of the workbook. 1:31 Notice how it's organized into three main sections. 1:34 My Student Planner, where you can track your learning progress. 1:38 My Binders, where you'll organize study notes, reference material, or 1:42 anything related to course, or workshop projects. 1:46 And finally, the My Resources section, where you'll find information and 1:50 tools that will support your learning experience. 1:54 We'll start by diving a little deeper into the concepts of tables and 1:59 how Coda uses them. 2:03 As you've learned in the previous workshop, 2:05 tables are one of the foundational building blocks of Coda. 2:08 I'm guessing that you may be familiar with spreadsheets and 2:12 how they are used to organize data. 2:15 Well, tables in Coda serve pretty much the same purpose, 2:17 in that they're used to organize data, but what's different? 2:20 Well, Coda tables behave more like databases, 2:24 essentially a collection of tables that can easily be connected to each other. 2:27 A clear understanding of how Coda views tables as databases and 2:32 not spreadsheets will go a long way in understanding how Coda works. 2:36 A good place to start would be to understand some of the benefits of Coda 2:41 tables over spreadsheets. 2:45 We'll use the Treehouse, Intro to Coda doc I presented in the Introducing Coda 2:48 workshop to illustrate these benefits. 2:52 First, Coda tables should feel a bit different to you from a spreadsheet. 2:55 Rows and columns have clear meaning in Coda tables. 3:01 Rows generally represent objects or things, and 3:06 columns can be thought of as attributes of those things. 3:10 Tables increase the consistency of your data. 3:14 For example, there's no A2, 3:17 B2 numbering scheme like you may be used to in Google Sheets or 3:19 Microsoft Excel, which makes it easier to filter, sort and group your data. 3:23 Second, columns in Coda tables also come with more formats, 3:30 which are more useful than just text and cells. 3:34 For instance, there's dates, select lists, people sliders, 3:37 images, attached files, or rating scales. 3:42 Third, you can create views off of Coda tables, both to represent the data 3:46 in different ways, like timelines or charts, and to create space for 3:51 other collaborators to work on the same data without impacting your workflow. 3:55 The best part is that while the view can be tailored to your needs, 4:01 the underlying data will always stay in sync. 4:05 I'll show you an example of that later in this workshop. 4:09 Finally, Coda tables can talk to each other. 4:15 When you have related items like projects and tasks, 4:18 Coda makes it easy to tie the tables together. 4:21 No complex formulas required like you'd have to write with spreadsheets. 4:25 Here's an example of how Coda makes it easy for tables to talk to one another. 4:30 Let's say we created a learning plan table in Google Sheets, and 4:35 we wanted to reference a list of lessons stored in another table. 4:39 We'd want an easy way to look them up without having to look them up manually. 4:44 To do this, we'd need to go back and 4:49 forth between the tables to write what's called a vlookup script that references 4:51 the correct column IDs to pull the lesson information we need. 4:56 In Coda, both the Learning Plan and 5:01 Lessons tables would behave more like databases. 5:03 Let's look at the Learning Plan table in the Treehouse Workbook. 5:07 Notice how the Lesson column has drop down lists. 5:11 If you click on a Lesson drop down list, 5:16 you'll see a list of lessons to choose from. 5:18 Where are these being pulled from? 5:21 Well, a quick look at the lookup properties tells us that this column is 5:23 referencing the Lessons table which we've pre-populated with some 5:28 Treehouse courses and workshops, and it's located here in the Admin and 5:33 Data page, that's a sub page of the My Treehouse Workbook Intro page. 5:38 All right, now that you have a better understanding of how tables work in Coda, 5:47 we're going to start customizing the Learning Plan table as a way to introduce 5:52 more of Coda's functionalities. 5:56

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