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The Discord Qrew - What's It All About?
4 MIN READ TLDR: There's a Discord server for Quickbase Qrew members. It's run by Quickbase Qrew Members, not by Quickbase. It is a true Community-owned space. Quickbase employees participate as members of this community. Members of this space are online daily interacting with each other, helping with formulas, pipelines, and other product related questions. Quickbase Qrew Members can join here. As Community Manager here at Quickbase, I want to make every effort to actually be in the Community as much as I can be. That's not easy. There are a lot of you. There is only one of me. Part of the way we want to build more ways to engage with each other is to allow for more in person events via Qrew Groups. I'm excited to see efforts in Portland, Raleigh/Durham, and Boston coming along, and would expect to see a few more cities starting up soon as well. But what about the rest of the time when there are no in person gatherings to attend? That's a lot of time. How can the Qrew connect in other ways beyond Qrew Groups and this Qrew Discussions website? Our Community Slack was created in 2020 to allow for a virtual space to connect during our first virtual Empower, but it's been missing a true community feeling for some time. There had to be something else out there. I can't remember the first time I met @Rosson Long. I want to say it was former Quickbase Community Manager @Evan Martinez who introduced us on a call sometime in late 2022/early 2023. I arrived on the call without much in the way of an agenda, and Rosson immediately launches into this platform called "Discord" to show us the community he's built in this space. I'm googling "Discord" because I'd never used it. I'm not a gamer, clearly, otherwise I'd be very familiar with this platform. And Rosson is going from channel to channel talking about all the ways Quickbase community members could benefit. Rosson's passion for both Quickbase and this Discord space he's created are obvious. There's clearly value here, but I'm hesitant. My interest was piqued, so I asked for an invite. As an experiment, I decided I'd be a member of this small community inside the much larger capital C Community, and participate in Discord discussions when it made sense to. I've been doing so for the past six months, and here are my observations... If you love building in Quickbase and want to be around others like you, the Discord Qrew is where you want to be. It's not all work, it's some play. There's a #random channel where we recently went through our favorite lines from the movie "This is Spinal Tap". #thisgoestoeleven I witnessed someone share they had been let go from their employer and within days have a job interview and offer lined up. There's a #jobboard channel now as a result of this, members share openings in their org or post that they're looking for work opportunities. I was blown away watching this group come together to help one of their own find work. The knowledge is next level Quickbase. Some of the formulas, Pipelines jinja, tips and tricks being shared in this space are incredible. There are close to 200 members as of today, and there's always a group of frequent flyers in there daily helping each other out. I'd expect this number to climb steadily. Messages do not expire in Discord as they do in free Community Slack, which is a huge value add. It's very easy to pop into a room and demo a workflow or watch someone else demo a workflow. It's a very welcoming, extremely engaged, passionate group of Quickbase experts, and if you aspire to be a Quickbase SME one day, this is a good group for you to get to know. Don't take my word for it...here are some quotes from Quickbase Qrew members on their experience in the Discord Qrew... @Amanda Thomas wrote "This community helped me solve a problem yesterday without even realizing it. I was typing up my question and all the things I'd tried and just thinking about how to explain what I needed made me realize I had another option!" @Rosson Long wrote "The Discord community gives me an outlet to connect and talk with other Quickbase developers in real time about common problems and solutions. It also creates fun opportunities for humor and brings a light hearted mood to what can otherwise be a stressful and demanding job experience." @Allan Heaps wrote "The Discord community has been a key element in my comfort with and ability to move from a long career of educational technology and instructional design to database development and data analysis. I am the only one of my kind at the extended studies unit where I work. This Discord community gives me a group of capable mentors and peers who like to interact and learn together. I love that the conversations here cover archived questions and tips, opportunities to meet and show problems, and occasional conversations and demonstrations about who we are as humans in our lives beyond what we do at work." For those looking to join the Discord Qrew, here's a link to join.Accelerate Your Success with Quickbase Certification
2 MIN READ Are you looking to grow your skills and stand out in your job? Quickbase Certification is a simple and powerful way to master app-building with no-code/low-code solutions. Whether you’re just getting started or want to level up, Quickbase Certification can help you unlock new opportunities. Let’s explore how this program works and why it’s right for you. What is Quickbase Certification? Quickbase Certification is designed to help you prove your skills in app building and automation. You can start with App Foundations, which covers the basics of building apps in Quickbase, and then move to more advanced topics like Pipelines for automation. These certifications are useful because they show employers that you can create apps that improve business processes. No matter your level of experience, Quickbase Certification can help you grow your expertise and make a real difference at work. 👉 Explore Certification Paths Why Should You Get Certified? Quickbase certification is a great way to boost your career. Employers are always looking for people who can solve problems and build apps that make work easier. By getting certified, you can prove you have the skills to create scalable, efficient solutions. You might also get better job offers and higher pay as you gain this valuable knowledge. Whether you work in IT, project management, or app development, getting certified shows that you are ready to take on bigger projects. How Do I Get Certified? It’s easy to start! Just visit Quickbase University and sign up for the App Foundations certification. After learning the basics, you can challenge yourself with advanced certifications like Pipelines, where you’ll learn about automation and how to connect systems. The certification process focuses on hands-on learning, allowing you to grow your skills effectively.👉 Start Your Certification Journey What Happens After Certification? Certification is just the beginning. As a certified professional, you’ll unlock: Community Access: Join Office Hours with Sam Trachy to connect with experts, share tips, and learn from fellow Qrew members. Peer Resources: Qrew Discussions provides a space to ask questions and get answers directly from Quickbase experts. Networking Opportunities: Attend Qrew Meet-Ups—virtual or in-person—to expand your network and stay inspired. Showcase & Grow: Display your achievements with digital badges, and access exclusive resources to keep up with the latest Quickbase updates and features. Ready to take the lead in your career? Don’t wait to transform your skills with Quickbase Certification. Start today at Quickbase University and go from App Foundations to Pipelines—your next big career move is just a click away!
A brand new table report experience
4 MIN READ Earlier this year, we embarked on a journey to modernize the Quick Base interface. We committed to doing this in a safe and methodical way and began discussing some of the trade-offs on this Community post. We are proud to say that the time is almost here for customers to be getting their hands on our first large slice of this – the new table report – and providing us valuable feedback. This process will be slow and methodical. At the start, we will be more restrictive about the types of apps and environments that are suitable. As we add features and address bugs, that net will continue to widen. Here is the current progress: Throughout this modernization process, your feedback will be critical for its success. To that end, we are exploring a private, invite-only, forum, right here in the Quick Base Community where engaged builders can ask questions, read about progress and even provide some unstructured feedback to our interaction designers and/or engineers. We first showed you the new table report at Empower 2019 and it was clear users were excited. So, we spent the time since then working on the foundation of the house which includes things like getting core interaction components in place and optimizing for performance. I have one test with 500,000 records that is achieving about a 10x improvement over our current report. As we start on our multi-phased early access process, we want to be transparent and open. At the onset, we are going to be looking for feedback on the framing of the house. That is the walls, electricity and plumbing. It isn't yet time to pick out the floors and the cabinets. Bringing it back to this, not every field type is completely supported yet and the implemented design is not perfectly aligned with the vision of our talented designers. We hope you are as excited as we are to try this new feature. When enabled, users will be able to toggle on and off the new report. Quick Base is used by hundreds of thousands of users across over 100,000 applications. For the most part, no two applications are the same and we regularly say to customers "You did what with Quick Base!?". That makes our job of objectively choosing what to implement (and when) somewhat challenging. We are doing our best to meet or exceed industry best practices while also keeping things somewhat familiar for those of you that have been using the platform for years. This sometimes requires us to make tough decisions, such as migrating away from dynamic filters and onto column filters. We acknowledge that some people may prefer the legacy style but are prioritizing data density and a more approachable interaction with column filters. Participating in the early access means a few things: You are going to be using a feature in early access that is not production ready. It may be unstable, do things you don't expect and not include something you are used to. Quick Base does not guarantee the stability of any feature in early access and normal SLAs and Care channels are not applicable. While in early EA, the original table experience is still fully supported and maintained. You should have a close relationship with your users in the early stages of testing. This is so that you can set good expectations with them on what is and out of scope and so they can funnel feedback that you can ultimately convey to us. Updates to this feature will not go through regular release cycles. We may reach out to end users who have toggled back to the old report to gather feedback from them. This may include a brief survey. Builders in the early access program should be able to dedicate time to review the feature with Quick Base staff as needed. Feature access may be turned off at any time, without notice. It isn't a decision we take lightly, but it could happen if we notice issues! It is important to remember that the new table report component is using our modern continuous deployment model. During early access, you should expect frequent bug fixes and enhancements that will come without any notice. These could be weekly or daily. We are rigorous about quality but expect there to be hiccups along the way as we tackle such a large and critical piece of Quick Base. If you are interested in working with us to test and provide feedback, we ask that you carefully consider which of your applications make the most sense for this. For most people reading the post, the next steps are simply to get excited and talk to your user base to make sure their expectations are set. You will hear from us with directions on how to apply for EA within the next few weeks. Remember to stay tuned to our release notes, as that is our official channel for product features. ------------------------------ Harrison Hersch ------------------------------Qrew Champion Profile - Laura Linssen, J.J. Keller
2 MIN READ Introducing a new blog series, Qrew Champion Profiles, where we get to learn a little bit more about our Qrew Champions. Our Champions program is open for registration. Sign up today, start taking those challenges and climb the rankings until you reach Champion status! Qrew Champion Profile: Laura Linssen, J.J. Keller Hailing from the great state of Wisconsin, Laura Linssen is a connoisseur of cheese curds and all the things that help streamline. Laura is a Quickbase Developer II at J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., the nation’s leading provider of safety and regulatory compliance solutions. When she is not using her creativity to problem solve at work, Laura uses her skills to come up with new superstitions to get her favorite, legendary Green Bay football team to another championship. Here are a few more fun facts about Laura, as well as a glimpse into how she discovered Quickbase, and some tips for those starting their Quickbase journey today! Favorite book or TV show (or both)? I absolutely love Lucifer, iZombie or Ghosts. Dream Vacation Locale? Europe. What's a superpower you want? Teleportation. When and how did you discover Quickbase? I was working as a Workflow Management Specialist and needed a way to keep track of what our offshore team was working on and sending them work. I started playing around [with Quickbase] and next thing I know, I'm certified, building and creating new positions for myself within my organization all based around what I have built. Describe your 'a-ha' moment - what was the breakthrough moment for you with Quickbase? When I finally conquered and mastered formulas. So many things you can do with a good formula. What's something you have learned from being a member of The Qrew? That we all come from different walks of life, but have a great thing in common: we are nerds who love Quickbase and want to see people thrive using it. What advice do you have for new Qrew members? Speak up, reach out, ask all the questions. What does being a Qrew Champion mean to you? It means that I can be a mentor to someone just starting out, or someone who has used Quickbase for years and give some fun and creative insights into what they are trying to achieve.Qrew Champion Profile - Sherry (Blackburn) Morris
2 MIN READ Introducing a new blog series, Qrew Champion Profiles, where we get to learn a little bit more about our Qrew Champions. Our Champions program is open for registration. Sign up today, start taking those challenges and climb the rankings until you reach Champion status! A frequent flyer in Customer Networks meetings, Sherry Blackburn has been a longtime Quickbase advocate working for PeaceHealth. She was active in our Quickbase Heroes program, and has already jumped into the fray taking all on challenges within Quickbase Champions. Sherry is also a newlywed! Per Sherry, after decades of "fiercely independent singledom", Sherry's sister re-introduced her to a lifelong friend, and this past March the two tied the knot! Sherry accepted the challenge to share a little bit about herself. Additionally, we've shared a few quotes from the Quickbase staff members who have worked closely with Sherry. What's your favorite book or TV show (or both)? That's like asking me to pick my favorite child... What's your dream vacation locale? Anywhere with white sand/blue water or mountains. What's a superpower you would want to have? I want to fly! When and how did you discover Quickbase? I was looking for anything that would help me not have to use MS Access and someone said "Psst, go talk to Dan in engineering..." Describe your "a-ha" moment - what was the breakthrough moment for you with Quickbase? When I was able to turn a federal reporting task from a 3 month search of miscellaneous spreadsheets in 10 different places into a 3 click process. What advice do you have for new Qrew members? Dive in and don't be shy. The more we all ask and share, the more we all learn and grow. What does being a Qrew Champion mean to you? It's an honor to share, learn, and grow in this community. Quotes about Sherry from those at Quickbase who know her well: "I had the pleasure of working with Sherry for roughly two years and was blown away every time we connected. She is a Quickbase expert and always willing to dive in to learn more about the platform. She is one of the most positive, engaging and helpful builders I've had the opportunity to work with." - Jill Breitner, Senior Customer Success Manager, Quickbase "Sherry has been working in the Quickbase platform for almost a decade and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with more skills. She is intelligent, strategic and organized with the best sense of humor. Working with Sherry is an absolute delight." - Tonya Shriver, Senior Tech Enablement Consultant, former colleague to Sherry at PeaceHealth Feel free to drop @Sherry Blackburn a message and connect with her 1x1. She's a passionate Quickbase advocate and is always open to sharing how to maximize Quickbase apps!Upcoming Changes to JavaScript in Quickbase
13 MIN READ If you’ve ever used JavaScript to modify UI or enable a non-native workflow in a Quickbase app, this post is for you. We know that adding custom code to an application can be a valuable way to extend Quickbase. However, we need to provide this capability in a secure and supportable way. To that end, Quickbase provides the ability to use custom code in code pages. On the other hand, we also see builders inserting custom code into places it was never intended to be used. To improve the security and stability of the platform, we are changing the way Quickbase handles custom code. Specifically, we are changing how the platform handles JavaScript and unsupported HTML tags in places other than code pages. Code pages are where custom code has always been supported, and we encourage app builders to insert it there. We will roll out these changes throughout 2021. This post will cover the background on where custom code is supported in Quickbase, and why it’s important for us to make a change. You can also find details about our plan below, and how that impacts you. Table of Contents Background Upcoming Changes Product Alternatives Next Steps FAQ Background For years, Quickbase builders have inserted JavaScript outside of code pages. This has been done to customize the UI or to automate workflow (such as reloading the current page). Yet custom code such as JavaScript was never intended to be used in a Quickbase app, except in code pages. Builders have shared many solutions like this on our community forum. You might see them called "Image OnLoad" or "Branding OnLoad". Because the added JavaScript code cannot be sanitized by Quickbase, it could open a security vulnerability that a sophisticated, malicious, builder could take advantage of. “Sanitizing” is simply making sure that an input into a field is what the software intended. For example, to sanitize a field that says “Image URL”, we would ensure it only accepts a format like https://mywebsite.com/images/banner.png and that it only contains secure content. None of the code within a code page can access the native Quickbase document object model (DOM). When you write custom code such as JavaScript in a code page, you are creating a new web page from scratch. This is why it is more secure to restrict JavaScript to being used only in a code page The Quickbase platform includes many security measures which protect you against the risks mentioned above. For example, when you create a new app, any API call pointed at that app must include an application token. We have put in place policies to control cross-origin resource sharing (CORS). And we allow realm admins to restrict what type of content may be embedded as an iFrame within their apps. But the work of building a platform with world-class, enterprise grade security never stops. Our software engineers and system architects are always searching for opportunities to improve. Changing how JavaScript is handled in Quickbase apps is the next step in that journey. Besides this security issue, it's impossible for us to test inserted JavaScript as we make changes to the Quickbase platform. A routine upgrade to an open source library, a change to styling, or to the DOM may cause these custom solutions to break without warning. As we progress with projects like the UI Refresh in 2021 and beyond, these kinds of changes will become more frequent. In order to move the platform forward in a safe, secure, and sustainable way, we must close the loopholes that allow builders to insert unsanitized custom code into their apps. Upcoming Changes There are three areas of the product that need to have the loophole closed. We will close one area at a time, every two months starting in April 2021. Rich Text Fields, where customers could unintentionally allow end users to insert JavaScript. This area was closed in the April 2021 release. Note: This does not include Formula-Rich Text fields. Custom Branding, where customers typically insert JavaScript to modify the UI in non-native ways. This area was closed in the June 2021 release. Formula Fields, where customers can write scripts to automate workflows. Examples of these include cascading deletes and executing multiple actions when a user presses a button. This area will be closed in the August 2021 release. This includes Formula-Rich Text fields. When an area is closed, builders will no longer be able to insert new JavaScript or edit the JavaScript that has been inserted into the area. With these series of changes, we will not remove or modify any existing custom code. We will not intentionally break any existing solutions that leverage these techniques. But a change to styling, a change to the DOM, or an update to a technical library could cause a solution to unintentionally break without warning. And, if a solution breaks for one of these reasons after the area has been closed, builders will not be able to edit the JavaScript to fix it. After we close each loophole, builders will no longer be able to insert or update JavaScript in that part of their apps. For example, imagine you have a formula that contains JavaScript. You need to update the formula, so you open the field properties. In that case, we would pop up a message warning that the field contains unsupported content. If you click Save without removing the JavaScript, you will see an error message preventing the save. You may hit cancel at that point, to back out and keep the previous configuration of your field. We encourage you to continue extending your ecosystem of apps using custom code. You can use custom code such as JavaScript in code pages, even after we close all the loopholes above. NOTE: The vast majority of custom code that's inserted into Quickbase apps outside of code pages is JavaScript code. However, the product changes above will not just restrict where JavaScript can be used. Those restrictions will apply to all custom code that is unsupported outside of code pages. The only custom code that may be used outside of code pages is: Simple HTML tags such as "a", "div", and "img". (See a complete list of supported HTML tags) Any native HTML attributes for those tags. (Such as the "width" and "height" attributes of the img tag) CSS style code which is included in-line, as part of one of the supported HTML tags above As a reminder, iFrame HTML tags are not supported outside of code pages and they will be affected by the product changes above. Product Alternatives Many agile companies extend their Quickbase apps today using custom code. This is a crucial tool for flexing and adapting to a fast-paced business environment. The intended workflow for Quickbase to interact with custom code is by having a formula-url or formula-rich text field as a button or link. Clicking on one of these would open a new browser tab, or redirect the current tab, to the code page. Custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript can be included in this code page. If desired, the page can close itself and redirect to the original page. For example, see the animation below: We will also work to make this even easier in the future. Over time, we will address the majority of extensibility needs in a few ways: Our ongoing product initiatives have an increased focus on customization and power natively. We know will not be able to build a native setting, switch or toggle for every possibility. Yet we conduct research and make data-informed decisions on where more flexibility makes sense. We will continue to absorb small items into future product iterations that customers need so custom code isn’t needed. Examples of this include, but are not limited to: Ability to use Now to get the live time a formula-url was pressed, rather than when the first page loaded New formula functions like UserRoles() and NameOfMonth() More control over the behavior of formula-urls Allow app builders to use JavaScript in certain areas outside of Code Pages. These would not allow arbitrary code to be inserted. Instead, they would support specific methods of extending a Quickbase app with custom code. For example, let's consider the new dashboards in beta as of February 2021. These new dashboards allow app builders to create filters which apply to all reports and charts on the page. We could allow a developer to create a custom chart type, which connects to the dashboard filter. So when an app user clicks that filter, all the reports and charts on the dashboard would update - including the custom-coded charts. This would allow builders to create their own chart, and have it behave natively and seamlessly for their users. We have many plans in this area. While this is not an overnight deliverable, we are confident in the research we have done and our roadmap to deliver on this promise. Programming languages like JavaScript are powerful because they are open-ended. You can use JavaScript to solve virtually any problem if you have the time and technical know-how. But Quickbase is a no-code platform. Quickbase is powerful because of how fast it allows you to build and update apps, deliver value and unlock insights within your data. So we will always focus on accelerating that speed and ease of use. We do not intend for Quickbase to become a full-fledged integrated development environment (IDE). Next Steps First, we want to be as transparent as possible, so app builders are aware of any risks in their applications. To that end, builders will begin seeing a warning in areas that have unsupported content in the near future. This will not prohibit changes to these areas of the platform. Are you already thinking about some of your apps which use these JavaScript techniques? If so, please start planning how you can migrate to supported solutions. We have been logging Quickbase apps that contain unsupported custom code. Those logs are only able to cover apps where you've updated the app’s structure recently. So if you have an app you're unsure about, you can update the properties of any field or table to get it added to the logs. That way, if that app does contain JavaScript or other types of unsupported custom code, it will appear in the logs the following day. On February 11th, we'll send an email inviting account admins to a Quickbase app so you can see where inserted JavaScript is being used. If your account admin does not receive that email, it means that our logs do not show any inserted JavaScript in your account. Review the list of FAQs below. If you still have questions or need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Care team by submitting a ticket. We're happy to help identify alternative solutions. However, please note that we will not be able to interpret or troubleshoot custom code. If you find yourself in need of more hands-on assistance, we recommend engaging with one of our QSPs, whom we can help you connect with. FAQ What is JavaScript Insertion? JavaScript Insertion occurs when custom JavaScript code is added to any part of a Quickbase app other than a code page. Some examples include formula fields, rich text fields, and custom branding. While officially not supported, these techniques are used to more deeply customize an app’s UI or workflow. While this has never been officially supported, the platform was not explicitly blocking this as it should have been. As we have added features to the platform over the years, many of the reasons why these techniques were used have become obsolete. What is changing with regards to JavaScript Insertion? We will begin restricting app builders from inserting JavaScript in formula fields, app branding, and rich text fields. Builders will no longer be able to insert new JavaScript code in those areas. We will also block edits to any existing JavaScript in those same places. These areas were never intended to allow for JavaScript insertion. You can still insert JavaScript in a Code Page, which is the appropriate place in a Quickbase application. Will these changes only affect inserted JavaScript code? The vast majority of custom code that's inserted into Quickbase apps outside of code pages is JavaScript code. However, the product changes above will not just restrict where JavaScript can be used. Those restrictions will apply to all custom code that is unsupported outside of code pages. The only custom code that may be used outside of code pages is: Simple HTML tags such as "a", "div", and "img". (See a complete list of supported HTML tags) Any native HTML attributes for those tags. (Such as the "width" and "height" attributes of the img tag) CSS style code which is included in-line, as part of one of the supported HTML tags above As a reminder, iFrame HTML tags are not supported outside of code pages and they will be affected by the product changes above. When will these changes take place? Throughout a series of releases in 2021. After the April 2021 release, users will no longer be able to insert JavaScript into Rich text fields. After the June 2021 release, users will no longer be able to insert JavaScript into Custom Branding. After the August 2021 release, users will no longer be able to insert JavaScript into Formula Fields. Why do we need to make these changes? Custom JavaScript inserted into these areas is not sanitized by Quickbase. This opens the platform up to potential attacks from malicious users, to modify pages or gain access to protected data. Such custom code is also impossible for Quickbase to test. This means routine changes to the platform could (and do) cause a solution to break without warning. Closing these loopholes allows us to provide a more supportable, enterprise-grade platform. It also enables our support resources to triage and troubleshoot more effectively. How are we informing customers of this change? On February 11, 2021, we will email Account Admins who will be affected by this change. The email will include a link to a Quickbase app which will help you locate inserted JavaScript in your apps. We will email those Account Admins before we make each of the product changes above. Those changes will take affect with our product releases in April 2021, June 2021, and August 2021. Application Managers will also see warnings in apps that include inserted JavaScript. For example, a message will appear if you edit the properties of a formula that includes inserted JavaScript. What will happen with existing JavaScript solutions? We will not be making any changes to existing objects that contain inserted JavaScript at this time, or during any of the releases mentioned above. That means that solutions that leverage inserted JavaScript should continue to work as they were designed. However, builders will not be able to save changes to these objects after their respective release. After the April 2021 release, you will not be able to make changes to JavaScript within Rich Text fields. After the June 2021 release, you will not be able to make changes to JavaScript within Branding. After the August 2021 release you will not be able to make changes to JavaScript within Formula fields. As always, these solutions might break as a result of a routine change we make to the Quickbase platform. For example, upgrading a technical library, or changing either our styling or our Document Object Model (DOM) could cause inserted JavaScript to stop working. What will happen if a builder attempts to save changes to an object with inserted JavaScript? After we close each loophole, builders will no longer be able to insert or update JavaScript in that part of their apps. For example, imagine you have a formula that contains JavaScript. You need to update the formula, so you open the field properties. In that case, we would pop up a message warning that the field contains unsupported content. If you click Save without removing the JavaScript, you will see an error message preventing the save. You may hit cancel at that point, to back out and keep the previous configuration of your field. What will happen if I copy an app with inserted JavaScript? Customers should be able to copy applications with unsupported JavaScript. The inserted JavaScript will carry over to the copied app. As with any inserted JavaScript, after we close down the area it is inserted in, builders will not be able to edit it. Should I remove all inserted JavaScript from my Quickbase apps? We are not removing or modifying any existing inserted JavaScript. You can continue to use your apps that contain inserted JavaScript. But, while we are not intentionally breaking any solutions that rely on inserted JavaScript, these solutions could break as a result of a routine change to the platform, like a change to styling, an upgrade to technical libraries, or a change to the Document Object Model (DOM). As we progress with the UI Refresh Initiative, these changes will become more frequent, increasing the chances that your apps could break. If you want to avoid that risk, you should explore alternative, supported solutions to the problems you’re solving with inserted JavaScript. What if I need help? If you’re still not clear on exactly what is changing, or have a specific question about your account, you can always submit a support case to our Care team. Also, our Quickbase Solution Providers (QSPs) are a network of professional services firms that you can contract with to help you plan for and execute any changes to your apps that you might deem necessary as a result of this announcement. They can help you identify and implement alternative, supported solutions to the problems you currently solve with inserted JavaScript. If you are working with a QSP already, you can follow up with that partner or find a potential partner here. We also have a list of partners who are providing services offerings to specifically handle JavaScript issues. If you would like a referral to a partner or potential partners, submit a support case, and a support representative can provide this for you. Can builders still insert JavaScript into code pages? Yes, users are encouraged to use code pages to leverage custom code for their Quickbase applications. These code pages should be used standalone, rather than attempted to be “injected” into a Quickbase page. What if I need help identifying my inserted JavaScript? The first place to look is the Inserted JavaScript Usage app. This is a Quickbase app that lists where inserted JavaScript is used in your apps. It includes details such as Field ID for formulas that include inserted JavaScript. On February 11, 2021, we will email a link to this app to Account Administrators. We will send this email only to accounts we've detected are using inserted JavaScript. Not sure whether a specific app includes inserted Javascript? You can check this by opening the app in question, then making any schema change. For instance, you could add a new field or update the properties of an existing field. Then, you can check the Usage app one day later. We update the Usage app daily. So if the app in question still does not appear in the Usage app then you do not need to take further action. Will Copy Master and Details buttons be affected? No, as long as you are using your Copy Master and Details button as it was originally generated (i.e. no changes were made to the formula) it should not be affected by these changes. If you have Copy Master and Details buttons, you may have received a warning in your application about the presence of unsupported content. To be clear, after the August release, you will not be able to edit these formulas. However, unlike other formulas that contain JavaScript, these buttons will continue to work as designed and do not need to be replaced with alternative solutions.
AMA on App Planning with Orientation Success Manager Lee Gilmore on September 26th from 2-3 PM EST
2 MIN READFor our September AMA (Ask Me Anything) we are going to be focusing on the ever popular subject of App Planning with the help of Lee Gilmore, one of our Orientation Success Managers, and the Orientation team. Whether planning a brand new app or getting ready for changes to one of your existing apps a clear plan can be a fundamental steps to turning an app into a huge success. Meticulous planning is one of the hidden secrets of the most successful apps in Quick Base and we are here to make sure it is no longer a secret. Whether you are brand new to app building or a veteran of creating apps this AMA is a great place to bring your questions and get the insight of an Orientation expert. On Thursday, September 26th 2019, we are hosting a live AMA (Ask Me Anything) featuring Lee. Lee will be here from 2-3 PM EST to tackle your questions about App Planning, whether it is planning a whole new application or making a plan to change the one you are using today as smoothly as possible. Are you curious to know how you can map out your process? Do you want to know more about how you can plan for the needs of all the different types of users who are going to be in your application? Have you heard about collecting requirements for an app before and wondering what that means? Maybe you just want to know a bit more about Lee and what exactly an Orientation Success Manager is? You can start right now by submitting your questions here on this Community thread between now and the event on the 26th of September. Then Lee and the orientation team will be right here in this community thread to tackle them all on Thursday at 2-3 PM EST along with any questions they get live. ------------------------------ Evan Martinez Community Marketing Manager Quick Base ------------------------------
How can we help you adapt to your new (and evolving) priorities?
2 MIN READ I spent some time this morning looking at how a variety of businesses are adapting their approach to continue to live their mission in this new reality. My son's elementary school is holding physical education class every morning online. Brené Brown is leading non-denominational prayer groups on Instagram. Veterans groups are posting daily workout challenges on social media to inspire physical and mental fitness during this stressful time. Fine dining restaurants are converting to touchless delivery literally overnight. Touching base with my team, I was inspired by the collaboration and partnership we've delivered to customers over the past week. State and local governments are spinning up apps to manage their response(s) to the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses are rapidly identifying business needs and developing applications to address them. Other clients have built apps to manage IT assets that need to be delivered to newly remote employees. The world is changing fast and we all are in a constant state of trying to adapt even faster. We know you are facing new priorities and evolving challenges right now. For our team at Quick Base that means we want to help more than ever. What can we do to help you and your team succeed in this new environment? What new problems have cropped up? How can we help you solve them? We can help with everything from app building advice to simply being a sounding board. We know the power of our community, and we know that you all are doing amazing things everyday; if you are creating an app that you think others could benefit from, please add it to our App Exchange. We look forward to connecting and collaborating with you soon. How To Publish An App ------------------------------ Neil Forbes ------------------------------Improvements to the Quickbase Formula Engine: Kicking it into High Gear
5 MIN READ Improvements to the Quickbase Formula Engine: Kicking it into High Gear As we embark on another 20 years of Quickbase magic, we plan on taking the best of what has made Quickbase special and investing to make it even better. I've made no secret of how cool I think Quickbase is. Our proprietary engine combines the traditional layers of database, application, security and interface all into one – leading to an exceptional time to value. In seconds, we often perform millions of calculations to deliver rich insights to our users. These calculations help them make operational decisions for their business in record time. We're hard at work on some major improvements to our formula engine, allowing you to perform computation on summarized data inside of a report formula, as well as enabling formulas which can access any field in an application without needing a relationship. Read on to learn more about how this can help accelerate your business in the new year. Formulas Thinking about how we prioritize our roadmap for a platform like ours is not easy. We often have competing personas using Quickbase which loosely can be categorized as: Business: Commonly referred to as Citizen Developers, these builders typically don't have a software development or database background. They likely have experience in Excel, but usually not writing code. Their closest comparison is a spreadsheet, not C# and SQL. Developers: Builders who have a functioning software engineering background, who usually expect Quickbase to work like a traditional software stack. One area that continues to shine through, reaching a common ground with all of these builders, is our formula language. This is an area we constantly invest research in whether it is via analyzing support cases, usage, or user studies with our awesome XD team. We try to understand the balance between offering more power and making things simpler. Our formulas can be used to drive custom data rules for validation, and color coding on a report. Formulas can be hundreds, or even thousands of lines long, referencing a virtually unlimited number of fields. They can also be immensely powerful with just one line. And, of course, these fields can reference summaries, lookups or even other formulas. They can be effectively the heart of an application's logic and workflow. And unlike traditional technologies, these formulas operate as discrete fields. That means users can report on them, they can drive permissions, and be used in API calls. In the past year, we have added some minor enhancements to the formula engine to streamline things for builders. For example, we added SearchAndReplace() which drastically reduces complexity for managing text strings. WeekOfYear() simplifies date calculations, one of the most common things done in apps. Up Next We know that enhancing our formula language will unlock capabilities for our builders to solve even more complex problems. We will also drastically simplify existing patterns – taking our record time-to-value further. You may have seen me preview some of this in our Empower 2020 keynote. And now, with hands on keyboard, it's time to really start the planning process. So, as a builder what can you expect? First, we are going to offer more advanced analytical capabilities by allowing you to perform mathematical operations on summarized data inside of a report formula. The focus for this feature will be summary reports. You may be solving these problems today by use of a statistics table in Quickbase, sometimes referred to as fact tables in relational databases. In our initial prototypes and user studies, we were able to replace six extra statistics tables and the associated relationships and fields with just a couple uses of these new formulas. Tables are invaluable for organizing your data properly. But too often we see tables being created solely to power a few specific calculations, making your app more complex and challenging to maintain. So, get ready to calculate timecards, budgeting, forecasts, inventory and more to your heart's content! Next, get ready to access any field in an application without a relationship. Yes, you read that correctly... You will be able to access any field in an application without a relationship. Now, we aren't planning to replace relationships. They will continue to serve as the primary way to reference data between tables. And the power that people have achieved leveraging those relationships is amazing. You are all solving problems in Quickbase using these features that arguably couldn't be achieved in any other platform, without investing exponentially more time and resources. We know though that there are plenty of times where creating extra relationships is overkill. The most simple of which is the classic "reverse parent child". This is one of many creative patterns (like lookups of summaries, 1-to-1 relationships, and more) that we can simplify. Maybe you need to gain visibility to a "sibling" record – such as viewing the primary contact name from a customer on an opportunity. The ability to query any table inside of a formula, or reference multiple field values as variables inside of a formula without discretely defining lookup fields is going to simplify app structures even further. Formulas will allow you to gather one, or many records. Subsequently, that formula will be able to aggregate values it finds – effectively allowing for a summary field without a relationship. For the first time, you will be able to aggregate values across records and tables in a single calculation. We have some work ahead of us to finish these features and get them in your hands - between testing, validation and performance optimizations. Finally, there are a collection of things in formulas we have on the list that are small, but valuable, nonetheless. Things like allowing for regex inside of a formula to detect and act on text patterns for our most savvy builders. Tying it all together While they are only one piece of the puzzle, formulas drive real-time insights into operational data. Those insights may come by way of a single record form and a status field, a table report, an API call from another system or rich charts and dashboards. One of the most exciting things here is how improvements to our underlying engine ties to the initiative to modernize our interface. Our updated charts, reports and dashboards will come together visualizing data powered by the most sophisticated underlying capabilities in a no-code platform. Creating a beautiful KPI widget on a modern dashboard from complex calculations will be easier than ever – providing rich insights to users at a glance. While builders will be using some new formulas in the first half of 2021 (and they will be great), I'm personally excited by how all the output of our different teams will blend in the next 18-24 months. Delightful dashboards, modernized reports, a new interactive form builder and updates to the special sauce – our unique in-memory database – will further cement Quickbase as the leading no-code platform. ------------------------------ Harrison Hersch Director of Product Operations ------------------------------
New Dashboard Open Beta
3 MIN READ New Dashboard Open Beta As this past year has proven, business conditions and job functions can change rapidly. Organizations need to flex and adapt their business processes to keep up with the pace of these changes. This is operational agility, and it helps companies navigate the challenges of today. One of the keys to operational agility is the ability to make decisions quickly. In order to do that you need to have accurate data you can be confident in, tailored to the decision you're trying to make. Our New Dashboards, representing the next major milestone in our UI Refresh, are built with these needs in mind. We can't wait to give you a better way to gather real-time insights from your operational data by providing more modern visualizations and new tools to interact with your Quickbase apps. As you may have heard, we are on a multi-year journey to modernize the UI of the Quickbase platform. The goal in 2020 was to prepare us for future support of international characters and accessibility, and speed up our delivery of new features in the long term. We're now starting to see those investments pay off. After the March release, app builders will be able to create a Dashboard in any of their apps. To get started, visit the App Settings, click Pages, and then add a new Page. Click the Dashboard option from the menu to get started! New Dashboards bring several long-awaited capabilities to the Quickbase platform. Make Faster Decisions Use Dashboard level filters to surface key insights from your Quickbase applications Display reports from several of your Quickbase apps side-by-side. This allows you to bring siloed data together while following best-practices for app architecture. Speed app adoption Use modern visualizations to provide a better end-user experience. New tool-tips show more information at a glance. Charts also allow users to drill-down to view detailed information without leaving the page. Our new dashboard builder gives you more flexibility to create a layout that's elegant and easy to read. Drag and drop widgets on a canvas, and resize them to fit your unique needs. Each new dashboard can include several tabs. You can group similar reports together on a tab, allowing your app's users to flip back and forth with ease. Beta program details You can get started after the March 2021 release by visiting your app settings and creating a new page. Limitations While dashboards are in beta, you may encounter issues more frequently than you would in a generally available feature. We're still actively developing the feature and may not yet support a certain report type or button action just yet. We're also working on building out the mechanisms to backup, restore, and transfer dashboards. We'll release these and other features as soon as they are ready. For the most up to date list of limits and limitations, be sure to visit the Quickbase Product Limits page. What's next Expect to see updates to new dashboards on our way to general availability. We'll add summary reports next. Then, we will add the remaining chart types, and the infrastructure mechanisms above. We'll also be adding even more ways to interact with reports on a dashboard. Stay tuned!
