# Choosing a workspace surface

_Choose between a page, database, dashboard, canvas, view, form, folder, or file when you create workspace content._

Canonical: https://snoze.dev/help/surfaces/

Everything in a workspace is represented by an **item** in navigation. Click
**+** next to **Workspace**, or **New** in the top bar, and you can create:

| Surface       | What it is                                                             | Reach for it when                                      |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Page**      | A document made of blocks — text, media, embeds, tables, and live data | You're writing something                               |
| **Database**  | Records with typed fields and saved views                              | You're tracking many of the same thing                 |
| **Dashboard** | A grid of widgets over your data                                       | People need to _see the state of things_ at a glance   |
| **Canvas**    | An edgeless surface of shapes, text, and connectors                    | You're thinking spatially — diagrams, maps, flows      |
| **View**      | A standalone saved view of one database                                | A specific slice deserves its own place in the sidebar |
| **Form**      | A public or internal form that writes records into a database          | You need input from other people                       |
| **Folder**    | Holds other items                                                      | You're organising                                      |
| **File**      | An uploaded asset                                                      | You're storing something                               |

You can also create **from a connected provider**, add a **data source**, or
**import a Google Form**.

![The create menu, listing Page, Dashboard, Canvas, Database, View, Form, Folder and File](https://snoze.dev/help-assets/surfaces/create-menu.png)

## Pages vs. dashboards

Both hold blocks, and they share most block types, so the difference is intent
rather than capability:

- A **page** is read top to bottom. It's prose first, with data embedded in it.
- A **dashboard** is a **grid** you arrange in two dimensions, with tabs,
  parameters, and a theme. It's data first, with prose as labelling.

If you find yourself carefully positioning things side by side, you want a
dashboard. If you're writing paragraphs, you want a page.

## Records have pages too

Every database record has its own page-like body — open a record and you get a
full block editor under its properties. That's where descriptions, requirements
and notes belong; the typed fields are for the facts you filter and group by.
See [Every field type](https://snoze.dev/help/field-types/).

## Where each is documented

- [Workspace item and surface types](https://snoze.dev/help/workspace-items/) — the exact item,
  target, nesting, creation, and template rules
- [Page block types](https://snoze.dev/help/page-blocks/) — all 40 block types
- [Dashboards](https://snoze.dev/help/dashboards/) and [Dashboard widgets](https://snoze.dev/help/dashboard-widgets/)
- [Every view type](https://snoze.dev/help/view-types/) — the seven current layouts and two
  legacy aliases
- [Actions](https://snoze.dev/help/actions/) and [Automations](https://snoze.dev/help/automations/) — making
  things _do_ something
- [Canvas basics](https://snoze.dev/help/canvas-basics/), [Collect data with forms](https://snoze.dev/help/collect-data-with-forms/)