What tips or suggestions would you all provide to construct an app that scales well. Best to design an app from the beginning that is built to scale rather then wait till its successful and find yourself in trouble. So within the constraints and design of bubble what would you suggest newcomers and other users do to ensure scaleability. Suggestions from the bubble team would be very useful here as well!!
API workflows: whenever you can move a task to the background instead of the page, all the better. It helps create a smoother user experience and reduces potential for error.
Styles: invest in building out common styles within your application. (That’s part of the reason I built UI kit templates)
Design workflows with Custom Events: when you have similar/identical workflow logic triggered by different elements, tie the common parts into a Custom Event instead of writing it out every time.
Build out privacy roles: simple enough, build out roles to ensure your users’ data is protected. View-level privacy roles aren’t enough.
A Shape is not a Group, but a Group can act like a Shape. Likewise, drawing a giant shape on the page to “hide” something is not something you should ever do.
Invest in reusable elements: for anything recurring in your application, see if you can structure it as a reusable element. It’ll save you countless hours of frustration spent tweaking.
When building an MVP, sometimes it’s better to just make something fixed width or minimally responsive than to spend hours fighting to make it 100% responsive.
Name elements, and especially inputs, using a common schema. (Ex. Input_Signup_ First_Name). It’ll make the process of mapping workflows significantly easier.
Avoid the temptation of “I might use this later so I wont delete it”: if you have a component, field, etc. that isn’t actively being utilized, get rid of it. Create a copy of your app and keep it there for reference. But don’t let it cloud up your current application.
And finally, document your work. Someday, others may look at it.
APIs have always been intimidating to me as a somewhat experienced user so I wonder how they appear to the new bubble user.
Design workflows with Custom Events: when you have similar/identical workflow logic triggered by different elements, tie the common parts into a Custom Event instead of writing it out every time
And how does the above work? Is there a guide about how to create these?
Recurring workflows (part of Scheduled Workflows) let you set up events on a set cadence (daily, weekly, monthly, etc). You initially set them up as part of an API workflow. Use cases: sending a weekly update email to users with system activity, adjusting prices of all inventory items by X% every day.
I think you’re right that APIs can be intimidating at first. And even for more experienced users. But once you start exploring them, it makes the effort worthwhile.
I recorded a quick video on custom workflows. Take a look
