This core reference entry is suited for beginner-level builders.
To learn about this topic more in-depth, we recommend reading the suggested articles below:
Data
Article series:
Article:
Understanding the Bubble database, and how to work with data.
Article:
Uploading, downloading and securing files.
Article series:
Translating your app's static texts.
Article series:
Article:
Saving data temporarily on a page or element.
Article:
Saving and reading data from the browser's URL bar.
Dynamic expressions
When you work with data in Bubble, you'll often be relying on dynamic expression to load, aggregate and manipulate it in different ways. The article below explains how dynamic expressions work.
Article series:
The Data tab
The Data tab in the Bubble editor is where you view and manage your app's data types and data, as well as other categories of data like files and option sets.
Securing the database
Database data is protected server-side by using privacy rules. These are conditions that are automatically applied every time a user tries to access a specific data type/field.
Most Bubble apps will be managing data stored in a database. This section of the reference covers how you access data, manages and compares results, searching and setting up security.
Data sources: the source from which you fetch data
Data sources are where you get your data from when building a dynamic expression. It is going to be the first section of the expression. Sources of data can be the current user, a search from the database, data from an external API, some page and browser information, etc.
Operators and comparisons: change, evaluate and compare data
Operators and comparisons are used to work with the results of the data from the data source. For example:
Change (manipulate the data in real-time)
Change a text to uppercase
Add a number to an existing number
Add a number of days to a date
Evaluate/compare (return a yes or a no)
Check if data has a certain value (i.e. Name equals John)
Check if the current user is logged in
Check if a date is bigger than today's date
Check if the current user's age is the same as another user's age
: find the data you are looking for in the database
Searching is used to find specific data in the database. To do that, you instruct Bubble:
What kind of data you are looking for (i.e. Users or Products)
Provide constraints
setting up your database securely to maintain your user's privacy
Privacy and security are cornerstones of all apps that handle sensitive data.
Privacy and security can be a very important part of your app's structure, and we highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the different tools Bubble offers. The core reference explains each setting, but if you are new to the subject, we encourage you to read through our user manual security guide:
