No-Code Templates and Tutorials (Part 1)

You can find a raft of step-by-step tutorials and customizable app templates on the Internet, which can make it much easier to create the app you need. Every so often we'll highlight one or two of these that we feel are particularly useful, beginning with this post covering Caspio's Patient Portal.

Caspio's Patient Portal provides a number of features for a medical clinic or doctor's office including:

• A registration form where new patients can sign up and create their login.
• The ability for existing patients to review their previous visits, update their profile and check on messages sent by the doctor.
• A section of the app where doctors can review patient visits, send messages to patients or other personnel and track patient health data like vital signs and blood pressure readings.

You can also add more features to the app, such as a calendar where doctors, nurses, and others can schedule patient appointments.

A major advantage of these no-code apps is that you can adapt them to suit your own situation. For example, a veterinary supply could make the patient portal a customer portal. Frequent customers could review past purchases, enter prescription information for their pets and check current news items on how to deal with certain medical conditions. In addition, customers might be able to submit questions to a veterinarian who works with the supply company or request an online visit with a veterinarian. 

In fact, Caspio's Patient Portal could be easily adapted to a number of situations. And anyone who decides to customize the app and is struggling to make the modifications they want can always ask for help from the platform experts and forum members.

You can find more information on how to build this app on YouTube and at:

https://www.caspio.com/apps/patient-portal/ 

Strong Growth Predicted for Low-Code Apps in 2021

 Gartner is predicting continued strong growth for low-code platforms this year, due at least in part to a surge in remote app development during the pandemic.

Testing No-Code Platforms by Building an Enhanced To-Do App

 When I started experimenting with building apps on no-code platforms I built basically the same app each time. I was managing a payroll services company a few years ago and we ended up at one point needing to produce a web-based payroll entry program. I had a lot of experience planning and creating that application, so I decided that I would go with what I knew and try building that same app on each platform. That gave me a pretty good idea of how each platform worked, but it also limited the number of features I made use of - and that's why I've decided to use a different approach in the future.

One of the first small projects I looked at was a simple to-do list on Bubble. I was about to move on when I saw that Bubble had added some suggestions at the end of the tutorial about what you could add to expand on and improve on the app (see: https://manual.bubble.io/learning-bubble/more-features-for-your-to-do-app). I think that approach should allow you pretty much test all the features available on a particular no-code platform.

This approach may or may not work for you, but if you're looking over several platforms this could help you compare them and give you an idea of what's possible with each one.

Try it Yourself To-Do List on Bubble

Go to this URL to try out a basic To-Do list created on Bubble.io:

 https://mastering-nocode-todo-list.bubbleapps.io/version-test?debug_mode=true 

Note: We will be adding more features soon...

Machine Learning with Google Sheets

Recently I published a book on Amazon about how to make use of no-code machine learning models: Mastering No-Code: No-Code AI Apps (Create Your Own Machine Learning Apps). Then a few days ago I realized I left out one of the most popular platforms that offers machine learning features - Google Sheets.

The "Explore" button (the star-shaped icon) in the lower right corner of Sheets is your key to unlocking the machine learning features in Google Sheets on the Web (Note: Explore is also available for iOS and Android versions of Googe Sheets). Using Explore lets you simply ask questions about your data rather than having to develop formulas to try to extract the information you want. For example, if you have a spreadsheet with fields for "Sales" and "Date of Sale" you could type "Total sales for February 2021" in the Answer box, hit Enter, and let Explore provide the answer.

There are also add-ons for Google Sheets, like the one from Aasaanai which lets you build, train, and use machine learning models inside Google Sheets without writing any code. Or the BigML add-on that allows you to integrate machine learning models on BigML with Google Sheets.

Considering the number of people who use Google Sheets every day, the ability to use machine learning with your Sheets is a major step forward and I'll post more about it in the future.

Protecting Your Data on a No-Code App Platform

Securing your data on a no-code (or low-code) platform should certainly be a part of the planning that goes into building an app. However, the first thing you need to decide is whether or not you want your data secured. If you're building a blog or sharing recipes privacy is probably not a problem. 

Even if you're dealing with data connected to your business, it may not require protection. For example, if you've built an app to handle employee leave requests and the database includes employee names, requested leave dates, whether or not the request has been approved or not, and how much time off the employee still has available, there's nothing really sensitive in there. If you add the employees' social security numbers though, then you need to secure that information.

Almost every no-code (and low-code) platform gives you the option of keeping your data private by forcing users to log in and out and by assigning "roles" to users and restricting their access based on their role. There are additional options though that can increase the security of your data. such as:

• Require a moderately complex password - more than 5 or 6 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters, one or more numbers, one or more special characters, etc.
• Set up 2-factor authentication - users have to provide a password plus some other means to prove their identity.
• Force users to change their password after a certain period of time - 60 days, 90 days, etc.
• Log users out automatically if they've been inactive for a certain period of time.

Most platforms offer these options, so if you have sensitive data in your app consider making use of one or more of these methods to help keep that information secure.

What's the Difference Between a Website and a Web App?

 

What is a "Website"?

Guru99:

A website is a group of globally accessible, interlinked web pages which have a single domain name. It can be developed and maintained by an individual, business or organization. The website aims to serve a variety of purposes. 

Essential Designs:

Websites, accessible through browsers, display useful content. They are navigable and can present digital content, images, video, and audio. Websites (vs web apps) are static, meaning the content doesn’t update dynamically. 

BrowserLondon.com Blog (Oliver Creswell 8/06/2020):

If users intend to simply access information or gain understanding, then you have a site. If they intend to accomplish some task that requires inputs and responses, then you have an app.

Website or Web App?

These explanations of how a website is different from a web app apply in general. The fact is though, there's no absolute difference between a website and a web app. I can pay for a membership on a no-code platform like Bubble, create an app with both static and dynamic pages, and add a custom domain name for that app. 

That means users can go to "www.myapp.com", read articles, news blurbs, healthcare tips or other information and also run an app that allows them to enter, update and chart their calorie intake. I think that's essentially a website - which means, yes, you can build yourself a website on a no-code app building platform. Apps and websites don't have to be two separate things.