Advanced - Team Activities App

Ready to take things further? This advanced tutorial will take you step-by-step through building a Showpad App that enables people in your organization to create teams, join them, and propose activities.

app

The finished app will incorporate:

	Quantity	Description
AppsDB Stores	2	These shared stores will hold: the teams created by admins the activities created by users
Extension Types	3	These will be rendered on various extension points on the Showpad platform: Admin settings - Admins can create teams on the Admin App. User settings - Users can select their team on the Web App. Experience Type - Users can propose team activities on the Web and Mobile apps.

While building this app, you’ll work with:

	Description
Experience App SDK	This will enable you to leverage the capabilities of the Showpad platform.
Extension Types	These will interact with each other through AppsDB.
Showpad CLI	This provides the ability to bundle and upload the app.

tip

You'll find the Team Activities app's code with all the files in this GitHub repository. Feel free to clone this repository and use it as a reference or compare it to the final version of the app you create.

info

No frameworks or UI kits are needed for this tutorial. The examples here use vanilla TypeScript to keep the app as light as possible. To scaffold, run, and build the app, we'll use Vite (you can use the tooling of your choice to achieve these tasks).

Prerequisites

Development

HTML & JavaScript knowledge
A Code Editor (we recommend Visual Studio Code)
Node.js 15+
Git

Showpad

Plan: Ultimate | Advanced or Expert
Permissions: Administrator access to Showpad's Admin App

1. Initialize App

Create App Folder

The first step is to use Vite to scaffold, run and build the app. This command will create the app folder and all of the necessary files:

npm create vite@latest team-activities-app

The process creates a file and two folders that aren't necessary at this point, so you should delete:

index.html file
src folder
public folder

It also creates the tsconfig.json file. You need to update the include property in this file to ensure that all of the Typescript files are compiled:

{
  ...
  "include": ["**/*.ts"]
}

Install NodeJS Dependencies

Next, it's time to install the NodeJS dependencies (Typescript and Vite).

In the team-activities-app folder, run the install command:

npm install

Install Experience App SDK

During development of your Showpad App, you'll use the Experience App SDK to interact with the Showpad API.

In the team-activities-app folder, run the the following command:

npm install @showpad/experience-app-sdk

Install Showpad CLI

The Showpad CLI is Showpad's robust command-line tool that helps streamline the development of Showpad Apps.

In the team-activities-app folder, run the the following command:

npm install -D @showpad/cli

Install Dependencies

You'll also need a library to generate the UUIDs of the records stored in the AppsDB.

In the team-activities-app folder, run the the following command:

npm i -D @types/uuid

In order to connect to your Showpad environment, you must run the login command and follow the prompt:

npx showpad login

Create Manifest

The Manifest defines your app's:

schema and version
public information
extension(s)

In your app's root folder, create a manifest.json file:

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.showpad.com/app/manifest.v2.json",
    "schema": {
        "type": "app-manifest",
        "version": 2
    },
    "appKey": "<your-app-key>",
    "name": "Team Activities App",
    "version": "0.0.1",
    "description": {
        "short": "The Team Activities App",
        "full": "An App to propose some team activities for your next team events"
    },
    "developer": {
        "name": "<your-developer-name>",
        "websiteUrl": "<your-website-url>"
    }
}

Declare AppsDB stores

In order to store data in AppsDB, you must declare your stores and perform an initial upload of your app.

Add the following lines to your manifest.json file:

{
  ...
  "sharedStores": [
    { "id": "teams-store" },
    { "id": "team-activities-store" }
  ]
}

2. Admin Settings Extension

The Admin Settings extension enables admins to create teams in their organizsations.

a_settings

Declare Extension

The Admin Settings extension will add a new entry within the Showpad Apps section of the Admin Settings menu on the Admin App.

To define an Admin Settings extension for your app, add the following lines to the manifest.json file:

{
    ...
    "adminSettings": [
        {
            "extensionKey": "team-activities-admin-settings",
            "name": "Teams",
            "description": "Setup your teams",
            "resources": {
                "folder": "admin-settings"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Create Extension Folder

Run the following command to create a folder for your Admin Settings extension:

mkdir admin-settings

Within this folder, add this vite.config.ts file:

This file:

defines the EcmaScript version used to build the extension
specifies that built files are generated into the ../dist/admin-settings folder

Create Index

The index.html is the entry point of your extension. For this extension, this file defines a form to create a team and a table to list existing teams.

Create the following file in your Admin Settings folder:

Create Script

The code for your extension resides in the src/main.ts file. For this extension, this file defines the functions to create a new team and render the team list.

Create the following file in your Admin Settings folder:

note

In order to test your extension locally, you must complete this tutorial since an initial version of the app needs to be uploaded and installed in your Showpad instance.

3. User Settings Extension

The User Settings extension enables users to join teams.

u_settings

Declare Extension

The User Settings extension will add a new entry within the user's Settings menu in the Showpad Web App.

To define the User Settings extension for your app, add these lines to the manifest.json file:

{
    ...
    "userSettings": [
        {
            "extensionKey": "team-activities-user-settings",
            "name": "My Team",
            "description": "Assign yourself to a team",
            "resources": {
                "folder": "user-settings"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Create Extension Folder

Run the following code to create a folder for your User Settings extension:

mkdir user-settings

Within this folder, add this vite.config.ts file:

This file:

defines the EcmaScript version used to build the extension
specifies that built files are generated into the ../dist/admin-settings folder

Create Index

The index.html is the entry point of your extension. For this extension, this file defines a form for users to select a team.

Create the following file in your User Settings folder:

Create Script

The code of the extension resides in the src/main.ts file. For this extension, this file defines the functions to store the selected team.

Create the following file in your User Settings folder:

note

In order to test your extension locally, you must complete this tutorial since an initial version of the app needs to be uploaded and installed in your Showpad instance.

4. Experience Type Extension

The Experience Type extension will enable users to propose activities for the team events.

experience

Declare Extension

The Experience Type extension will add a new type of Experience on the Create New Experiences dialog in the Admin App.

To define the Experience Type extension for your app, add these lines to the manifest.json file:

{
    ...
    "experienceTypes": [
        {
            "extensionKey": "team-activities-experience-type",
            "name": "Team Activities",
            "description": "Propose your team activities",
            "resources": {
                "folder": "experience"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Create Extension Folder

Run the following code to create a folder for your Experience Type extension:

mkdir experience

Within this folder, add a vite.config.ts file:

This file:

defines the EcmaScript version used to build the extension
specifies that built files are generated into the ../dist/admin-settings folder

Define Experience Config

The configuration of your Experience Type extension is defined in the config.json file. This file:

specifies the content shown in your Experiences (e.g., assets, labels, tags, etc.)
contains properties that can be overwritten by an admin when creating an Experience through the Experience App builder

For this tutorial, we've defined two labels and an asset. When creating an Experience from this extension, the admin will be able to input the labels and pick the logo for the Experience.

You can define the configuration properties in the experience/public/config.json file:

{
    "version": 1,
    "labels": {
        "intro": {
            "part1": "Here you can propose some activities for your next Team event.",
            "part2": "Don't hesitate, go nuts!"
        }
    },
    "contents": {
        "logo": { "type": "asset" }
    }
}

Create Index

The index.html is the entry point of your extension. For this tutorial, we've defined:

placeholders to render a greeting with information coming from the config.json file
a form to propose a team activity
a table to list all proposed activities

Create the following file in your Experience folder:

Create Script

The code of the extension resides in the src/main.ts file. For this extension, this file defines the functions to render the information coming from the config.json, to create a new team activity and to render the activity list.

Create the following file in your Experience folder:

note

In order to test your extension locally, you must complete this tutorial since an initial version of the app needs to be uploaded and installed in your Showpad instance.

5. Build App

Before building your app, you need to replace the build script in the package.json with this one:

{
 "scripts": {
  ...
 "build": "tsc && vite build admin-settings && vite build user-settings && vite build experience",
 ...
 }
}

Then in your app's root folder, run the following command:
```
    npm run build
```
This will generate a dist folder containing the resources of your extensions.

6. Bundle App

Add this script to the package.json:

{
 "scripts": {
 ...
 "prebundle": "cp manifest.json dist && cp -r images dist",
 ...
 }
}

Then, run the prebundle script:
```
npm run prebundle
```
Next, generate a Showpad package of your app by running the following command:
```
npx showpad apps bundle -s dist
```
This will generate the <your-app-key>.0.0.1.showpad file in your app's root folder.

7. Upload to Showpad

In your app's root folder, run the following command:

npx showpad apps upload <your-app-key>.0.0.1.showpad

8. Install App

Now is the moment you've been working for! It's time to install your app through the Admin App.

install

9. Test App

In Showpad

As soon as your app is installed, you should see the following enhancements in your Showpad instance:

A new Teams app in the Showpad Apps section of Admin Settings in the Admin App
A new Team Activities option when creating an Experience
A new My Team entry in users' Settings on the Showpad Web App

On Local Server

Admin Settings Extension

In your app's root folder, run the following command:

npm run dev admin-settings

You can then:

Open Admin Settings in the Admin App
Select Admin Settings Test from the Showpad Apps section
Click the </> button:
Input the URL of your local server to render it within the Showpad platform:

User Settings Extension

In your app's root folder, run the following command:

npm run dev user-settings

You can then:

Open Settings in the Web App
Select User Settings Test in the left menu
Click the </> button:
Input the URL of your local server to render it within the Showpad platform:

Experience Type Extension

In your app's root folder, run the following command:

npm run dev experience

You’ll then need to create an Experience from the Experience Type as described here: Install custom Showpad Apps

Once your Experience is published, you can:

Navigate to Experiences on the Web App
Select the Experience you’ve just created
Click the </> button:
Input the URL of your local server to render it within the Showpad platform:

Was this page helpful?

1. Initialize App​

Create App Folder​

Install NodeJS Dependencies​

Install Experience App SDK​

Install Showpad CLI​

Install Dependencies​

Login to Showpad​

Create Manifest​

Declare AppsDB stores​

2. Admin Settings Extension​

Declare Extension​

Create Extension Folder​

Create Index​

Create Script​

3. User Settings Extension​

Declare Extension​

Create Extension Folder​

Create Index​

Create Script​

4. Experience Type Extension​

Declare Extension​

Create Extension Folder​

Define Experience Config​

Create Index​

Create Script​

5. Build App​

6. Bundle App​

7. Upload to Showpad​

8. Install App​

9. Test App​

In Showpad​

On Local Server​

Admin Settings Extension​

User Settings Extension​

Experience Type Extension​

1. Initialize App

Create App Folder

Install NodeJS Dependencies

Install Experience App SDK

Install Showpad CLI

Install Dependencies

Login to Showpad

Create Manifest

Declare AppsDB stores

2. Admin Settings Extension

Declare Extension

Create Extension Folder

Create Index

Create Script

3. User Settings Extension

Declare Extension

Create Extension Folder

Create Index

Create Script

4. Experience Type Extension

Declare Extension

Create Extension Folder

Define Experience Config

Create Index

Create Script

5. Build App

6. Bundle App

7. Upload to Showpad

8. Install App

9. Test App

In Showpad

On Local Server

Admin Settings Extension

User Settings Extension

Experience Type Extension