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Hello AppSheet Community,
One of the teamโs goals is to make it easier for all app creators to build applications by bringing focus to the core concepts and tasks and by providing information and โshortcutsโ in the relevant context. We rolled out some of these changes in October and shared this initial announcement.
Weโre now excited to announce 2 new updates are starting to roll out today. They are follow-ups to the October changes.
First, weโre introducing a secondary navigation that lets you see at a quick glance all your components - whether weโre talking about is your data, your views, format rules, actions and automation components. This should also let you access any individual component more quickly.
As part of this change, suggestions will be available for all components and will be more targeted based on the context you are in (e.g. which Table you are creating a Format Rule for). Youโll also notice that error and warning messages are now shown via a status icon that is always visible in the header.
Secondary navigation menu (left) and Error & Warning status in header bar (top right)
Second, in the same spirit as earlier changes and to be able to make a specific edit to your app without jumping into a different context, there are more direct links in your View component to the table, column or action that you want to check or edit. For example, when you are working on a Deck View, you should not need to click 3, 4 or even 5 times just to check the settings of a column or of an action. This should make more obvious what is possible, especially for users who are new to AppSheet, and make navigation throughout your app components faster.
GIF showing accessing relevant components quickly and editing them on the fly
The secondary navigation menu and its associated changes will be available to everyone. Similarly to the primary navigation menu rolled out in October, you can revert to the legacy navigation patterns if youโre facing an issue. Details are in the FAQ section below.
Let us know if you have any feedback.
Thank you
The AppSheet Team
FAQ
How do I opt in and out of the navigational changes?
App creators can currently opt-in and out of the navigation changes at will. The changes apply to the App Editor experience, independent of the app you are editing. You can opt in and out by clicking on this icon in the top navigation bar.
Is there some documentation?
Yes, weโre updating the relevant pages in our documentation. Weโre also introducing a new page that summarizes the changes across the Editor. See Summary of improvements in the app editor (preview).
Where do I report issues and provide feedback?
Contact Support or directly in this thread.
Are you planning on maintaining the two navigation models?
Long term, no, weโre moving towards the new navigational model. For the next few months, we will support both navigation models as we make additional changes to how people navigate through the Editor. We want to work out the kinks before it becomes the only one.
When will the legacy navigational model be unavailable?
We donโt have a hard set date on this. That will depend on how fast we can work out the kinks in the new navigation.
Why donโt I see anything yet?
Weโre rolling out these changes progressively and it might take a few days to a few weeks before you can see them in your own account.
I provided some feedback on the previous changes (from October). Are you taking it into account?
We did read the feedback provided by our community. We may not have addressed it yet - whether itโs making an update or itโs deciding not to make any changes.
@Marc_Dillon
When you get the modal to add a new data source, check that the suggestions for adding tables are at the bottom, ie scroll down all the way. Not an ideal placement for discovery though.
@Arthur_Rallu @marizmelo
Just to repeat @Marc_Dillon point, let me report my experience as a user. I am trying to add a new sheet in Co-author.
With the current Editor, it is easy to see the situation being suggested.
However, with New Editor, I have to open a modal to see that it is being suggested.
I believe this is a degradation of UX.
However, essentially, as already pointed out in another Topic, I think it would be desirable for the Co-author to be able to add it through normal operation.
I think this is because if it can be added from the Suggest UI, then it should also be possible to add it in the normal UI.
BUG in webhook tasks editor
To reproduce:
- Toggle the new editor UI to on.
- In the list of automation tasks, select a webhook task whose Preset property is "AppSheet API".
- Select a webhook task whose Preset property is "Custom".
Actual:
- The webhook task whose Preset property is "Custom" has an App Id property with an AppSheet app ID selected.
Expected:
- The webhook task whose Preset property is "Custom" does not have an App Id property at all, but rather a Url property for the custom webhook request destination.
Workaround:
- Select a task that is not a webhook task.
- Select the webhook task whose Preset property is "Custom", and its Url property appears as expected.
Note: The reverse is also true--navigating from a custom webhook task to an AppSheet API webhook task results in the AppSheet API webhook task having a Url property instead of an App Id property.
When a table's column list has many errors displayed, the center pane expands vertically to allow the messages, but the actual column list is confined to a nested display with a fixed height, such that I must scroll again within the nested column list display. This is cumbersome. Would prefer that the entire pane expand to include all messages and all columns. Better: confine the height of the messages rather than the column list. Even better: confine the messages to a dismissable pop-up so I can get it out of the way while I work on the fixes following the cues that occur elsewhere in the column list.
Please use consistent terminology to reduce confusion:
"Source" identifies a spreadsheet, "View data source" refers to the spreadsheet. "Data Source" refers to the service that hosts the spreadsheet. "Source" and "data source" are used interchangeably but with different meanings. Consider "data host" rather than "data source" to refer to the service that hosts the data.
Also related are the following buttons in the header bar of the "Show this table" peek pop-up window:
- "Go to Data", which navigates to the table's column settings
- "View source", which opens the table's data source (at least if it's a spreadsheet)
Side note: Inconsistent capitalization even in this newly developed part of the app editor UI.
When attempting to add a new table as a co-author, I am presented with the following pop-up:
Although I can click New source, the process does not ultimately allow me add anything. If I as a co-author am not allowed to add a new data source, the option should not be presented, so as to eliminate confusion and frustration. Likewise, the option to add a new table should not be offered if it is not available to me.
Would like to have Preview data, Table settings, and Add virtual column added to the overflow menu of the table entry in the table list:
Would like to have Rename added to the table's overflow menu:
Ideally, all of the options would be present in both so I don't have to remember where the particular option I want is.
When using the Regenerate schema action on a table, I am presented with the following dialog:
Note that the actions presented in the table are both labeled Regenerate schema, but the dialog uses "structure" rather than "schema"; the term "schema" does not occur in the dialog. This discrepancy may lead the app creator to think they clicked the wrong action and cause confusion.
The Learn more link refers to Columns: The Essentials - AppSheet Help, which does not contain the word "schema":
The term "regenerate" occurs only twice as "regenerate the table"; "regenerate structure" does not occur. Within this doc, "regenerate" itself is a link to Add, remove, or rearrange columns - AppSheet Help, which only includes "schema" in a quoted error message.
The search box for help content doesn't always work when the search term you type includes a letter that begins one of the menu choice names. For example, attempting to type "c" in the search box to enter "column" doesn't register a "c" in the box but rather selects the menu choice that begins with "c", "Community forum". This always happens when you try to type the letter as the first letter of the search term. It also happens intermittently even when you've already entered some letters successfully in the search box.
There is a word used in New Editor that needs to be changed.
I would like it to be changed to Copy instead of Duplicate.
โ
Non-English speaking users are not familiar with the word Duplicate.
My feeling is that Copy is intuitively understood by almost 100% of Japanese users.
However, Duplicate will have much fewer users who can understand it immediately. Perhaps only 30% of the users can understand Duplicate intuitively.
@Koichi_Tsuji
@111222
Interesting discussion! I understand and appreciate both @WillowMobileSys 's perspective and @takuya_miyai 's. I've noticed the distinction in English. Here it is in a Google spreadsheet (right-clicking on a sheet tab for options):
And here is a similar menu in Japanese:
The Japanese word for both "duplicate" and "copy" is "ใณใใผ" ("kopii" [a simple transliteration of "copy"]) and you can see that it is used for both "copy" and "duplicate."
I can understand that Google may want to distinguish between "copy" and "duplicate" but I think it's a distinction that is lost on many and is actually an impediment to understanding for many more. "Copy to" vs "copy" should be adequate, so I agree with Takuya. It's a good idea to reduce jargon when possible, especially in international contexts.
