Departments¶
Departments extend SeaTable's group concept with a hierarchical structure. They allow you to map your organization's structure (e.g. divisions, teams, units) directly into SeaTable.
Deactivated by default
Departments are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled. They are also not active on cloud.seatable.io.
How departments differ from groups¶
| Groups | Departments | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Flat | Hierarchical (parent/child) |
| Membership | Explicit only | Automatic inheritance from parent departments |
| Creation | Any user (if permitted) | System admin or org admin only |
| Enabled by default | Yes | No |
When a user is added to a sub-department, they automatically become a member of all parent departments above it.
Enable departments¶
Add the following setting to dtable_web_settings.py:
ENABLE_ADDRESSBOOK_V2 = True
After a restart, the system admin can create and manage departments in the System Admin area.
Additional settings¶
Allow department admins to manage member bases¶
By default, department admins can only manage members. To also allow them to manage the bases of department members:
ENABLE_DEPARTMENT_ADMIN_MANAGE_MEMBER_BASES = True
Enable departments within organizations¶
If you use teams/organizations, departments can be enabled per organization:
ENABLE_ORG_DEPARTMENT = True
This is True by default, meaning org admins can create departments within their organization once the global departments feature is enabled.