ANNOUNCEMENT: Changes to the ShortStack Campaign Builder

As we announced earlier in the week via email to our users, we’ve made some exciting updates to ShortStack’s Campaign Builder. In today’s post we’ll highlight what you can expect the next time you log in. You can either watch the video below to see some of the most significant changes, or scroll down to read details about all the changes.

Buttons or Functions that have Moved or been Removed

• Buttons to open panels are in the new, left-side toolbar.
• Buttons to control the live preview are in the top toolbar.
• The Preview Control panel’s functions are now in the top toolbar.
• Simulation Favorites has been removed.
• Light/Dark buttons to change the theme are now in the user menu.
• Full-screen preview button (see “New Build and Preview modes” below).

New Build and Preview Modes

The ShortStack Campaign Builder will always be in one of two modes: Build or Preview. Build is used when making changes to your campaign and Preview is used for testing it. Below are details about the experience in each mode.

Build mode

• The builder always starts in Build mode when you first load it.
• To turn off the ability to edit widgets in the live preview (which is similar to the previous “Test Mode” button, just click “Off” (the dashed box with pencil icon).
• There is now animation in the live preview to make it more clear what is happening.
• To hide widgets with visibility settings, click “Hide” (the eye with slash icon) in the top toolbar.
• Normally in Build Mode we show all widgets with visibility settings, even those set to Starts Hidden. Note: Inactive and Popup will still be hidden. These widgets will be identified in the live preview (unless “Off” is clicked) by a transparent gray box around the widget with a label in the upper left corner identifying the type of visibility setting applied.
• If there are any form, voting or entry count widgets in use, you’ll also see the “Live Entries” (inbox icon) button for toggling between live and test data.

Preview mode

• Enter Preview mode by clicking the play icon button in the top toolbar. The top toolbar will animate to hide the “build” mode buttons and to reveal new buttons for preview mode. The side toolbar and panels also disappear (making this similar to the old “full screen” mode). Click “Exit Preview” to return to Build mode. The buttons below only appear when you’ve added widgets that use them.
• “Live Entries” (the inbox icon) appears when form, voting or entry count widgets are in use and toggle between live and test data.
• “No Restrictions” (the “ban” icon) appears when form or voting widgets exist that have entry/voting restrictions in place. When turned on, these restrictions will be ignored.
• “Current Time” appears when there are widgets with date/time visibility settings. The choices in the dropdown are gathered from the widgets. This makes it easy to choose only those times that cause changes in widget visibility and relieves the user from having to remember what the date/time settings are.
• “Country” appears when there are widgets with country visibility settings. Like the “Current Time” dropdown, the choices available depend on what the widget settings are.

Auto Layout Feature

This will automatically size the ruler and panels based on what panels are open. This feature can be toggled on/off using the “lightning bolt” icon/button in the upper left corner. It will be on “my default” for new/returning users.

Add Widgets Panel

There are now two layout options for the Add Widgets panel: icon-only (default) and button.

Edit Widgets Panel

This panel has been restyled to make it easier to distinguish containers from other widgets.

Adjustable Ruler

The right/left edges of the ruler can be dragged to change how much screen real estate is dedicated to the live preview (this doesn’t change any campaign settings -- it’s similar to resizing your browser window). This allows you to make room for panels that you want to always keep open without having them cover the live preview.

Top Toolbar

Most buttons have labels that appear to the right of the icon, but only when the browser width is more than 1300 pixels wide, otherwise, most labels will be hidden.

Non-builder Changes

When a new form/database is created from within the Campaign Builder, the user will see a new field for entering the number of test entries to be created (so that voting widgets have some content to show). As always, if you have any questions about these changes, or need help navigating them, please email us: theteam@shortstacklab.com.