how do you force users to only view as a list on some layouts... as well, how do you make only certain layouts read-only, so they cannot be modified.

cheers

Set up passwords and groups. Use Access Privileges>Overview to make layouts read-only. To prevent switching from list to form view, you'd have to set menu commands to none or edit only. However, you'll then have to create scripts for all the functions that takes away, which is almost everything.

Do you really have an issue of users going to a list and then deliberately switching to form view? That seems like an odd thing to do.

great tip, thank you... however, i am experiencing some problems setting up users and passwords. i set layouts as read-only, yet i am still able to enter them via Layout mode and edit their text. any ideas?

cheers!

Why not just go into the layout setup and click the views tab. Then select the list, form and table options for each layout.