I’ve recently been trailing back through and making sure my core apps/websites are well documented, this includes elements with complex conditions, API workflows, data types…you name it. Otherwise I find overtime I simply forget the logistics of the site and generally how things are setup/running .
During the process its become evident how basic the notes/comments taking facility within in app is and I feel with some extra features this could be really useful, making it a essential component of the Bubble editor.
I have used other note taking software as well to aid e.g. Notion, to further document full processes e.g. from start of page to workflow, endpoint, to data and so on. But the built in comments are very handy being inline and easy to find if you are in the right section, searching is limited at the moment though.
So with that said, here are some suggestions that I think could improve the functionality of the built in notes/comments facility within Bubble.
Creating a new tab section just for notes, for quicker access and management
On this section it could be a grid of notes as a summary, that can be clicked into to show the full content. In the section could allow filtering on a page basis, type e.g. workflow, element, data type and also use a search feature, see below for more.
This would be great for outlining key parts of the notes, adding images/screenshots for context and adding sub notes inside as a caption for a screenshot. Also having the ability to create a bulleted list or code syntax for specialist cases.
In addition to the suggestion of workflow folders indicator, this could also show if there is a comment assigned. For instance there is an indicator icon on elements or data types
Yes! I also would really appreciate a more robust notes system.
As an addition, it would also be great to add a larger description area, with rich text, to the Commit a development version and deploy inputs -
I’d love to add a list of changes and notes to these to keep track of the changes I make to the app through time. If that could be integrated with a re-done notes section, that would be epic.
Yes well pointed out.
The description for a new deploy or commit is pretty barebones. At the very least it should be a multi-line input, this way we could add some structure. But a rich text editor in this section too would be very beneficial for really detailing the changes in deploying, especially for teams working in the Editor.
Hi @luke2 and @MattN . You have both raised very relevant points. I manage a team of Bubble developers and we urgently need a way of creating documentation inline right where you need it. As Luke said, having a “…a new tab section just for notes” with a “…rich text editor” would be perfect, and Matt’s suggestion for a “…rich text editor” in the deployment “Commit” message would be so useful.
I don’t see any response from Bubble yet, and I would like to add my voice to the request for these features. Please Bubble, it will really help larger development teams, and will be so useful for any developers to remind us of the logic of workflows we created months ago.
Yes, as is, the Notes feature doesn’t come close to properly documenting a Bubble application. Inline notes on each element are good because they stay aligned with the application. However, to be usable as documentation, you need some way of viewing a collection of related notes together (e.g. all notes relating to a particular workflow or page or function) so I understand the overall flow while I’m working on a piece of the app. This is just fundamental and I don’t understand why Bubble doesn’t give it more attention. To make up for this weakness, I’ve been documenting my application logic by writing it out longhand, then transcribing it into Notion. However, this is cumbersome, time-consuming, doesn’t change with my application, and is only necessary because Bubble doesn’t make my inline notes accessible in any usable way.
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