App Creation

Creating an application on the platform is a 6-step process. The steps are as given below.

Step 1 (Name): Naming the application.

Step 2 (Form Builder): Build the UI of the application using a simple drag-and-drop method.

Step 3 (Workflow): Design the process flow of the application.

Step 4 (Business Rules): Define the business logic.

Step 5 (Access Permissions): Set the user's access to the app sections.

Step 6 (Publish): Publish the app. 

There are 3 different methods to start creating an application.

Method 1:

• Upon logging in to the account and landing on to the Dashboard page.
• Click on the App Store.
• You will have two options:
  • Download a ready-to-use solution 
  • Build an application from scratch.
• To download a ready-to-use app (solution), select any available solution.
• Download the solution.

Method 2:

• On the dashboard page, click on the Admin Menu
• Hover your cursor on the Apps option and click on the Create App option.

1. Name Step

• It is a mandatory field to select a workspace from the Select Workspace drop-down list.
• Enter a Name for the application, enter a description to define the application (if necessary), and click on Next.

You will land on the Form Builder page, which is the second step in the application building process.

2. Form Builder Step

On this page, you have the ability to design your app's interface effortlessly by dragging and dropping elements from the left pane of the Form Builder onto the Form Builder canvas itself. The properties of each element are conveniently located on the right side. Additionally, along with these properties, you'll find other useful features such as Templates, From File, Reset, and a Preview for mobile and web (coming soon). Furthermore, there is an additional feature called Themes in the right pane.

Themes offer an opportunity to go beyond basic fields and elements, enabling customization with various fonts, images, and more. You have the flexibility to apply themes to the entire form, specific sections, or individual fields.

Themes empower you to assign meaningful names to your forms and incorporate images and colors as you like to convey their purpose. You can also tailor titles by adjusting their position, making them auto-adjustable, or fixing them in place as you scroll through the form and many more. Themes expand their functionalities to the field, section, and organizational levels.

Go through the picture and guide below for better understanding.

Left Pane: 

All essential elements required for constructing a Form Builder are categorized into three phases: Basic, Advanced, and Reference.

Builder Canvas: 

This serves as the canvas where you can effortlessly drag and drop the necessary elements to construct a well-structured form.

Right Pane: 

Here, you'll discover various upcoming features aimed at enhancing usability. Currently available features include "Properties" and "Themes."

Properties Pop-Up:

Clicking on "Properties" reveals a pop-up containing properties for each field you've utilized. Additionally, clicking on an individual element field opens a pop-up displaying the properties specific to that element.

Themes:

Themes offer two dropdowns: one for Background properties and the other for Font properties.

In the Background section, you can customize properties such as color and image. For color, you can choose from a variety of options by entering the HEX code, or you can use images to align with your branding, enhancing the clarity of the form builder.

The Font dropdown is associated with the types of fonts used in the form builder. It allows you to modify font size, color, and style. Additionally, you have the flexibility to assign different fonts for labels and values.

2.1. Form Elements (Basic, Advanced, Reference)

2.2. Workflow Step: Workflow is the step where you define the business process flow(from one step to the other) in a series of steps that need to be completed sequentially, parallel, or conditionally as a tree structure to access the application.

2.3. Business Rules Step: A Business Rule is a statement or condition that imposes limitations on specific aspects of the app's form, such as the elements entered in the field of a particular element field or the characteristics of a given relationship in the element fields.

2.4. Access Permissions Step: You can define the Access Permissions according to the steps defined in the workflow page. You can allow and deny access to each step of the workflow to perform different actions with a section.

2.5. Publish the application.

Keep Your Users Updated with Release Notes

Citizen Developers can now convey modifications made in the latest versions of applications, views, and reports with a release note after deployment to the live stage. Provide users with a brief explanation of what’s new within 72 hours (about 3 days) of deployment.

How It Works?

All users with access to the updated applications, views, or reports will receive the release notes, ensuring everyone stays informed about the latest changes and improvements.

Drafting and Attaching Release Notes

Citizen Developers can draft and attach the release notes by navigating to Artifact Summary -> Deployment Log -> Release Notes. Once attached and sent, end-users can view the release notes in their notification section.