A deep dive into editors and Doc Makers in Coda

How to create, build, collaborate, and enhance your Coda doc experience.

Saagar Gupta

Account Executive at Coda

A deep dive into editors and Doc Makers in Coda

By Saagar Gupta

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Blog > About Coda · 6 min read
Living in Chicago, we take pride in our iconic staples like deep-dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, and the legendary Wrigley Field. Recently, we added to that list: “The Bear.” “The Bear” is a popular TV show based in and shot around downtown Chicago. The premise centers on a young chef crafting unforgettable signature dishes at his new restaurant while striving to cultivate cohesion and organization within his often-chaotic kitchen team. The nuances of a restaurant kitchen share some similarities with an all-in-one work operating system like Coda—both environments thrive on creating processes for better workflow, strong collaboration between teams and clients, and adapting to quick-paced feedback and changes. There are different roles in Coda—Doc Makers, admins, and editors. Doc Makers create new documents. Admins organize your docs and workspace. Editors are cross-functional team members who access and interact with data in a document. And just as chefs are expected to whip up extraordinary dishes in the kitchen, it’s the Doc Makers that are crafting exceptional docs that empower seamless collaboration between teams and clients. But before we get into the world of possibilities as a Doc Maker, let’s take a look at how things measure up as an editor.

Start as an editor.

 If you’re new to Coda, and only using it to view docs from time to time, chances are you’re currently logged at editor status and not fully harnessing everything Coda has to offer without even realizing it. That’s like booking a table at a restaurant, then watching the dining experience happening from the window—never stepping foot inside. But what exactly is an editor in Coda? Let’s say you received your first ever Coda doc from a teammate or colleague and are signed up to view the page. Congratulations, you’re an editor. As an editor, you can contribute and make changes within a document—these are your collaborative team members working alongside you on a project. Editors have the capability to interact with all the building blocks of a document, adding/editing Packs, and setting up automations. And while editors are able to collaborate on existing docs and contribute to changes, they’re limited in the way they are able to navigate, create, and build within docs. That’s because the role of an editor is focused on just that—editing and enhancing the content within the structure that has already been established by the Doc Maker.
Who should be editors?
Teammates who interact with and contribute to docs that have already been created.
So what happens if you want to copy one of the tables into a new doc? Or create a workspace that will only share certain pages publicly? Or schedule automated email messages or reminders from Slack? It’s time to step into all the exciting tools and automations that Coda has to offer instead of being on the outside looking in. And to do that, you need to be a Doc Maker.

Grow into a Doc Maker.

 Before I joined Coda, I spent five years using the platform at two previous companies, and it quickly became essential to my role as an Account Executive. Because Doc Makers are integral to driving process forward and turning ideas into action for the team. Being a Doc Maker was essential for my growth and the new opportunities I experienced in my role. It didn’t just transform how I approached my work, it also allowed me to close over 400 Enterprise Agreements. I leveraged Coda to create detailed business cases for customers, highlighting their pain points, and the potential impact and the urgency of each action. For our largest enterprise customers, I create detailed account plans to foster internal support and visibility, and built an internal tool to streamline my use of Salesforce. While editors can do a lot for free on existing docs and pages, when it comes to building a workspace that sets you and your projects up for success, it’s in that maker-side that will help you get there.

The perks of being a Doc Maker.

 Maybe you were recently upgraded to be a Doc Maker by your admin and aren’t quite sure what all that entails. Or, you’re debating on swapping out your editor status and want to understand the difference. Let’s say you were inspired by a doc that was shared with you, and want to build your own task board or dashboard to display specific KPI stats or produce a running formula that will show how much revenue is coming in each quarter based on the data fields. That’s only possible to do as a Doc Maker. Or, you’re an avid notetaker and in charge of handling the notes for team meetings. Your Doc Maker seat won’t just build a custom meeting doc with comprehensive notes in it, you can also easily make it collaborative to share with your team (or an approved set of viewers).
Who should be Doc Makers?
Team leads and teammates who want autonomy in how they create, build, edit, and collaborate across docs and workspaces without limitations.
As a Doc Maker, workspace members have more flexibility and an open canvas to create and manage docs and folders. You have a source of truth that offers cross-office visibility, an enormous increase in flexibility for a tool to support your unique way of working, and—one of the best parts—it gives you valuable back time in your day to focus on your work. You’re able to use Coda AI to generate new content and connect them to one of 500+ integrations (like Slack, Salesforce, Figma, Gmail, and Google Calendar), grab shortcuts like coda.new to instantaneously start a brand new doc, and so much more. To put it simply: it’s your doc world, and we’re living collaborating in it.

Key differences between Doc Makers and editors.

  • Creation vs. interaction: Doc Makers create and manage the structural components of Coda, while editors modify and interact with existing content.
  • Roles and permissions: Doc Makers have more administrative control compared to editors, who are limited to content interaction and modification.
  • Use of building blocks: Doc Makers utilize Coda’s building blocks to construct tools, whereas editors use those tools to perform their tasks more efficiently.
Here’s a quick overview on the workspace power and capabilities that you can build in Coda as a Doc Maker.

Ready to try making?

If you want to be a successful leader, collaborator, and project manager on your team, you can do this by unlocking more workspace superpowers in Coda. You’ll notice, as with using any of the top tools in a tech stack, that getting the most value and best experience comes from opportunity and accessibility. The same goes for getting the best collaborative experience as a Doc Maker. Being a Doc Maker means you can create an environment that allows collaboration to flourish, transforming raw ingredients—ideas and tasks—into a well-orchestrated symphony of productivity. Just as the chef in “The Bear” discovers the sweet spot in his workflow with the right tools and resources, it’s the Doc Makers who set the stage and lay the foundation for success. Click to start a blank doc from your workspace homepage. Note: In some workspaces, this requires admin permission. If this is the case for you, you’ll find instructions in-product letting you know how to request access.
Start a new doc

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