Blog Post

The Qrew Blog
3 MIN READ

Introducing New Quickbase Navigation (beta)

BrianCafferelli's avatar
BrianCafferelli
Quickbase Staff
9 months ago

Update: This blog was initially published ahead of our open beta in May. On October 1st, new (or sidebar) navigation will become the default Quickbase experience. To help guide the transition, if your users tried new navigation during the open beta and reverted to legacy navigation, we will respect their current settings. Your team will still have the option to use to legacy (or top) navigation until the beginning of 2025, but doing so will require action from both admins and individual end users.

Access the End User Guide for More Details >

Quickbase is the world’s first platform for dynamic work management. And that means we wake up every day asking ourselves how we can make our customers more efficient and help them grow. We are continually improving the platform and adding new capabilities, so it is easier than ever for you to see, connect, and control your most complex processes. To do that, we want to make sure we continue to focus on providing an intuitive, clean user experience, which is the foundation on which the rest of Quickbase relies. That’s why we’re excited to announce the beta version of our new navigation. Here’s what to expect from our new navigation, and how you can try it out today. 

 

What’s changing? 

We rebuilt Quickbase’s navigation from the ground up to provide a more modern and intuitive experience for both you and your users. And, while we have future plans to add new functionality and concepts to our navigation, we’re not adding any new elements just yet. Instead, this initial release of our new navigation will re-arrange the components you use to navigate around your apps today.  This approach will ease you and your users into this experience and make it easier to manage this change.  

 

Tables have moved to the left side 

Some may call it clunky; others call it dated, but we heard loud and clear from many of you that the Quickbase menus at the top of the page take up too much room. That’s why we’re moving app-level links to a new sidebar which you can find at the left edge of the page. Here, you can navigate to each table in your app. And if you are an app admin, you will find links to app settings and the user management page. We’re also providing centralized access to all your table settings with Settings for each table directly in the content menu are designed to save you time and clicks. It’s important to note that your existing table order and permissions will translate 1:1 from legacy navigation to the new style, so you’ll be able to hit the ground running without the need to re-calibrate your settings. With more room to breathe, you can see – and understand - more of your own data on your screen at once. 

 

 

There are several ways you can choose to interact with this menu, depending on how you like to get work done. You can open the sidebar by clicking the arrow to push content and maintain your open/closed state as you navigate across pages or simply hover anywhere over the closed sidebar to open temporarily and close automatically as you navigate. 

 

Switch between apps using the new global nav menu 

We’re cleaning up the experience of having to switch between apps with the app bar, by moving these controls to the top-left corner of the page. In this new waffle menu, you’ll be able to switch between apps. This is also where you will access other parts of Quickbase outside of apps, such as Pipelines and Exchange, enabling one-click access to key areas of the platform. 

 

 

Getting involved in the beta program 

Want to be one of the first to get your hands on the new nav? Your valuable feedback is pivotal to shaping our platform. Register here

 

Next steps 

The new navigation will be available for all users starting on May 8, 2024, with the ability to try it defaulted on. Each account admin can choose to disable the new navigation for their users under the Admin Console-> Permissions menu. If a user’s ability to turn the new navigation is not disabled, they can visit their user preferences and select sidebar navigation to try out the new experience. 

 

 

 

Happy navigating! 

Updated 4 months ago
Version 2.0
  • New navigation is a definate improvement in regards to better use of screen space. have a rethink on the location of the Home button though. Maybe place the home button next to the settings cogwheel, instead of having to open up the sidebar to click on the home button.

    • OsaEdebiri's avatar
      OsaEdebiri
      Quickbase Staff

      If you click on the name of your app on the global nav menu, it will take you to your app's home page.

  • New Navigation is really nice!!! Keep up the good work Quickbase Team. Excited to see this become the new experience. 

    • AdamKeever1's avatar
      AdamKeever1
      Qrew Commander

      It's good to see this getting rolled out. Great job! 👍💯

  • KellyBianchi's avatar
    KellyBianchi
    Qrew Assistant Captain

    New navigation throws off formulas in rich text formula fields. I had to switch back to top navigation. I created a formula url field to update a form in a related table and return to the current form. It worked fine. The same formula in the Rich Text Formula Field did not return to the current table. It stayed on updated record when saved. 

    • CharlesDulaney's avatar
      CharlesDulaney
      Qrew Trainee

      yep, same problem here - it broke all of action buttons with return URLs. While the functions within the buttons worked out with some back-steps and screen refreshing, the return path does not function.

      This is because URLRoot() does not include company.ui.quickbase.com, it will return company.quickbase.com, and of course, if you have this feature turned on, URLRoot() does not account for company.ui.quickbase.com

    • ben_simon's avatar
      ben_simon
      Community Manager

      KellyBianchi do you have an open support case for this? I'd want our Tech Support team to review with you and then potentially add your case to an existing bug escalation. 

      • KellyBianchi's avatar
        KellyBianchi
        Qrew Assistant Captain

        I do not, because support can take days to respond, and I cannot leave an issue unresolved for a lengthy investigation. It seems easy enough to reproduce.

  • Not so sure I like this.  I own and work with multiple QuickBase apps and I loved seeing the list of apps open in the tabs.  Unless I'm missing something, you can't just see the apps you have open with out clicking on the waffle menu and then the app you want.  That actually adds a step.

    • JimHarrison's avatar
      JimHarrison
      Qrew Champion

      Agreed, it adds a step and removes wasted space. IMO, I spend most of my time building or grid editing or looking at reports.  Having added space over an extra click has greater value for this User.