December 9, 2024
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Over the last two weeks, we have been working on improvements to the platform. This blog post provides a simple list of what has been changed and updated and what bugs have been fixed. You can read more about the release notes here.
Pages
Improvements & fixes
Improved handling of 404 page
Value: The "404 not found" page behaviour at runtime has been enhanced to ensure it opens correctly in all scenarios. Previously, if a protected page with "/" as its path existed, navigating to a non-existing URL would incorrectly display the "/" page instead of the designated "404 not found" page, without updating the URL. This issue has now been resolved, ensuring that non-existing page URLs consistently direct users to the appropriate "404 not found" page as specified in the application settings.
Impact: This improvement is only applied when a new compile of any of their pages has been done.
Improved justified alignment for selects insides boxes
Value: The "justified alignment" option for box components has been improved to resolve an issue affecting select components. Previously, when combining a selects with other components within a justified-aligned box, the select component would incorrectly align to the center of the box rather than the justified edge. This bug has been resolved, ensuring proper alignment of select components within boxes.
Impact: This improvement is only available in the latest version of the box component in the default Betty Block component set. Existing components already in use on pages will not automatically receive this improvement.
Improved page compile validation errors overview
Value: The compile validation errors overview has been improved to streamline error resolution. When a compile validation error occurs, the overview now provides details about which page each error is associated with. A new "open page in new window" button has been added to each error item in the list. Clicking this button opens the corresponding page in a new browser window, making it easier to address multiple validation errors efficiently.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from this.
Scrollable disabled text area input
Value: The text area input component has been enhanced to improve accessibility when disabled at runtime. Previously, disabled text areas did not support scrolling, making it difficult to view all content. With this update, scrolling is now enabled for disabled text areas, ensuring users can easily navigate through the content even when the input is non-editable.
Impact: This improvement is only available in the latest version of the text area component in the default Betty Block component set. Existing components already in use on pages will not automatically receive this improvement.
Up next
Synchronising form action create or update step when form changes
Value: This feature introduces automatic synchronisation for create and update action steps when modifying the create or update form components. When changing a form - such as adding or removing inputs bound to model properties - will be automatically reflected in the corresponding create or update action step, eliminating the need to manually adjust these action steps. This streamlines form updates and saves time.
Impact: The impact of this feature are twofold:
- Newly added forms: This synchronisation feature will be enabled by default for newly added create or update form components from the default component set after the release. Users can start benefiting from automatic updates without any additional setup.
- Existing forms: For forms already added to pages after the release, this feature will be optional, allowing users to opt in if desired. Detailed instructions on how to enable synchronisation for existing forms will be provided in the official release documentation.
Timeframe: December 2024
New “add form input” option on form components
Value: We will introduce a new feature that simplifies the process of adding form input components directly to forms. Instead of using the drag-and-drop method from the sidebar, users can now click the "add form input" option within a form component. This launches a guided wizard to streamline the process of adding new inputs. This update will make it easier to enrich forms with new input components, even in scenarios with restricted page wrapper access.
Impact: The impact of this feature are twofold:
- Simplified form editing: Form editing will be easier for less advanced users who are less experienced with drag-and-drop functionality. This enhancement reduces the effort required to customize forms.
- Ability to change forms from a locked page wrapper: This feature can be applied to page wrappers, allowing developers to modify forms embedded within locked page wrappers. For example, forms used in the backoffice page template will be updated without needing to unlock the page wrapper, providing greater flexibility and convenience.
Timeframe: December 2024
Save as widget
Value: As a builder I can save an Empty widget as a widget.
Impact: When this is released the wrapper component will contain a 'Save as' option that allows builders to save their Empty widget as a widget. 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.
Want to try it out already? Contact the product owner, Manouk van Gerwen, to get the feature flag to enable this feature (manouk.van.gerwen@bettyblocks.com).
Timeframe: Q4
Data
New features
Dependency checker for properties
Value: We are excited to introduce a new feature to enhance the user experience when managing properties within the platform. Previously, when users deleted a property, the platform didn’t provide insights into where that property was being utilized. This often led to broken pages or actions, creating uncertainty and reducing confidence in performing safe deletions. In the detail view of a property, users will now see a new tab titled "References". This tab provides clear visibility into where each property is being used across the platform, including dependencies within pages, models, and actions.
Impact: As of this week, builders are able to use the dependency checker directly from the Data IDE.
Replacing the current cloud storage
Value: We are currently 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 minimise the impact on our services and are expecting no downtime during the migration.
Timeframe: Customers will be notified when the migration of their applications is scheduled.
Actions
Up next
Enhanced debug logging experience
Value: (Debug)logging of an action is currently a very time-consuming effort. To check where an action fails to execute or if information about the execution is needed, the builder currently needs multiple log steps after every action step to check the action flow. By enabling logging the whole action at once and optimising the logs page to display the information of the action execution, we enable the builders to debug their action within minutes instead of hours.
In the upcoming months, we are rolling out a series of updates to enhance the debug logging experience, broken into four key milestones:
- Milestone 1: Turn logging on/off
- Feature: Toggle to enable or disable logging for each action, available in the action settings.
- Value: Provides control over logging, allowing builders to enable it only when needed to reduce clutter and focus on critical information.
- Milestone 2: Log page optimisation
- Feature: Expand/collapse logs by action step for easier navigation and links to specific actions/steps directly from the log page for quick access.
- Value: Improves readability and accessibility, making it easier to pinpoint and resolve issues.
- Milestone 3: Advanced filtering options
- Feature: Search and filter logs by timestamp and type and sort columns, with the default sort set to date and time (latest log first).
- Value: Allow builders to quickly locate relevant logs, reducing time spent searching for specific events
- Milestone 4: Loop step logging
- Feature: Enables logging for the loop steps
- Value: Provides a clear overview of the logs for the loop steps.
Impact: Users do not need to take any additional steps to benefit from these improvements.
Timeframe: The first two milestones are expected mid-December 2024, behind a feature flag.
My Betty Blocks
New features
Audit logs
Value: Company members with the view audit logging permission are able to see logging of important events providing a detailed history of actions performed for security, compliance, and troubleshooting in the case of an incident
Impact: The audit logging will be available as a new page on the company overview page. Read more about it in the following dedicated product changes: https://blog.bettyblocks.com/product-changes/audit-logs.
Master templates (Beta)
Value: As an organisation admin, I want to have a master template, so that applications created based on this template can receive updates after changes have been made.
Impact: Promotion of an application to a Master Template can be done via the Applications Template settings. Currently, this is behind a feature flag; please let us know if you want to check out this feature.
Up next
Company Builders
Value: Show the total amount of builders associated with the company so that the company admin can see the potential impact on the billing based on builders. Betty Blocks users will not be counted towards the total number of builders.
Impact: The total number of builders will be displayed on the company overview dashboard.
Timeframe: in the upcoming 2 weeks.
View merge overview details
Value: Improve the readability and find-ability of items displayed in the merge overview details, so that changes are easier to find, validate or maintain to increase the collaboration between builders.
Impact: The changes displayed in the merge overview will receive links going to the items within the application. Next to that the changes in component options will be focused on only showing the actual changes.
Timeframe: in the upcoming 6 weeks.
Education
New Content
Best practice document: updating to new action steps
Together with Betty Blocks Services, we have created an article which explains how to safely update your action steps to a new version in less time than originally necessary
Improvements & fixes
New documentation environment
The environment in which you are reading this article, is as of recently available via docs.bettyblocks.com, the original URL from which we displayed our documentation.
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Currently testing and refining the AI chatbot
- Release notes and signups have been tested and are now provided via our new environment
Up next
Improvements to the Betty Blocks learning management system (LMS)
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.
We have decided to work together with the HubLMS team to bring our LMS to a higher level and keep your eyes open for wonderful and exciting environmental changes.
Timeframe:
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New LMS enabled, end of Q4
If you would like to leave feedback regarding our content and way of learning the platform, please reach out to odin@bettybocks.com
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!