Quickbase Review
by onlinedb • May 19, 2010 • Online Database • 1 Comment
Quickbase is an online database by Intuit that has been around for many years. Our intention was to build an online application with Quickbase and place a submission form for data entry purposes on our site. The application was going to have multiple users for administration of data. As you see later we could not complete our test due to various complexities, some of which would have been addressed given enough time to explore and find an answer. We spent about an hour only but had expected to be able to build something decent in this amount of time. After all, we consider ourselves quite tech-savvy, if not pure geeks.
Our sample data included Unicode characters
Quickbase import data process - click to enlarge
Quickbase did not handle Unicode characters - click to enlarge
We began by importing data. Quickbase defaults to pasting data into a text box. This of course is not suitable for large databases so we tried the file import method. Quickbase only supports Comma and Tab separated values files. There is a big drawback to this as text files cannot handle Unicode characters. We ran into major issues trying to import data which included international characters. None of the methods provided by Quickbase alleviated this issue and their documentation and help files did not offer any solution. In fact it appears that many Quickbase users face the same issue.
Our next attempt was to create a table from scratch. Quickbase does a good job here. Many many specific data types are available to choose from. Quickbase combines the idea of form element formatting, data presentation and data types and puts them all in table design. The advantage to this is that once you define a field say as text-area, it is always a text-area in all your interfaces. However it can be problematic if you change your mind later or under certain conditions want to display the data or form control differently.
We found it easy to create relational databases in Quickbase, a feature missing in some other online databases.
The user interface for authoring forms and reports is very complicated and non-standard as compared to other mainstream databases. To get full understanding of Quickbase you must be willing to go to the Quickbase school and be in learning mode for a while. This was a deal breaker for us and prevented us from creating a complete application given the time constraint.
We could not possibly find a way to accomplish simple tasks. For example, the user interface and the various help systems did not offer a way to change the name of a form that we had misspelled. In general the help system rarely returned a relevant answer to our various search terms.
Could not find a way to rename a form name in Quickbase's interface - click to enlarge
Putting a submission form on our site turned out to require many confusing steps of assigning a token to the application in the advanced setting of the application under customization and then to use an unfriendly wizard outside Quickbase. Quickbase provides these instruction to do the task. The result of the wizard was an HTML code segment that rendered an unimpressive form. The form is not created dynamically on demand, which means if the table or fields change, the entire generation of HTML and placing it on the website has to be repeated. And unfortunately the outcome looked pretty, um, basic looking. We expected a bit more finesse.
You can see for yourself various Quickbase-powered forms out there by searching “Powered by Quickbase” on Google.
Another issue with Quickbase is that all your application users must be invited by you from within your Quickbase account and get registered with Quickbase. This is the root of Quickbase pricing model. The starting package is $299 per month and includes 10 users and and space for 25,000 records.
Quickbase is a solid choice if you don’t have much data or users and don’t have to built new apps. They offer a library of many pre-built applications that you can load into your account. If you find what you want, and if you don’t need public access to them then you might find Quickbase the right choice. However, if must build a custom app and require public deployment of forms and reports and apps, or if you have more than say 25,000 records, Quickbase is not appropriate for you. Also, remember to put aside sufficient time to learn Quickbase. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Admittedly in one hour you are not going to publish a thorough, deeply customized application; but you can get a lot done. Any form name can be changed by accessing the form and using the tabs on the top to change the rules and properties of the form. The ‘Missing Manual’ book is great for users who are just starting out on QuickBase, and the Forum is a great source for help. We, as QuickBase experts, can respond quickly to most of the questions to help users. There’s also a number of independent consultants available for help – who can be found on google or on the Intuit Community Forum.