Nowadays, there's an app for almost everything, whether it be productivity, tracking tasks, or note-taking. Anything you might think of, there is probably an app for that out there.
As collaborative software makers, we understand the usefulness of apps, which is why we offer a plethora of options to choose from and mix and match according to your needs. However, we also understand the need for both customization and ease of use. Sometimes a use case might be specific enough that it requires building an app from scratch — which sounds daunting for any non-technical user, but it doesn't have to be. This is precisely what we had in mind and hoped to achieve when we decided to create App Within Minutes.
What is App Within Minutes?
App Within Minutes allows any end user to benefit for free from XWiki's powerful data management system and easily create collaborative web applications even without a technical/developer background. With its drag and drop feature, as well as a wizard guide, App Within Minutes is a built-in option that makes creating custom apps a straightforward process that can be done in just a few, quick steps. We have noticed that non-technical users experience hurdles along the way and that, as a result, it becomes tedious to always ask the IT department for help.
App Within Minutes is quite versatile and can be used for various use cases — you can create a Frequently Asked Questions app, a Holiday App, or even use it to manage projects or procedures.
How does App Within Minutes work?
A wizard guides users through 4 successive steps:
1. Name your application
In order to start the creation process, you have to provide the application name which will determine the application home page URL and you can choose a wiki location where you can place it.
2. Define the structure of your application
In the second step, you need to define the application structure, i.e. the type of data your application will handle. Using drag & drop, pick the wanted data types. At this step, you can continue to personalize the added data types, to order them, to add any pre-filled content if that's what you need for your app entries. Afterward, the wizard will create the template based on the chosen structure that will be used to create new application entries.
3. Select from where users can create an app entry and where they are placed after they are saved
At this step, you can choose to restrict from where users can create app entry pages, and also you can set where the app entries are placed after their creation. You are also given the option to pick a dedicated icon for your application.
4. Customize the home page of your application
Lastly, you can (and should) customize your application's home page. Specify the title and description, the columns to display in the entries livetable, and you can choose again the icon to be shown on the Applications left panel.
And you're all done and ready to start using your new application! Depending on the complexity of the application and use case, each step might require additional details.
Step-by-step video tutorial to create a new app
To make things even clearer, you can check out this video tutorial to see for yourself how easy it is to create an application with App Within Minutes, with a Procedure management use case.