Release 2: "Scheming Vizier" (Patreon)

After some serious time incubating, Alpha 2 is here! I made a video to walk through the features for you this, give it a watch. I'm also trying out Patreon's video post functionality for the first time.

This release is all about importing and managing data sources for your game components, focusing on Google Sheets. In reality, a lot of stuff changed behind the scenes as well to prepare for a fully serverless future.

Release Info

Release Name: Scheming Vizier

Release Series: Alpha 2

Release Date: October 14th

New Feature Overview:

• import Google Sheets by browsing or pasting a URL
• set/unset Component Sources
• one-click refresh of Component Sources

Publicly Available: Yes

Release Links:

• Paperize Alpha 2 
• Watch the tests run 
• Roadmap to Beta 

Details:

On the surface, this release is all about the spreadsheets. You can connect the Paperize application to your Google Sheets account and zap data straight into the tool, as well as refresh it with one click if you make changes. Please, if you've got spreadsheets, try it for yourself!

This is part of the core workflow I'm after, so I feel it is important to get it right. This release proves it is possible, which is good enough for Alpha. Things will get prettier and more usable later on, in Beta.

Beneath the surface of this release, a lot more got built than I anticipated. Here's the stats from the Pull Request for Vizier:

5500+ additions and 2900+ deletions is a lot of churn for such a small feature set! What else changed?

• add PouchDB for robust storage and, eventually, replication
• lots of file management/project layout changes
• better, more modular usage of Vue and Vuex
• replace Zurb Reveal modal with a Vue modal, add a Vue spinner
• remove Auth0
• remove Google Analytics (no more tracking!)
• remove Bill Murray dummy data :(
• repeatedly overhaul the tests

The Serverless Promise: it's coming true already. This is the first release that relies only on DNS, a static file server, and a spreadsheet source. There's no server backend, instead you bring your own backend in the form of your Google account and your Google Sheets.

This means that, hypothetically, if word gets out and everyone in the world tries to use Paperize at once, we actually stand a chance of servicing the load without breaking the bank or getting woken in the middle of the night.

Thank You

3 months in and things are heating up. The last few patrons have really shown up to support me in this effort, upping our average donation considerably. Thank you.

I'm off to plan the next release!