Hello all- Im a knack newbie. I may be over my head trying this on my own but let me know what you think. My needs are relatively simple -
I need a database to help with running by business. I sell a product I make thru dealers and need a way to more easily manage dealer info / orders / purchase orders as well as enter potential dealers (that email us) I need to be able to see all the CURRENT(active) dealers on a map view (google api)as well as display them in a table. When I enter a dealer I want to have a drop down list checking them as potential dealer / Active dealer / past dealer so I can use that to only show active while working. I then need to be able to enter orders (one product only I sell) and save so i can email for approval to dealer. Id LIKE if possible to be able to generate a purchase order from this…but not a huge issue if not able.
This is it in a nutshell… am I over my head ?? I used to be decent at Filemaker (YEARS AGO) so I know and recall some about making a database…
I thought about starting from a contact app but it SEEMS best to start from a blank slate…
If you’ve worked with FileMaker you’ll likely have a good understanding of database design and setting up the schema. Defining your objects, fields and connections is the same design work as with any other database. If you’re already familiar with normalisation and data validation you’re halfway there.
There is a learning curve with Knack, just like any other database solution. I came from 20+ years of Microsoft Access to Knack in 2016, it took me a couple of weeks to retrain my brain
I’ve been building in Knack for about 8,000 hours and am still learning new things all the time.
It’s an incredibly powerful and flexible tool.
Given your use case I’d recommend building it from scratch rather than trying to adapt an existing template.
You may want to post your project on the expert network to reach a wider audience. You could consider working with a builder who could tutor you through the learning curve.
