The Courier Subtable Configurator is where you build email message subtables for QB Courier, the Quickbase Extension that sends emails from your Quickbase records. A subtable is a reusable table of related records, such as the line items of an order, that Courier fills in and inserts into an email each time it sends. Instead of typing a long settings string by hand, you pick the table, filter, columns, totals, sorting, grouping, and formatting on screen, and the configurator saves the subtable for you.
Available to: all roles with the QB Courier extension.
What a subtable is
A Courier configuration sends one email per record in its master table (the table or report you choose on the Courier configuration's Configuration tab). A subtable adds a table of child records to that email: the records in a related table that belong to the record the email is about.
For example, you send a shipping confirmation from an Orders table. Each order has several records in an Order Line Items table. A subtable can list the line items of the order being emailed, with a grand total at the bottom:
Item | Quantity | Unit Price | Line Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Safety gloves | 4 | $12.50 | $50.00 |
Hard hat | 2 | $24.00 | $48.00 |
Hi-vis vest | 3 | $9.00 | $27.00 |
$125.00 |
Each email gets only the line items for its own order, because the subtable's filter compares the line item's reference to the order with the order record that's being emailed. See Filter tab.
Things to know about subtables:
Build once, use many times. One subtable can be used in any of your company's Courier configurations, as long as the configuration's master table has the fields the subtable's filter refers to. See Use one subtable in several configurations.
You add it to an email by dragging it from the Sub Table panel on a Courier configuration's Email Message tab into the message. See Add a subtable to a Courier email.
Real data appears only when Courier sends. The configurator's simulation uses sample data. Send a Courier test email to see the real table. See Simulate and history.
Get started
Authorize your Quickbase app for QB Courier with the installation wizard. Courier can only send from, and read tables in, an app that's authorized for it, and you do this once per app. See the installation wizard overview, then Set up Courier with the installation wizard.
Create a Courier configuration for the table you send emails from. Every subtable is attached to a Courier configuration, which sets the master (parent) table. See Courier Configurator overview.
Relate the tables in Quickbase. The table you list in the subtable should be a child of the configuration's master table (it has a reference field to the master table). The configurator uses that relationship to build the default filter for you.
Open the configurator and build the subtable. See Open the configurator below, then Configure a subtable.
Preview the layout with Simulate Subtable. See Simulate and history.
Add the subtable to a Courier email and send a test. See Add a subtable to a Courier email.
If something goes wrong, see Courier Subtable Configurator messages and troubleshooting.
Open the configurator
Sign in to the Extensions Portal and open the QB Courier extension page.
Near the top of the page are three buttons: Configurations, Mail Servers, and Email Message SubTables. Under Email Message SubTables, Total shows how many subtables your company has set up. (A subtable you just created may take a little while to show in the count.)
Select Email Message SubTables. A window titled Email Message SubTables opens inside the portal and shows the Email Subtable list. See The Email Subtable list.
Select Create Email Subtable to build a new subtable, or the pencil icon on a subtable's row to edit it. The Courier Subtable Configurator opens.
If the window doesn't open from the button, the portal shows one of these error messages: Invalid response from server., Unable to send token to Courier app., or There was a problem showing the Courier configurations. See Courier Subtable Configurator messages and troubleshooting.
The Email Subtable list
The list is part of the Courier Configurator. It shows every subtable your company has, under the heading Email Subtable.
Item | What it does |
|---|---|
Courier Configurations and Mail Servers (top right) | Go to those sections of the Courier Configurator. See Move between sections. |
Create Email Subtable | Opens the configurator for a new subtable, in a window titled Create Email Subtable. |
Operations column: pencil icon (tooltip Edit Configurator) | Opens that subtable in the configurator, in a window titled Edit Email Subtable - <subtable name>. |
Subtable Name | The subtable's name: the Configuration Name you give it on the configurator's Table tab. It's also the name you see in the Sub Table panel when you add the subtable to an email. |
Subtable Reference | The token that puts this subtable in a message, for example |
Notes | Notes recorded for the subtable, if any. It's usually empty, and you can't edit it here. |
Things to know:
Close the configurator window with the X at its top right. Save first: closing the window discards unsaved changes without asking.
The list doesn't refresh when you close the configurator window. To see a subtable you just created, or a new name, close the Email Message SubTables window and open it again.
There's no copy or delete. See How do I delete or copy a subtable?
Select a Courier Configuration
When you create a subtable, or open an older subtable that isn't linked to a Courier configuration yet, the configurator first shows a window titled Select a Courier Configuration. The text depends on the case:
Case | Text in the window |
|---|---|
New subtable | This subtable needs to be attached to a Courier Configuration. Once selected and saved, it cannot be changed. |
Older (legacy) subtable with no linked configuration, for example one set up by hand before the configurator existed | This subtable isn't linked to a Courier Configuration. Select the configuration whose master table matches this subtable's relationship, so queries can find the correct parent records. Once selected and saved, it cannot be changed. |
Open the dropdown (it starts at Select a Courier Configuration). It lists your company's Courier configurations, each as its configuration ID and name, for example 1234 - Shipping confirmation. Names longer than 35 characters are cut off with ....
Pick the configuration whose master table is the parent of the records you want to list. For the order example, pick the shipping-confirmation configuration that sends from Orders. The new subtable uses that configuration's master table: it appears as Master Table on the Table tab, and its fields are the ones you can compare against in the filter.
Select Continue. If you haven't picked one, you see Please select a Courier Configuration to continue.
The window has no Cancel or close button: you need to choose a configuration to go on. Your choice is stored when you first select Save.
Important
Once you save, the subtable's Courier configuration can't be changed. If you picked the wrong one, create a new subtable.
The configurator screen
The header at the top reads Courier Subtable Configurator.
Left rail
Down the left side are three icon buttons with no text. Hover over each one to see its tooltip:
Button (tooltip) | What it opens |
|---|---|
Settings icon (Subtable Settings) | The settings tabs: Table, Filter, Fields, Column Order, Totaling, Sorting and Grouping, and Formatting. This is selected when the configurator opens. See Configure a subtable. |
Simulate icon (Simulate Subtable) | A sample email showing your table with made-up data. See Simulate Subtable. |
History icon (Subtable History) | Previous versions of the subtable's settings, which you can restore. See Subtable History. |
Save and Cancel
At the bottom of the settings tabs are two buttons. They only appear under Subtable Settings, not under Simulate or History.
Save (save icon): saves the settings on every tab, not just the one you're on. The green message Successfully saved settings. confirms it. If nothing has changed, you see the info message No new settings detected - nothing saved. Each save keeps the previous settings as a version in Subtable History.
Cancel (cancel icon): puts every tab back the way it was at your last save (or when you opened the subtable).
Keyboard shortcuts:
Ctrl+S saves, the same as Save. It doesn't work while the Column Header Properties window is open.
Esc closes the Column Header Properties window.
Messages appear at the bottom of the screen in color: green for success, blue for information, and red for errors. Some messages show a 15-second countdown bar before they close. Click a message to close it sooner.
Unsaved changes
The configurator won't let you leave a tab with unsaved changes. If you change something and then select another tab, or Simulate or History, you see the blue message Please save or cancel changes before proceeding. (If you try again while it's showing, it turns red.) Select Save to keep your changes, or Cancel to discard them, then move on.
Some tabs also check required settings when you leave them or save:
Tab | Required | Message if missing |
|---|---|---|
Table | A Configuration Name and a Selected Subtable | Please enter a configuration name. / Please select a subtable. |
Filter | At least one filter condition | Query cannot be empty - please build a query. |
Fields | At least one selected field | At least one field must be selected. |
Learn more
Overview of QB Courier: what Courier does and how it sends emails.
Courier Configurator overview: configurations, mail servers, and subtables in the Extensions Portal.
Installation wizard overview and Set up Courier with the installation wizard: authorize an app for Courier.
Need help? Submit a technical support case.