How do I create and manage Data Tables?

A Data Table is a reusable list of structured content — one row per item, one column per placeholder — that you link to a slide template so end users can build the slide row by row instead of typing every value by hand. You manage Data Tables from Manage assets, in the Automation section under the Data Tables tab. From there you create the table, choose which placeholders become columns, fill or import the rows, and link the table to one or more slide templates.

Example: your firm has a "Reference Cases" slide with placeholders for client name, sector, deal size, and logo. You create a Data Table with those four placeholders as columns, import last year's deal sheet from Excel to fill the rows, and link the table to the slide. From then on, anyone generating a pitch deck picks the two or three references they want from a list, and SlideHub builds the slide — no more copy-pasting from a master spreadsheet.

How to use Data Tables

Follow these steps to create a Data Table, fill it with content, and link it to a slide. Every label in bold is exactly what you'll see on screen.

1. In the left sidebar, click Manage assets. Open the Automation section and select the Data Tables tab. You'll see the Manage Data Tables page with any tables your company already has, or an empty-state panel inviting you to Create your first data table.
2. Click the pink Create button in the top right. The Select placeholders dialog opens with a list of every placeholder in the company (or team, if you're working in a team scope).
3. Search and filter the placeholder list using the Search box, the Sort by dropdown, and the Value types and Placeholder types filters along the top. Tick the placeholders you want as columns — for example, [name], [title], and [photo] for a team-profile table. The counter at the bottom shows how many you've selected.
4. (Optional) If the placeholder you need doesn't exist yet, click Create placeholder at the bottom of the dialog to create it inline without leaving the flow.
5. Click Add to data table to continue. (If you didn't tick any placeholders, the button reads Create empty table instead — handy if you'd rather build the structure from an Excel file you're about to import.) Give the table a name when prompted and confirm.
6. You land on the table editor with the new table open. The columns are the placeholders you picked; the rows are empty. From here you can:

• Click Add more under the table to add a new row, then type into each cell. Text cells take plain text; rich-text cells open a small editor; image and icon cells open an asset picker via Select.
• Click Upload in the top right to import an Excel file. Use this when you already have the data in a spreadsheet — SlideHub matches the column headers to your placeholders and creates the rows for you.
• Click Excel to download the current table as a spreadsheet — useful for bulk editing offline and re-uploading.

7. When you're happy with the rows, link the table to a slide. Open the slide template in the slide editor and find the Link current slide to a data table section. In the Select data table dropdown, pick the table you just built.
8. Decide how rows should map to the slide:

• Under Maximum number of data table items to include per slide, SlideHub auto-fills the cap based on how many times the linked placeholders repeat on the slide. Leave it on All to let users pick as many rows as fit, or set a smaller number to force a cap.
• Turn on Allow duplicate the slide if need to select more data table items if you want SlideHub to create extra copies of the slide when a user picks more rows than fit a single slide. With it off, users are capped at the slide's maximum.

9. Save the slide. From now on, when an end user generates this slide, they'll see a Data Table picker instead of an empty fill form — see How do I use a Data Table to fill a slide? for the end-user side.

Tip: Excel import and export only handle text-based placeholders. Image and icon cells aren't included in the spreadsheet — you'll need to fill those in the table editor using Select on each cell. Both buttons carry a tooltip stating exactly that, so you don't have to remember.

How does Save end user data work?

Each Data Table has a Save end user data toggle on the Manage Data Tables overview, with this guidance from SlideHub: "Toggle to control whether end-user provided values are persisted to the data table". It governs what happens when an end user fills in a missing value during slide generation:

• On (default): When a user types a value into Fill out missing information for a row, SlideHub writes that value back into the row's cell. The next person who picks the same row sees it pre-filled.
• Off: End-user fills are used for that one slide only and never touch the table. The row stays as you originally set it.

Turn it off for tables where rows are templates rather than canonical data — for example, a "Sector" row where users are expected to type a client-specific subtitle each time. Turn it on for tables that should gradually accumulate completed data over time, such as a team-bios or reference-cases table.

How do I edit or remove a Data Table?

Open the Data Tables tab and find the table in the list. The columns shown are Data table name, Placeholders (the columns), Save end user data, Associated assets (how many slides the table is linked to), and Actions.

• Rename the table: Open the table by clicking Manage data items, then click Edit data table in the top right.
• Add or remove placeholders (columns): Open the table, click Edit data table, and adjust the column selection.
• Add or remove rows: Open the table and use Add more at the bottom to add a row, or the trash icon on a row to remove it.
• Bulk-replace the data: Open the table and click Upload to import a new Excel file.
• Delete the table entirely: From the overview, click Remove in the table's row, or open the table and click Remove data table. SlideHub asks "Are you sure you want to remove this data table and all its data?" — this also unlinks the table from any slides it was attached to. The slides themselves are not deleted; they just stop showing a Data Table picker until you link a new table.

The Associated assets column is the safest way to see what a deletion will affect. If it shows 2 slides, click the number to jump to the slides that use the table before you delete it.

Who can manage Data Tables?

Managing Data Tables is admin-only. Anyone in your company or team who has permission to manage assets can create, edit, link, and delete tables. If you don't see the Automation section in Manage assets, it means your role doesn't include asset management — ask an account Owner to grant you access or to make the change for you.

The same role rules apply to linking a table to a slide: it happens in the slide editor, so anyone with permission to edit that slide can change which Data Table is linked to it.

Data Tables are scoped to either the whole company or a specific team, matching the scope you're working in when you create them. A company-scoped table is visible to anyone in the company; a team-scoped table is visible only inside that team. You can't move a table between scopes after the fact — to move it, export to Excel, create a new table in the right scope, and import the rows.

Updated on: 05/18/2026