🏷️ Lesson 3.2: Properties — The Many Column Types

If a database is a collection of pages, properties are the labeled facts each page carries. They're the columns — and each one has a type that decides what it can hold and how it behaves. Pick the right types and your database can sort, filter, group, and show progress almost by itself. Let's meet every type and learn when to reach for each.

📚 What You'll Learn

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Explain what a property is and why the title is mandatory and unique
Choose the right type from the full menu — text, number, select, status, date, person, files, checkbox, URL, and more
Configure options: colors, select choices, number formats and progress bars, date ranges and reminders
Reorder, rename, hide/show, and delete properties, and control per-view visibility
Recognize the advanced types (formula, relation, rollup, button, ID) you'll meet in later modules

⏱️ Estimated Time: 60 minutes

🎯 Project: Enrich your Reading List with 6–7 well-chosen properties — Status, Date, a Select, a Number, a Checkbox, and a URL — so it becomes genuinely useful.

In This Lesson

What a Property Is

A property is a field that every page in the database shares. In a table view, properties are the columns; on a row's page, they're the values across the top. What makes Notion properties smarter than spreadsheet columns is that each one has a type — and the type decides what you can put in it, how it looks, and what Notion can do with it.

Set a column's type to Date and Notion gives you a real calendar picker and can show those rows on a calendar view. Set it to Status and you get colored, grouped stages perfect for a board. Set it to Number and you can format it as currency or a progress bar. The type is where the intelligence lives.

📖 Definition

Title property: Every database has exactly one, it can never be deleted, and it holds the name of each page (row). You can rename it — "Name", "Book", "Task" — but it always stays the title. It's the only property guaranteed to exist, so make it the meaningful label for each item.

🧠 Mindset

There are about twenty property types, and you do not need to learn them all today. In practice, most great databases use five or six: title, status, date, a select or two, a number, and a checkbox. Learn those cold and skim the rest. This lesson is a reference you'll come back to — not a test to pass in one sitting.

Adding & Editing Properties

Adding a property is quick. In a table view, click the + at the right end of the column headers. Notion asks for a name and a type. Type a name, choose a type from the menu, and press Enter — the new column appears, ready to fill.

📚 New property → choose a type

To edit an existing property, click its column header (or the ⋯ beside it). From there you can rename it, change its type, edit its options and colors, duplicate it, hide it, or delete it. Changing a type is allowed at any time — Notion converts values as best it can (e.g. text to select), though some conversions drop data, so it warns you first.

⚠️ Watch Out — deleting a property deletes its data

Removing a property removes its values from every row, permanently. If you're unsure, hide it instead of deleting — the data stays and you can show it again later. Deleting the database itself goes to Trash and can be restored within the plan's history window; a deleted property inside it generally cannot be recovered as easily, so pause before you confirm.

The Everyday Property Types

These are the ones you'll use constantly. Learn these six well and you can build almost anything.

🔤 Text

Free-form text — an author, a short note, an address. Great for anything you won't sort or filter into fixed buckets. If you find yourself typing the same few values over and over (like "Fiction", "Non-fiction"), that's a sign it should be a Select instead.

🔢 Number

Numeric values, with formatting: plain number, comma-separated, percent, or currency (dollars, euros, and many more). Number also offers a progress bar or ring display — point it at a value between 0 and 1 (or a percent) and Notion draws a little bar. Perfect for "% complete" or a rating out of five.

🟢 Status

A purpose-built property for workflow stages, grouped into three buckets — To-do, In progress, and Complete. Each bucket can hold several options (e.g. "Not started", "Reading", "On hold" → "Done"). Status shines on a board view and always shows exactly one value. Reach for it whenever something moves through stages.

📅 Date

A real date (and optional time) with a calendar picker. Turn on End date to make it a range (great for timelines), add a time, and set a reminder so Notion notifies you before it. Any date property can drive a calendar view.

☑️ Checkbox

A simple true/false toggle — "Owned?", "Favorite?", "Archived?". Checkboxes are wonderful for quick yes/no filters ("show only unchecked").

🔗 URL

A web link that becomes clickable. Use it for a book's Goodreads page, a task's related doc, a contact's website. Siblings Email and Phone behave the same for addresses and numbers, turning into click-to-mail and click-to-call links.

✅ Pro Tip — Select vs. Text

The rule of thumb: if a value comes from a fixed set you'll reuse and filter by, use a Select (or Status). If it's free-form and unique per row, use Text. Genre → Select. Author → Text. Getting this right up front makes filtering and grouping effortless later.

Select, Multi-Select & Status — the Colored Ones

These three deserve their own section because they're the most-used and the most visual. Each stores its value as a colored pill, and each option's color is yours to choose.

Select — pick one option from a list you define. Genre, Priority, Category.
Multi-select — pick several options. Tags, Topics, Moods.
Status — one option, but organized into To-do / In progress / Complete groups, with special board and grouping behavior.

Here's how those pills look in a table. The colors aren't decoration — they make a busy database readable at a glance:

📚 Reading List — with properties

Aa Title	Status	Genre (Select)	Tags (Multi-select)	Fav?
Dune	Reading	Sci-fi	Classic Series	☑️
Atomic Habits	Done	Self-help	Reread	☑️
The Hobbit	To Read	Fantasy	Classic	☐

To add or edit options, click a cell and type a new value (Notion offers to create it), or open the property's settings to reorder options and set each one's color. A tidy, consistent set of options is worth the minute it takes — you'll thank yourself when you filter and group in the next lesson.

💡 Status vs. Select — which for workflow?

Both can represent "stages," but Status is built for it: its three groups (To-do / In progress / Complete) power the cleanest board views and let Notion understand "done." Use Status for how far along something is; use Select for a category that isn't a workflow (like Genre or Priority).

The Full Property Reference

Here's the complete everyday menu, with a one-line "reach for it when…" for each. Bookmark this table — it answers "which type should this be?" almost every time.

Property	Holds	Reach for it when…
Title required	The page's name	Always — it's mandatory and unique to each row
Text	Free-form text	Unique notes: author, address, a short description
Number	Numbers (+ currency, %, progress bar)	Prices, counts, ratings, % complete
Select	One option from a set	A single category: Genre, Priority
Multi-select	Several options from a set	Tags, topics, anything with multiple labels
Status	One stage (To-do / In progress / Complete)	Workflow: Not started → Doing → Done
Date	Date/time, ranges, reminders	Due dates, event dates, timelines
Person	A workspace member	Assigning an owner — mostly for teams
Files & media	Uploaded files or images	Attachments, cover images for gallery cards
Checkbox	True / false	Yes/no flags: Owned?, Favorite?, Archived?
URL	A clickable web link	Related pages, product links, sources
Email / Phone	Address / number (clickable)	Contacts, a lightweight CRM
Created / Last edited time	Automatic timestamps	"Added on," "recently updated" (auto-filled)
Created / Last edited by	Automatic person stamp	Who added or changed a row — teams (auto-filled)

🌟 Going Further (optional) — the advanced types

A few property types are powerful enough to deserve their own lessons later. You'll meet them in Module 4 and beyond — no need to touch them yet:

Formula — computes a value from other properties (Notion's "Formulas 2.0").
Relation — links rows in one database to rows in another.
Rollup — summarizes data from related rows (a count, a sum, a latest date).
Button — runs actions (add a row, update properties) with one click.
ID — an auto-incrementing unique number per row, handy for tickets.

These are optional superpowers, not prerequisites. Build a great database with the everyday types first; graduate to these when you have a real need.

⚠️ A note on "Person" and paid plans

The Person property assigns a member of your workspace. On a solo Free account it only ever points to you, so it's mainly a team feature. Larger collaboration, guest, and admin capabilities live on the paid Paid plans — check notion.com/pricing for current details. The property types themselves are all free to use.

Reorder, Hide & Visibility

A database with the right columns in the wrong order is still a chore to read. Notion gives you full control over which properties show, and where.

Reorder: In a table, drag a column header left or right. On a row's page, drag properties up or down.
Rename: Click the header (or property name) and type a new one — this never loses data.
Hide / Show: Open the view's Properties menu (the ⋯ → Properties) and toggle each one. Hidden properties keep their data; they're just off-screen.
Per-view visibility: Visibility is set per view. Your table can show ten properties while a gallery shows just the cover and title. Same data, different focus.

✅ Pro Tip — hide the noise

Auto properties like Created time and Last edited by are useful but clutter a table. Add them for the data, then hide them in your main view — you can always reveal them when you need to sort by "recently added." A clean view you actually enjoy looking at is a view you'll keep using.

graph LR A["🏷️ A property"] --> B["Has a TYPE
(text, date, status…)"] B --> C["Type decides
what it holds"] B --> D["Type decides
how it looks"] B --> E["Type unlocks
views & filters"] C --> F["📊 A smarter database"] D --> F E --> F

🎯 Project: Enrich Your Reading List

Your Lesson 3.1 Reading List has titles and not much else. Let's give it real structure with well-chosen property types. By the end it should feel like a tool, not a list — and it'll be perfectly set up for the views you'll build next lesson.

🏋️ Add 6–7 well-chosen properties

Objective: Turn your Reading List into a real database by adding a thoughtful set of typed properties and filling them in.

Instructions (about 25 minutes):

(4 min) Add a Status property with options like To Read, Reading, Done (they'll auto-group into To-do / In progress / Complete). Set a value on each row.
(4 min) Add a Select called Genre (Fiction, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Non-fiction…). Give each option a distinct color.
(3 min) Add a Date called Finished (or Started). Fill it in for any books you've read.
(3 min) Add a Number called Rating, and set its display to a bar or use it out of 5.
(3 min) Add a Checkbox called Owned? and tick the ones on your shelf.
(3 min) Add a URL called Link with a Goodreads or store page for one or two books.
(2 min) Reorder the columns so the ones you care about most are leftmost, and hide any you don't want cluttering the view.
(3 min) Open one row as a page and admire the properties across the top — then tweak an option color you don't love.

💡 Hint — a solid property set to copy

Reading List — properties

Title       (title)      → the book's name
Status      (status)     → To Read / Reading / Done
Genre       (select)     → Fiction / Sci-fi / Fantasy / ...
Finished    (date)       → when you finished it
Rating      (number)     → out of 5, shown as a bar
Owned?      (checkbox)   → on your shelf?
Link        (url)        → Goodreads / store page

Seven properties is plenty. Resist adding more "just in case" — you can always add later, and a lean database is easier to love.

✅ Project Completion Checklist

You added a Status property with sensible options
You added a Select (Genre) with colored options
You added a Date property
You added a Number (Rating), optionally shown as a bar
You added a Checkbox and a URL
You reordered columns and hid at least one property
Every row has meaningful values, not blanks

🎯 Quick Quiz

Question 1: You want a column for a book's genre, chosen from a fixed set you'll filter by. Which type is best?

Question 2: Which statement about the Status property is true?

Best Practices for Choosing Properties

✅ Do's

Match the type to the job. Dates as Date, categories as Select, stages as Status. The right type unlocks views and filters.
Keep option lists tidy. A handful of clear, colored options beats a sprawling mess.
Hide instead of delete when you're unsure — deleting a property destroys its data.

❌ Don'ts

Don't over-engineer. Five or six good properties beat fifteen you never fill in.
Don't use Text for fixed categories. You'll lose easy filtering and grouping.
Don't reach for formulas and relations yet — the everyday types cover almost everything.

📓 Learning Journal

Keep a learning journal — the best place is inside your own Notion. After each lesson, take a few minutes to write down:

Key concepts you learned
Techniques that clicked for you
Questions or confusion points to revisit
Ideas you want to try
Your progress and feelings about learning this

✍️ This lesson's prompt: Which property type surprised you most with how useful it is? Look at your Reading List — is there a column you made Text that would work better as a Select or Status? Note why.

📝 Lesson Summary

🎓 Key Takeaways

Properties are a database's columns, and each has a type that decides what it holds and what Notion can do with it.
The Title is mandatory and unique; everyday types are text, number, select, status, date, checkbox, and URL.
Select/Multi-select/Status store colored pills — use Select for one-per-row categories and Status for workflow stages.
Configure colors, number formats and progress bars, and date ranges/reminders in each property's settings.
You can reorder, rename, hide/show, and set per-view visibility; deleting a property destroys its data, so hide when unsure.

🎉 What You've Accomplished

Your Reading List went from a bare list of titles to a genuinely useful, structured database. You now know the whole property menu and — more importantly — which type to reach for. That judgment is what separates a database that helps you from one that becomes a chore. Every tracker, planner, and CRM you build from here rests on exactly these choices.

❓ Common Questions at This Stage

What's the difference between Select and Status, really?

Both store one colored option. Status adds structure: its options live in three groups (To-do, In progress, Complete), which powers board views and lets Notion understand "done." Use Status for how far along something is, and Select for a category that isn't a workflow, like Genre or Priority.

Can I change a property's type after I've filled it in?

Yes, anytime. Notion converts values as best it can — text turns neatly into Select options, for instance. Some conversions can lose data (e.g. a date to a number), so Notion warns you first. When in doubt, duplicate the database to experiment safely.

Do any property types cost money?

The property types themselves are all available on the Free plan. What paid plans add is around collaboration — more members, guests, admin controls, and bigger file uploads for the Files property. The Person property is only meaningful with teammates, so it's effectively a team feature. Check notion.com/pricing for current specifics.

🔭 Looking Ahead

Your database now has rich, typed data — which is exactly what makes the next lesson magical. Lesson 3.3: Views — Table, Board, Calendar, Gallery, List & Timeline shows how that one dataset can be seen a dozen ways: your Status becomes a kanban board, your Date becomes a calendar, your covers become a gallery. Same data, many views.

✅ Before the Next Lesson

Make sure every row has a Status and a Date value (the next lesson needs them)
Give your Select options colors you like
Write your Learning Journal entry for this lesson

📚 Additional Resources

🌟 Encouragement for the Journey

You just learned the vocabulary of every database you'll ever build. Types felt like a lot, but look — you used six of them without breaking a sweat, and your Reading List is genuinely better for it. Next stop is the fun part: watching that same data reshape itself into boards, calendars, and galleries. 🏷️