August 19, 2024
Over the last two weeks, we have been working on improvements to the platform. In this blog post, you can see a simple list of what has been changed, updated, and/or what bugs have been fixed. Read more about the release notes here.
Pages
Improvements & fixes
Reconfigure option for form components
Value: The reconfigure option for form components has been enhanced to address an issue that occurred when using it. Previously, when this option was opened on a form containing a child component with an option in an error state (due to a missing reference), the page would display a full-screen error during design time. This issue has now been resolved.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Object properties in display logic
Value: The display logic option has been enhanced to resolve an issue related to using object properties. Previously, when object properties (and one of its sub properties) were selected on the left-hand side of the display logic filter rules, the page compile validation feature incorrectly flagged this as invalid, resulting in a validation error for the user. This issue has now been resolved.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Page compile validation
Value: The page compile validation feature has been upgraded to detect missing custom font files during compile time. Previously, users could compile pages even if a custom font was missing a font file, which could lead to unexpected behavior at runtime. This issue might occur due to system errors during sandbox creation, sandbox merge, or application transitions between zones. With this enhancement, users will be promptly notified of any missing font files and will have insight into the source of the issue.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Date picker component
Value: The date picker component has been upgraded to include built-in minimum and maximum date validation, both in the input field and the graphical calendar. This enhancement allows builders to configure date pickers that restrict end-users to selecting dates within a specified range. The minimum and maximum dates can be set as either static values or dynamic ones, providing greater flexibility and control in date selection.
Impact: This improvement is included in the latest version of the date picker component within the default Betty Blocks component set. Existing date picker components already in use on pages will not automatically receive this update.
Page compile process after a merge
Value: Page compilation after a merge has been enhanced to address an issue that occurred when opening pages at runtime after a completed merge. Previously, in some cases the opened page route at runtime was displaying a white screen instead of the actual page configuration. The Product team is monitoring whether the fix implemented is covering the full scope of this issue or not.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Up next
Saving a Wrapper as a widget
Value: As a business technologist I can save a wrapper as a widget or component.
Impact: When this is released the wrapper component will contain a 'Save as' option that allows builders to save their wrapper as a widget or component. After saving, the new widget or component is visible in their respective category. That also means a new category 'widgets' is added next to components and partials in the sidebar.
Timeframe: ~4 weeks
Commitment to Quality improvement
Value: As a leading platform vendor, we prioritize delivering a high-quality product. To ensure this, we continuously monitor our defined quality key performance indicators (KPIs). Recently, some KPIs for the page builder have shown a trend that falls short of our targets. We are actively addressing this.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from these improvements.
Data
New features
Nested schema models structure in the Data and Actions
Value: As a builder, I can create a nested schema model structure by creating has many (array) and has one (object) relations between schema models and use this in Actions.
Impact: Previously you were not able to use a nested schema model structure where this was required to build your use case. With this new feature, you are able to build this yourself within the Data IDE. Thereafter, you will now be able, next to the text output, to select a schema model and its nested properties if available. This enables less advanced configuration for business technologists.
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The release of this feature will not have an impact on your current setup.
Timeframe: This feature will be released at the beginning of week 34.
Up next
Replacing the current cloud storage
Value: We will be replacing our current cloud storage provider with Wasabi Technologies as our subprocessor for cloud storage. This change is part of our continuous efforts to optimize our services and ensure we leverage the most efficient and secure solutions available.
Impact: No action is required nor expected from our users. This transition will be seamless, and we are doing everything to minimize the impact to our services and are expecting no downtime during the migration. Customers will be notified when the migration of their applications is scheduled.
Timeframe: End of August
Actions
New features
See previous data segment for the 'Nested schema models structure' update.
Commitment to quality improvement
Currently we are improving the quality of the actions segment by improving our internal processes and code bases. All to service the builders on the platform better and give them a better builder experience.
Up next
New GraphQL playground
Value: Due to deprecation of the playground by the graphql playground developers, we will switch to a new GraphQL playground with lots of new features and future support.
Impact: With the release of the new playground, all the tabs will be gone. If you want to keep your tabs you can save them in a text file and create tabs in the new playground.
Timeframe: Within the upcoming 2 weeks.
My Betty Blocks
Up next
Migrate existing applications to new Login Provider
Value: In the upcoming months we’re going to migrate existing applications from our current login provider to our new login provider to increase the security and compliance of our login provider.
Impact: When logging in to the platform will be via an updated design, similar to the design when logging into My Betty Blocks. When SSO is configured on application level we will reach out to be able to change to the new login provider.
Timeframe: End august and begin september
Education
New features
Article on displaying your resources
Value: As a user, I know what to do when I have hardcoded assets URLs present in my pages.
In support of the AssetAPI updates, make sure to check out this article to support future asset updates.
Introduction on the low-code developer persona
Value: Introduce companies to the low-coder persona described in our platform, the low-coder is used to assist in the ultimate low-code application development setup.
More on the low-coder, what their main goal is and how to enable them can be found here.
The low-coder is a more technical role than the business technologist, for more on the business technologist and how they use the platform, see the business technologist journey
Improvements & fixes
Articles that mention SMTP
Articles that mention our SMTP functionalities now describe the difference between user sent and Betty Blocks sent emails.
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Betty Blocks classic documentation: Applying mail settings
Governance articles
Articles that describe our roles and permissions, with better structuring and new permissions
User provisioning (SSO) article
Updated our user provisioning article to provide more information about enabling SSO for their applications
Up next
The Betty Blocks augmentation guide
Value: Producing a guide for technical developers that will cover the minimum requirements of augmenting with Betty Blocks.
We have used a timeframe to focus on improving the experience of the beginning low/no-code developer, and have heard many wishes from advanced developers to provide them with guidance on augmenting their SAAS/data tools with Betty Blocks, with a technical and easy access implementation guide.
Timeframe: End august and begin september
Platform copywriting quality
Value: Improve the copywriting used within the Betty Blocks platform resulting in a easier navigation on the platform.
The education team has done research on our language usage, and is going to work on improving the grammatical inconsistencies, and ensuring unified phrasing and key term use within the Betty Blocks platform.
Testhub
Value: as a Betty Blocks platform trainee, I can test my skills via a Betty Blocks-supported test environment, and get graded on level-based tests.
More tests have been created and tested in the exam environment this sprint. While doing so we also stumbled onto an LMS that might save us time in having to manage the application ourselves, further research will be done.
Platform roadmap
Want to know more about the upcoming features and functionalities of the Betty Blocks platform? Visit the platform roadmap of our community where you can find most of the topics that we are currently working on and are planning to work on. Let us know your thoughts by upvoting the topics you believe are the most valuable!
That was all for now. Your feedback allows us to continuously improve the Product. So please, let us know what