Collections - Organize Your Reports and Data

Collections in PyQueryHub are the primary way to organize your reports, control access, and structure your data analysis projects. Think of collections as folders that group related reports together while providing granular access control to team members and groups.

What are Collections?

Collections serve as organizational containers for your reports, allowing you to:

  • Group related reports by project, department, or topic
  • Control who can view, edit, or manage specific sets of reports
  • Create both public (shared) and private collections
  • Manage access through individual users or groups
  • Maintain clean separation between different projects or teams

Types of Collections

Public Collections

Public collections can be shared with specific users or groups within your workspace:

  • Shared Access: Grant specific users or groups access with viewer or editor roles
  • Team Visibility: Visible to workspace members who have been granted access
  • Collaborative: Multiple users can contribute based on their assigned role

Private Collections

Private collections are personal workspaces for individual users:

  • Personal Access: Only accessible to the collection owner
  • Individual Workspace: Perfect for draft reports or personal analysis
  • Automatic Creation: Each new team member gets a private collection automatically

Creating Collections

Creating a New Collection

  1. Navigate to the Collections page in your workspace
  2. Click the "Create Collection" button
  3. Provide the following information:
    • Collection Name: A descriptive name for your collection
    • Description: Optional description explaining the collection's purpose
    • Icon: Optional icon to help visually identify the collection

Collection Limits

  • Free Plan: Limited to 1 collection per workspace
  • Paid Plans: Create unlimited collections
  • If you reach your collection limit, you'll need to upgrade your plan to create additional collections

Managing Collection Access

You can manage who has access to your collections through the access management interface:

Collection Access Management

Access Management Interface

To manage collection access:

  1. Navigate to your collection
  2. Click the "MANAGE ACCESS" button
  3. The access management modal will open showing user and group access options

User Access Control

The User Access section allows you to grant individual users access to the collection:

  • Select User: Choose from workspace members using the dropdown
  • Role Assignment: Assign either Viewer or Editor role
  • Add User: Click "Add User" to grant access

Collections support role-based access for individual users:

Available Roles:

  • Viewer: Can view reports in the collection but cannot make changes
  • Editor: Can view, create, edit, and delete reports within the collection

Group Access Control

The Group Access section allows you to grant entire user groups access to the collection:

  • Select Group: Choose from existing workspace groups using the dropdown
  • Role Assignment: Assign either Viewer or Editor role to the entire group
  • Add Group: Click "Add Group" to grant group access

This is particularly useful for:

  • Department Access: Grant entire departments access to relevant collections
  • Project Teams: Give project teams unified access to their collections
  • Bulk Management: Manage access for multiple users at once through groups

Role Permissions

The interface clearly explains the permissions for each role:

  • Editor: Can create, edit, and view reports in this collection
  • Viewer: Can only view existing reports in this collection

Access Status

The modal shows the current access status:

  • "No users have been granted access to this collection" - Indicates no individual user access
  • "No groups have been granted access to this collection" - Indicates no group access has been configured

Collection Organization Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use clear, descriptive names that indicate the collection's purpose:

  • Sales Q4 2024 Reports
  • Marketing Campaign Analysis
  • Product Analytics Dashboard
  • HR Metrics & KPIs

Access Strategy

Public Collections:

  • Use for collaborative projects requiring team input
  • Grant editor access to content creators
  • Grant viewer access to stakeholders and consumers

Private Collections:

  • Use for draft reports and experimental analysis
  • Keep sensitive or incomplete work private until ready
  • Move reports to public collections when ready for collaboration

Organizational Structure

Align collections with your business structure:

  • Department-Based: Collections for each department (Sales, Marketing, Engineering)
  • Project-Based: Collections for specific initiatives or campaigns
  • Time-Based: Collections for quarterly or annual reporting
  • Function-Based: Collections for different types of analysis (KPIs, Forecasting, Operational)

Working with Reports in Collections

Adding Reports to Collections

  • Reports are created within a specific collection
  • Choose the appropriate collection when creating new reports
  • Move reports between collections if organizational needs change

Collection-Level Operations

  • View All Reports: See all reports within a collection organized by creation date
  • Search Reports: Find specific reports within large collections
  • Filter by Creator: View reports created by specific team members
  • Star Important Reports: Mark frequently used reports for quick access

Collection Management

Editing Collections

Collection owners and workspace administrators can:

  • Update collection name and description
  • Change collection icons
  • Modify access permissions
  • Delete collections (with proper warnings about contained reports)

Collection Ownership

  • Creator: The user who created the collection becomes the initial owner
  • Workspace Owners: Have full access to all collections in the workspace
  • Transfer Ownership: Ownership can be transferred between workspace members

Deleting Collections

Important: Deleting a collection will permanently delete all reports within it.

Before deletion:

  1. Review all reports in the collection
  2. Move important reports to other collections
  3. Confirm with team members who have access
  4. Understand that this action cannot be undone

Integration with Workspace Features

Collection Access and User Roles

  • Workspace Administrators: Have access to all collections
  • Workspace Members: Only see collections they've been granted access to
  • Role Inheritance: Workspace roles don't automatically grant collection access

Collections and Groups

  • Create groups based on teams, departments, or projects
  • Grant group access to relevant collections
  • Simplify permission management across multiple collections
  • Automatically handle access for new team members

Private Collections for New Users

When new users join your workspace:

  • A private collection is automatically created for them
  • Provides immediate space for personal work and learning
  • Can be used for drafting reports before sharing publicly

Security and Best Practices

Access Control Best Practices

  • Principle of Least Privilege: Grant minimum necessary access
  • Regular Audits: Periodically review collection access permissions
  • Role Appropriateness: Use viewer role for stakeholders, editor for contributors
  • Group Management: Use groups for scalable access management

Data Security

  • Private collections ensure sensitive work remains confidential
  • Public collection access is restricted to workspace members only
  • All collection access is logged and auditable
  • Deleted collections and reports are permanently removed

Collaboration Guidelines

  • Use clear collection descriptions to set expectations
  • Establish naming conventions for reports within collections
  • Communicate collection purposes to team members
  • Regular cleanup of outdated or unused collections

Troubleshooting Collection Access

Common Access Issues

"I can't see a collection":

  • Check if you've been granted access to the collection
  • Verify you're in the correct workspace
  • Contact workspace administrator for access

"I can't edit reports in a collection":

  • Verify you have editor role for the collection
  • Check if the collection is private to another user
  • Confirm the report hasn't been moved to a different collection

"Collection limit reached":

  • Review current collections and delete unused ones
  • Consider consolidating similar collections
  • Upgrade workspace plan for unlimited collections

For additional help with collections, contact your workspace administrator or our support team.