App Structure Window: Expansion and Contraction *Only* When Clicking on Expand/Contact Arrow Icons

Feature Request
#1

Hello there @george and @Teodor…

I am using Wappler now to design and create a complex user interface structure for my app. I love the ability to move freely around the design using the App Structure panel, but as my design gets larger, I am finding the way the app structure is expanded and contracted automatically is significantly reducing my productivity.

It can take a lot of thought and time to open the App Structure to exactly the area you want to work on, and productivity can be lost if the user does not have complete control over what the window displays.

I am requesting an option in the App Structure window where the only user action which changes the expansion / contraction of the structure shown is to click on one of the expand/contract arrows.

as1

So in this example, I am asking that:

  1. Clicking on the arrow “expand” icon expands the Column, showing the items contained within.

  2. Clicking the text “Column c_nav_words” does not expand the column, but just shows the properties window for the element.

  3. Similar to (2), that if I click on the element in Design View, the properties window for that item is displayed, but the App Structure view is not changed.

This feature request is also asking that the App Structure shown is not changed by:

  • Deleting an element
  • Saving the app when in code view
  • Moving an item

All of which change the structure shown at the moment.

The way I describe is how the App Structure window works in Bubble, and I find it much more productive and pleasing to use than the way the Wappler App Structure window currently works.

I hope that all makes sense!

Best wishes,

Antony.

PS - Another useful addition to this way of working would be that [ctrl]-click in Design View opened the App Structure to the item clicked on, whereas a simple click did not.

My Top-30 flow killers in Wappler. What would be yours?
#2

This would save a serious amount of time!!!

1 Like
#3

I agree that not having control of what you see in App Structure reduces productivity.

In many cases I just need to see row/column properties and don’t want it to expand/collapse and mess my App Structure state.

So I vote for this request in general, but with some notes:

  1. I think just an arrow would not be enough option for expanding/collapsing the node. So it must be an option to double click the node to expand/collapse it.
  2. UI/UX consistency between all node trees throughout Wappler should remain. I mean, if there is a change in App Structure, it should also be changed in Flows, Server Actions etc.
  3. UI/UX consistency between expanding and collapsing should remain too. I mean, “single click for select/properties; double click for expanding/collapsing” should work similarly when node is collapsed and when expanded.
  4. When implementing this FR, it is needed to go under the experimental features first. To test everything in practice.

Among all the requests I am rooting for, this one of the most trickiest. I feel it requires additional research and comparisons with other apps.

But how it works now in Wappler is definitely not fully comfortable.