WPS Parent-Child Records on macOS: Introduction

WPS Parent-Child Records is a hierarchical record feature in WPS on macOS; it includes 4 core tasks, with 4 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	4	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	4	Matches the number of Free rows in the How-to Index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the How-to Index
Version limit	None	The feature description states no version limit
Membership limit	None	The feature description states no membership limit

About This Feature

Overview

Parent-Child Records is a feature for managing hierarchical relationships between records in WPS on macOS. It helps organize parent tasks and sub-tasks, or main nodes and child nodes, inside a data table. After the feature is turned on, you can add child records from the primary field of a record and keep the hierarchy visible in supported views.

Core capabilities include:

Create parent-child relationships between records for task breakdown and structured data management.
Show hierarchical records in views such as board and gallery.
Expand or collapse child records for easier navigation.
Keep hierarchy logic intact without changing formulas or summary results.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A macOS device that can run WPS Office for Mac
App version	The latest version of WPS Office is recommended; the feature description states no version limit
Network	No mandatory network connection for local editing; internet access is needed for sign-in, sync, or online collaboration
Other	You need to open a data table and have editing permission to enable and adjust child record structure

Download & Installation

Before using Parent-Child Records, install WPS Office for Mac and open a data table to access the feature.

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Installation method	Download the Mac installer and complete setup by following the on-screen instructions
Check after installation	Open WPS Office → open a data table → confirm that the Child Records entry is available on the top toolbar

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	Parent-Child Records can be enabled directly in a WPS data table to create parent-child relationships between records, with expand and collapse support in views.	Official Microsoft Q&A content indicates Microsoft Lists does not provide a built-in sub-items feature and suggests grouped views or Power Apps as workarounds.	Google Sheets supports grouping rows and columns with expand and collapse controls, which helps with visual hierarchy but is not a record-level parent-child relationship.	Notion databases support sub-items, including nested toggle display, flattened list display, and filter options across views.	Adobe Acrobat supports hierarchical and nested list structures in PDF tagging, but this is for document structure rather than record management in a data table.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: WPS creates parent-child relationships directly at the record level and keeps hierarchy display aligned with the table structure.	Compared with WPS: the official page describes no built-in sub-items capability, so similar results rely on grouped views or external customization.	Compared with WPS: hierarchy is mainly row or column grouping, not direct parent-child records.	Compared with WPS: Notion also supports sub-items, but its workflow centers on database task management; WPS is closer to spreadsheet-style record hierarchy display.	Compared with WPS: Adobe focuses on PDF structure and accessibility tagging rather than record-based hierarchy management.
Official Source	—	MS Lists Sub Items	Freeze, group, hide, or merge rows & columns	Sub-items & dependencies	Complex lists

Overall Conclusion
If your main goal is to maintain parent-child relationships between records and keep that structure visible in table-based work, Parent-Child Records in WPS is a close fit for that workflow. Other products offer hierarchy or nested content in different ways, but their models are not the same as record-based hierarchy inside a data table.

Source: Microsoft Q&A, Google Docs Editors Help, Notion Help Center, and Adobe Experience League links listed in the table above.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable for	Main challenge	How it helps
1	Project task breakdown	Project managers and team leads	Parent tasks and sub-tasks are mixed together and hard to track	Add child records under a parent task and manage execution items by hierarchy
2	Product requirement structuring	Product and engineering teams	Requirement items and sub-requirements lack a clear relationship	Use parent and child records to organize modules, sub-features, and details
3	Content production scheduling	Operations and editorial teams	One topic includes many action items and is hard to review	Use a parent record for the topic and child records for specific actions
4	Customer follow-up tracking	Sales and support teams	Multiple follow-up records for one customer are scattered	Use a parent record for the customer and child records for follow-up items
5	Node-based data organization	Data coordinators	Multi-level node relationships are difficult to show in one table	Preserve node structure with hierarchical records and collapse when needed

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free	WPS Premium
Basic use of Parent-Child Records	✅ Available	✅ Available
Basic PDF tools	✅ Available	✅ Available with a broader tool set
Templates and cloud storage	Basic templates and 1 GB cloud storage	More advanced templates and 20 GB cloud storage
AI and additional advanced tools	Some features are limited or unavailable	More advanced tools and extended capabilities are included

Source: WPS Office pricing page

Recommendations

Usage scenario	Recommended plan	Why
You only need to create and review parent-child records in a data table	Free	The feature description states no membership limit, so it fits everyday hierarchy management
You also need more cloud storage, templates, or advanced tools	WPS Premium	Better suited for users who need broader collaboration, template, and extended tool access

WPS membership center: Subscribe now
To compare plans, open the pricing page and review the feature comparison and subscription details.