Use the Product Catalog Portal template when you want logged-in users to browse a list of available items and add selected records to their own cart, account, schedule, or request list. It works well for product catalogs, class registration, event signup, appointment booking, job claiming, internal task assignment, and any workflow where users choose from a shared list.

Airtable Setup

You need two connected tables:

Products Table: The table containing the items users can browse. This could be products, events, classes, appointments, jobs, tasks, or anything users can select.

Users Table: The table containing the people who will log in to the portal.

The Products Table needs a linked records field that points to the Users Table. This field is what connects each selected product/event/item to the logged-in user.

Creating the Portal

Create a new extension and choose the Product Catalog template. The setup wizard asks you to select:

  • The Products Table.
  • The linked User Field on the Products Table.
  • The portal theme color and optional logo.

What the Template Builds

The template creates a portal where users log in and see a gallery-style catalog. It automatically creates two views:

Catalog: Shows all available records from the Products Table.

Cart: Shows only the records linked to the logged-in user.

It also creates the forms needed behind the scenes, including an Add to Cart form. That form automatically links the selected record to the logged-in user, so users do not need to manually choose themselves.

Testing the Portal

Open the portal and log in as one of your users. The Catalog view should show all available items. When a user adds an item, it should appear in their Cart view. You can then adjust the generated form fields, labels, styling, and permissions in the form and portal builders.

Set participants limit (optional)

Additionally, you can add a limit on the number of participants. You can do this by going to the Event table child form, selecting the Disable Form section on the left, and then enabling Enable saving records if conditions are met. There, you can add a condition for the number of participants, which could be a formula field in your event table that counts the number of linked records in the Users field.

Allow users to cancel their registration (optional)

Learn more about how to enable unlinking in this article.