Overview

CloudTables makes it easy to define, create, edit and maintain databases of information that can be seamlessly and securely embedded into your web applications or sites, showing a rich user interface to your end users (clients).

A lot of software development revolves around lists of data which can be viewed and edited by clients - this is often termed CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete). A lot of developer time can be sunk into providing this basic part of an application, particularly when features such as auditing, live data updates and a rich interface for the client are required. This is where CloudTables comes in - it makes defining (and changing!) databases and client facing interfaces trivial, so you can focus on building your application and your business.

The end result from CloudTables is a table of data (plus form) that you can embed directly into your web application or site, matching the styling of the rest of your page, so the end user will see a single seamless interface.

Cloud or Self-hosted

CloudTables can run in two different ways:

• Cloud: Use CloudTables from cloudtables.com directly
  • ✔ No need to setup services, servers, databases or anything else,
  • ✔ Secure and privacy conscious,
  • ✔ Immediately embed your tables onto your public facing web-pages.
• Self-hosted: Run a Docker container of CloudTables
  • ✔ Host your own data,
  • ✔ Optionally use your own Postgres database,
  • ✔ Works without an Internet connection (air-gapped).

Which is the right option for you will depend on your own requirements, particularly around data security. We take the utmost care with your data, but you might have company policies requiring that data not be held in the cloud, in which case the self-hosted Docker container would be the best choice.

At the top of these documentation pages you will see a link to customize the documentation for each hosting type, as there are differences in how tables are embedded into pages, installation, etc.

When would I use it?

CloudTables can be used wherever you have tables of data. Define the structure of your data and embed into your web-site. CloudTables will take care of all the data processing and storage for you regardless of the development and server environment your application uses. You can also customize the interface the end user will see, adding controls such as advanced searching or changing the layout for the table controls. CloudTables also ensures your data is fully accessible, using correct markup and progressive enhancement techniques.

Strong foundations

CloudTables is built upon our open source DataTables Javascript library and our battle hardened Editor for DataTables. CloudTables is effectively a configuration UI for those libraries, rolled together with pre-built features such as auditing, live updating of data and automatic database storage.