Creating your first app with Creator Studio

Creator Studio helps you create your app by dividing it into smaller parts. Each does something special, and you work on them sequentially.

Summary:

After reading this section, you'll understand:

• The general workflow for building an app
• What goes into the idea for an app
• Who to ask for help

Let's give you a very high-level overview of what you will do in each part.

1. Let's get you started. Create your app in a few simple steps before you can start building it out. Find out more in Create an app in Creator Studio.
2. Or ask to work on someone else's app! If you see an app that you want to work on but don't have access to, you can request to get access to it. Or, you can ask your admin to create an app for you that you can then work on. Find out how in Ask to work on an app in Creator Studio or Ask an admin to create an app for you in Creator Studio.
3. Add a form to collect information. A form is where you gather information by asking questions, but first you have to add the form to the app. See Add a form to an app in Creator Studio for more information.
4. Ask for the info you need. Customize the default catalog template to ask for the specific information your fulfiller needs. How do you know what customizations to make? Ask yourself what info the fulfiller needs to fulfill a request. We'll show you how to add, subtract, and modify the form fields in Customize your form for an app in Creator Studio.
5. Make your forms available. Once your form is ready, publish it to make it accessible to requesters. The process is straightforward, and we'll walk you through it in Publish a form for your app in Creator Studio.
6. Specify the automatic actions that your forms trigger. You'll want your app to take some action when a requester submits or revises a form. For instance, a new request might trigger approval from a manager. Another action could be emailing the requester to confirm their request submission and provide them with a tracking number. Discover more automation possibilities in Working with automation in Creator Studio.
7. Customize the workspace fulfillers use. Creator Studio automatically creates a workspace category where fulfillers work on requests. The workspace is ready to use as-is, but you can tweak it to suit your needs. Find out how in Configuring workspace lists and records for form submissions.
8. Test your app to see if it's ready. Think your app is ready? Test it out to see your answers to form questions and automation results in the record your app generates. Get details in Test one of your forms for an app.
9. Get your app deployed to production. Once your app is spiffed up, tested, and ready to go, ask an admin to move it to a production environment for you so real users can begin using it to make requests. Find out how in Request deployment for your app from Creator Studio to production.

Use case:

Sam's job at the Example Company is to answer employee requests for office equipment. They've done this for years by receiving emails and keeping spreadsheets of requests, requesters, equipment, prices, dates, and fulfillments. Their company is growing, and the number of requests is now overwhelming. "I'm spending all my time reviewing requests instead of doing all the other parts of my job." They'd like to create an app that enables people to request office equipment, automatically sends an email confirmation of the request, stores the request, and enables them to fulfill or reject the request with the click of a button. They've never written a line of code in their life, but with Creator Studio, they can create the exact application they want.