# Replacing a weekly email with perspective pages **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [June 16, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843 "2021-06-16T16:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/1 "2021-06-16T16:29:33Z")
An excel file schedule is being emailed with some notes in the body. I thought this could be a perspective page and another perspective page could be used to edit and preview. What has been working for such a replacement? edit: I streamlined it my best. ---
**Author:** ![YF129701](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/yf129701/32/60498_2.png) [@YF129701](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/YF129701)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/2 "2021-06-16T16:52:43Z")
That is one long post, a sure way to scare many forum readers 😉 What you’re saying can definitely be done in Ignition, and quite easily at that. Where I work, we replaced a paper / Excel style of scheduling with Vision (and soon to be, Perspective) and it’s been working for the past 7-ish years that way. Data being stored in a DB is so much better to manage than many disjoint Excel files or, even worse, email threads. This is definitely the way to go for you. ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/3 "2021-06-16T17:09:13Z")
Thanks, that is really good to hear. When you make the pages in perspective, do you plan to use mostly embedded views, or do you plan to switch views when you are navigating? I am not sure which one tends to be faster performing. ---
**Author:** ![YF129701](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/yf129701/32/60498_2.png) [@YF129701](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/YF129701)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/4 "2021-06-16T17:17:27Z")
You can adapt Ignition however you want. Based on what you’re describing, I would build it out on one page and if you need organization (e.g. the Excel tables you were talking about above), just use the Tab Container component to only show the user the data they want to see. In my experience, if a page or view has many embedded views within it, performance suffers. It takes longer to load, you might see flickering on startup, etc. But I would test it out in your case. ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/5 "2021-06-16T17:29:15Z")
Thanks forgot about tab containers will test ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/6 "2021-06-16T18:40:36Z")
I started with the first summary. I setup a text area on my manager page. I bidirectional bound this to the tag, set for string. It looks weird, but it is kind of working. For some reason, in the text area, I can type lines. They keep formatting. When I bind to a label, the formatting goes out the window. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/7/3/73adb7b7e088103b36f99b4393a7bffbdd8bb6a0.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/7 "2021-06-16T19:08:25Z")
I think I have that kind of solved. Instead of displaying from a label, I am displaying a text area with the alter text not enabled ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/8 "2021-06-16T19:17:10Z")
I have suddenly become aware that I need to make a button that writes the temporary tags from the master page to the slave page. Otherwise, all the editing will be live. I would like someone with experience to help guide me on that. I don’t know if I can just keep going without the button for now and add it later. Or if it will be a big obstacle and should tackle it right now. I think I better start with the button now. It will slow down testing, but I think it might be better overall. I think the way this forum works, it has a preview on the right. I will probably have a preview on the manager page in a another flex container. ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/9 "2021-06-17T13:03:46Z")
Is there a way I can enable users to use bold, colored text, and font size adjustments in the text area component for perspective? The email is rather vibrant. The text area I setup on the ignition page is simple right now. ---
**Author:** ![nminchin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/nminchin/32/6911_2.png) [@nminchin](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nminchin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/10 "2021-06-17T19:40:16Z")
I think you'll get more feedback if you have some screenshots of what you have currently, as that wall of text is a lot to go through 🙄 > [@zacharyw.larson](#): > > to use bold, colored text, and font size adjustments in the text area You can try adding HTML mark-up, but I don't know if the text area component supports it. You would have to use the markdown component I think [Perspective - Markdown - Ignition User Manual 8.0 - Ignition Documentation](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC80/Perspective+-+Markdown) but it's not an input field.... There's no rich text editor component for Perspective that would do what you're after ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/11 "2021-06-17T19:55:04Z")
@nminchin Thanks for confirmation that such a component doesn’t exist yet in Perspective. I was thinking I have to set the vibrant text requirement to the side until such an input component exists. I might revise that top post. Just had an idea an email to start. ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/12 "2021-06-17T20:27:36Z")
What component(s) are recommended for generally replacing an excel table in perspective? I was going to use a ton of flex containers and text areas because I am not sure what components will allow me to edit from the perspective page. I am concerned about: archiving, date range changing, date range limiting ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/13 "2021-06-17T20:39:55Z")
oh you can set the table objects to editable I see ---
**Author:** ![matthew.ayre](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/matthew.ayre/32/19499_2.png) [@matthew.ayre](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/matthew.ayre)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/14 "2021-06-17T20:49:31Z")
> [@zacharyw.larson](#): > > I have suddenly become aware that I need to make a button that writes the temporary tags from the master page to the slave page. This is a little confusing. Please can you elaborate a little further on this. As @nminchin stated, please provide images, etc. and context wherever possible (for example, what are the master/slave pages? what are the temporary tags?). 99.9% of us are on here in our spare time, so posts/threads that are unconcise, hard to understand, or very long will likely go ignored (because it takes too long to figure out what the issue is). We're here to help, but it's only human nature to go for the easiest problem first 🙂 Anyway, it looks like you have come across the [Table](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC81/Perspective+-+Table) component, which is best placed to do: > [@zacharyw.larson](#): > > What component(s) are recommended for generally replacing an excel table in perspective? ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/15 "2021-06-18T12:40:04Z")
are there more tutorials on the table component? I saw a short one, but I need a lot more information on working with it I think. I did my best to streamline the original post. Right now, I am trying to learn how I can use the table to replace an excel file. I will take a picture, but I don’t think it is useful. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/8/e/8e9aa82fce22b10561d5c0def84e0173f27c7fc7.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/16 "2021-06-18T13:19:14Z")
oh no it is going sideways ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/b/9/b9a25e4e57f26fad70a7f92f1fc8eadee73f110c.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/17 "2021-06-18T13:31:14Z")
I am not sure why, but I only have one column while I see in the example video that he has 3 columns. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/0/a/0a7bdd0463359a4ef47def4e2b3d31dcbd287ec8.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/1/6/162945aa1b88122a5a05d8355ddaf9c6a1f47989.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/18 "2021-06-18T13:43:51Z")
columns visible was checked? now that it is unchecked, the columns are visible? ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/f/a/fa64ffc94f508400c429d7aca6d61a8d2d89e079.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/19 "2021-06-18T13:51:02Z")
my columns are getting reordered and I do not wish that to happen just now, my line went to the third column? I am not sure why ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/9/8/98e4a8d8e375211243bffeceb04d599c087f2d76.png) ---
**Author:** ![zacharyw.larson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/zacharyw.larson/32/23749_2.png) [@zacharyw.larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/zacharyw.larson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843/20 "2021-06-18T13:54:44Z")
I am getting really odd and seemingly unpredictable performance from this table. The columns are moving around faster than I can edit them. The visible toggle seems backwards to me as posted above. Are people using the table component because I am getting seemingly random behavior from this component? Maybe someone is editing this specific table on my project simultaneously to me. Is it possible to see if someone else is editing the same object I am working on? * * * after testing, if I type in a new value, whatever change I make, the columns are reordered [Next page](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/replacing-a-weekly-email-with-perspective-pages/47843.md?page=2)