Hello,
I love the forum for help and getting quick responses for questions asked by bubblers. And the annotations on what this thing does is pretty good. As a designer, I will say that probably many other designers and I may be visual learners. How about having some more video-driven help files or maybe make some more of those walkthroughs on some more advanced features. I feel like every time I am looking for help on something specific I end up sifting through endless amounts of threads varying my keywords until I get something in the ball park. Searching for information this way just feels cumbersome and clumsy trying to find what I need. I found two courses on Udemy that are pretty good, but they are beginner to intermediate, and only scratch the surface. I donāt know exactly what the answer would be or how to make it better. I just know that this isnāt the easiest way to find how to information on the topic. I know this is new and I am sure there is more addressing this issue coming in the future. Please if anyone has any recommendations where I can find more info please let me know.
2 Likes
Might suggest some sort of user-driven Wiki. I assume it can be āfedā with some of the answers from the forum to get the ball rolling. Topic areas of āMobile Appsā and āPerformanceā are clearly recurring themes that would be very useful to have as a Wiki.
3 Likes
If I could chime in
One of the problems with creating a resource like a shared wiki is there are many variations of answers to seemingly similar questions. Itād be an impossible undertaking to create walkthroughs for every bubblers issues. Thatās why the forums have become the defacto place to look for solutions to a specific problem we bump into. What weāre really doing is looking for someone else who had the same or similar problem to see if a solution was found.
If itās the fundamentals we want to learn, there are a ton of resources available e.g. the tutorials on your app dashboard, the manual, the reference, a few key posts here on the forums etc.
The manual is likely the best solution for a āmegaā resource, as it brings together the fundamentals of Bubble in a single resource, with best practices for all sorts of app organization and how to use the editor etc. If you want to help improve the document, register for a gitbook account and you can.
This is similar to how a wiki would work (and itās surprising to me how little the community has jumped into it, to be honest. Wiki has been suggested a bunch of times, but with the response of involvement the manual has gotten, a wiki definitely wouldnāt work)
https://manual.bubble.is/
Another resource for videos that might not be super obvious is Bubbleās vimeo channel. A lot of the videos were made before the current version of Bubbleās UI, so it might look a little strange, but everything works the same
https://vimeo.com/bubblegroup
In addition to the Udemy course(s?) thereās @copilot video course
@romanmg Coaching Bubble newsletter is an extremely valuable resource for really specific bubbling techniques, which through the examples and walkthroughs she provides really lays out a fundamental skill set of bubbling. It also might give some insight into how difficult it is to create content that addresses this general āhow do I do this in Bubble?ā question.
5 Likes
Thank you for the resources. I am probably a pre madonna. I was able to find the fundamentals and have built a relatively complex RedWeek type of resale market for the company I work for from those resources, so I didnāt mean to imply that the forum was completely unhelpful. I guess I was looking for more cool tips and tricks on some more advanced API uses, or advanced custom workflows. I have the basics down as far as entering and displaying data. But some of the plugins and other features I could use a push in the right direction in how they are used or implemented. Thank you for the feedback.
1 Like
And I just saw this after I replied to the first thread. Awesome! I will check that out.
1 Like
One smaller solution could be create a few threads on the forum to address specific use cases. For example:
- Have the community create a list of links that show new users where/how to get started with Bubble
- Advanced tips for Bubble Users
- Best Practices and Insights for Production Grade Applications (i.e., not just prototypes)
Part of the challenge with any structure to all of the information is getting people to write it up. I know Iām much more willing to help when a person has a specific need instead of me trying to write a dictionary / wiki of all Bubble questions ahead of time and not seeing / interacting with the people my content helps. I think thatās part of why Quora is so successful.
So, while the forum isnāt perfect for consuming information, itās better for those creating it. So, for now, probably easiest to leverage what weāve got and build small directories of information within the forum that, perhaps, link to one another.
3 Likes
I agree, understanding API and plug-in mechanics and data flow, especially for accepting payments, recurring membership, divide revenue with users for marketplace, facebook and other social integrations, Zapier, Blockspring, etc, all these would help alot for non-coders
1 Like
Even if it was some fresh ideas to push one in the right direction. The API implementation isnāt over my head, as much as where to start with all of these different plugins and zaps. I know we can individually go in and read up on the several zaps etcā¦
Another issue I have with the forum is when searching for similar questions, then read down the threads only to find an editor saying send me the link, then a reply saying thanks that worked greatāyet nothing was explained in the forum about how they fixed the issue. So if more visuals are not the companies desire then maybe have the support log more details in the forum of now the problem was fixed. But it would be beneficial to have a video library similar to the various plugin sites; they have a walk through the tutorial for everything because they deal with the same client base. If this is a visual coder, in my personal opinion, there should be more visual learning. Now I know this tech is much more open and fluid so I couldnāt tell you where to start, but when you guys come across unusual situations it would help to have better documentation for us dumb-dumb designer types.
The walk through lessons are great! I just think there should be more advanced walk throughs for those who have grasped the basics of manipulating data within the software but are looking for a push in the right direction to the next level of development.
I am not criticizing the product; I think it is amazing. I am just offering an idiots perspective to help you guy become as successful as possible. Now I just need to figure out this SSL thingā¦lol. Thanks for all the input guys!
1 Like
Chiming in, Yes if your trying to create an app (which I am), and not just noodling around (no disrespect to noodling Iām a noodler too!?) and need some specific āthingā done. Clumsily trying different scenarios can become exhausting. Personally I would like to see some kind of formal support or training. Maybe some examples in the manual, not just explanations?
I would even pay for someone to get me past issues, on a regular basis if I knew there was a group that is āin the knowā when it comes to bubbles inner workings. I have over 100 hours into my app (conservatively) and at lease half of those hours is me fumbling through how to make something work.
To note, I have received some great advice, and fixes for some of the issues. Most of which comes from people who have more experience with Bubble (have put in more hours) and thats great. But sometimes it feels like your asking the group to create your app when you have to ask for help every nth task.
2 Likes
maybe someone who knows this stuff cold could go through the manual and add visual examples of the information? I would pay for that!
3 Likes
So what Iāve been thinking is that we get a subforum for contributors on the manual where we can discuss the wording, put together more descriptive screenshots, propose diving deep in certain areas and working that out.
I havenāt pursued this yet because Iām thinking the new hires might have something to do rewriting this stuff. I can reach out though and see if this isnāt something we canāt make happen.
3 Likes
I know that, from a support stance, the bubble staff rely heavily on the forum to provide support so I would be surprised if they would not see this as a positive. Maybe a small group of us could get together and create the BubbleBook, Book of Bubble, the BubbleBible and create a working manual.
3 Likes
