Frequently Asked Questions

Administrators can add users by navigating to:

Settings → Users → Invite

Because Kinabase accounts are managed through Microsoft, a sync may be required before new users can fully access the system. This can be done by navigating to Settings → Identity & Provisioning and pressing "Sync now" under the Microsoft accounts section.

After syncing, new users should be able to sign in using the "Sign in with Microsoft" button.

Yes. To enable MFA, it is recommended to require users to sign in using their Microsoft accounts, so that identity and security are centrally managed by the organisation's IT team, and disable the ability to sign in with passwords only.

This can be configured in Settings → Identity & Provisioning.

Yes. The Custom Permissions feature has been expanded to provide more detailed configuration options. These can be accessed by:

Configuring a Collection → Fields → Select the Field → Edit Field → Permissions → Custom

From there, permissions can be fine-tuned with greater flexibility to meet specific requirements.

Yes. This can be achieved using field-based permissions:

• By adding a Colleague field to a collection, permissions can be configured so that users only see records where their name appears in that field.
• Role-based rules can also be added. For example, a specific role can be given full visibility, while other users only see records they created or that are assigned to them.

This approach allows record visibility to be tailored to both user roles and ownership.

Users' ability to view or edit individual "List" fields can be controlled by adjusting field-level permissions.

To do this, configure a Collection → Lists, select the list you want to manage, then open the specific field you wish to restrict. Under Permissions, the appropriate read and write access can be assigned for each user role, ensuring that only authorised users can view or modify that field.

Using "Lists" within a collection is currently the most effective way to manage related items (example: tracking events and attendees).

To export the items contained in a specific "List", go to:

Settings → Import/Export → Export Data → Records, and select the relevant "List" name.

At this time, the "Types" section itself cannot be set as mandatory. However, it is possible to make the individual fields within a Type mandatory.

This ensures that all required information is captured even though the Types section as a whole cannot be enforced.

To set a "View" as the default, right-click the collection and select "Configure". Then go to "Views", locate the view that should load by default, click the three dots next to it, and choose "Show by default".

This ensures the selected view is displayed automatically when the collection is opened.

The Form feature is useful in several scenarios, such as:

• Manufacturers creating works orders, changing inventory locations, or creating goods receipts, etc.
• Adding a Form to the client portal so clients can configure a product, which then creates an order in Kinabase.
• Using a Form as a pricing calculator.

Where Form responses go is configured when creating the Form. Responses can be sent to any automation step, such as creating a task, creating a record, calling a webhook, generating a PDF, sending an email, and more.

Workflow configuration can be accessed through the workflow settings of the relevant collection.

To update a field name or type:

Configure the Collection → Workflow → Relevant Stage → Edit Stage → Edit relevant "Actions" → Fields and make the required changes there.

This occurs due to the validation settings configured for the "Name" field.

By configuring Contact collection → Fields → Name field → Validation, the rule can be adjusted from "Show error" to "Show warning" or disabled entirely if uniqueness is not required.

Yes, duplicate names can be added to a collection.

If validation is ever required, it can be configured by configuring the collection and navigating to Fields → Name field → Validation → Unique. From there, the system can be set to display either a warning or an error whenever a duplicate name is entered.

Yes. This can be achieved by configuring tasks in the relevant collections to flow through to the associated collection.

To do this, configure each source collection, select Tasks in the sidebar, and enable the option that allows tasks from that collection to appear in the related collection.

At the moment, the system does not allow hiding the final collection within a group.

A workaround is to first hide the other collections in the group, then temporarily move the collection that cannot be hidden to another group. Once it has been moved, it can be hidden there, and then moved back to its original group.

A new record can be automatically created in a target collection by using workflow stages and automations that trigger when a record in the source collection moves to a specific workflow stage.

To set this up:

1. Configure Workflow Stages

• Right-click the relevant source collection → select Configure → choose Workflow.
• Define the workflow stages according to the organisation's process.

2. Create the Automation

• Go to Settings → Automations → Add Automation.
• Set the trigger to run when the workflow stage changes.
• Set the action to Create a new record in the desired target collection.

Once configured, when a record in the source collection reaches the designated workflow stage, the system will automatically create a linked or corresponding record in the target collection.

Not at the moment. While activities support custom types, their fields cannot currently be customised or extended.

• Lookup fields - These cannot be overwritten at the moment.
• Computed text fields - These can be overwritten with permission.
• Fields connected to another collection - These can also be overwritten. When doing so, a new record will be created in the connected collection.

Using the standard permissions is the correct approach.

By setting the field's read and write permissions to conditions that can never be met, the field will not appear for any user in the interface, while still remaining available in the background for API use.

A computed field can be used to calculate the number of days between today and the expiry date. To do this, create a Computed Number field and use the following formula:

diff_days($EXPIRY_DATE, now())

This calculates the remaining days until the specified expiry date, allowing alerts or automations to trigger based on that value.

Notification preferences and priorities can be adjusted by going to Settings → Notifications.

From there, the desired configuration can be applied.

When updating records, several common issues can affect whether the import succeeds:

1. Mandatory fields

If a field is marked as mandatory and is not included or matched during import, the import may fail. To resolve this, temporarily set the field to not mandatory, run the import while ignoring that field, and then switch it back to mandatory once the import is complete.

2. Duplicate records

If the import file contains duplicate entries - and you are not matching records based on a unique ID - errors may occur during import. Removing duplicate rows from the CSV file before importing will resolve this.

3. Field behaviour during import

• When importing to yes/no fields, the system can be configured to treat empty values in the CSV as either "yes" or "no."
• Importing to Multiselect fields works perfectly, just make sure to include all the list of items in the Multiselect field settings.
• Computed fields do not import override values: If a field is computed, the system will always apply the computed value during import, even if different values are supplied in the CSV. Any changes to computed field values must be handled manually.

Ensuring these conditions are checked before importing helps prevent errors and ensures a smooth bulk-update process.

When an import file does not include an ID column, the system may be unable to match the CSV rows to existing records. A practical approach is to use another field as the matching reference. One method is:

1. In Kinabase, select and export the records that need updating.

2. In the exported file, rename the original reference field (e.g., an existing email or other unique value) to something like "Old Value", then create a new column (e.g., "New Value") containing the updated information.

3. In Kinabase, use the Import option and select Update matching records.

4. Set the matching rule so that "Old Value" from the CSV matches the relevant existing field in Kinabase.

5. Map "New Value" to the field that needs updating and set all other fields to Ignore so that only the intended field is updated.

This method allows bulk updates even when unique IDs are not available in the CSV.

Yes. This can be done by navigating to Settings → Import / Export → Export Data → Activities, and selecting one or more collections to export activity data from.

If charts that were previously displaying correctly begin showing an error, one common cause is that the underlying collection has been hidden.

Ensuring that the relevant collection is visible will allow the charts to display properly again.

If certain records are missing from a dashboard chart, a common reason is that a field used in a computed formula is empty. When a computed field relies on another field, records with empty values in that source field may be excluded from the chart.

To ensure all records appear, enter a value - including zero, if applicable - rather than leaving the field blank.

In cases where a record shows an unexpected outcome from an automation, reviewing the record's activity history can help clarify what occurred, including whether the record was changed manually.

To view whether an automation has failed or to check its run history, navigate to:

Settings → Automations → clock icon (next to the Edit button)

This screen displays the full automation history, including any failures or skipped runs.

The following steps may help resolve the issue:

1. Make sure you are using the latest version of Outlook

Update Outlook to the most recent version available.

2. Try signing in using Outlook Web

Check whether the same issue occurs when using the web version of Outlook.

3. Sign in to Kinabase using Microsoft

Use the "Sign in with Microsoft" option instead of entering a username and password.

4. Verify your Microsoft 365 connection

Go to Settings → Identity & Provisioning and ensure your Microsoft 365 account is connected.

5. Check the Outlook Add-in configuration

In Settings → Email Integration, ensure that:

• The Outlook add-in is enabled.
• The Contacts and Organisations sections are correctly configured.

6. Ensure your Outlook account is fully synced

Go to Settings → Identity & Provisioning and ensure your Microsoft 365 account is in sync.

7. Sign out and sign back in

This can refresh your authentication session and resolve temporary issues.

If the problem continues, you can use the email forwarding feature so emails still reach Kinabase while the team investigates the issue. To log an email as an activity, forward it (or CC/BCC) to inbox@kinabase.email from the email address linked to your Kinabase account.

If everything appears to be set up properly and the issue continues, try the following steps:

1. Remove and re-add the Kinabase Outlook plug-in

Delete the Kinabase add-in from your Outlook app, then add it again.

2. Log out of Outlook

Sign out of your Outlook account to clear the current session.

3. Log back in to Outlook

Sign in again to refresh your connection and reload the add-in.