Understanding Your Live App

The Live App is your Knack application's user interface - think of it as a custom website where users interact with your data. You build this interface in the Pages section of the Builder using visual components called Elements.

Understanding Your Live App

  • What you'll learn:
    • What a Live App is and how it works
    • How to structure pages and Elements
    • Ways to manage navigation and user access

Pages and Elements Overview

Pages

Every Live App starts with a Home page, and you can add more pages to organize your application. Pages are containers that hold one or more Elements.

Elements

Elements are the building blocks of your Live App pages. They create interactive ways for users to work with your data, including:

  • Input Elements: Forms for adding and updating records
  • Display Elements:
    • Tables, Lists, Maps, and Calendars for viewing multiple records
    • Search interfaces for finding specific information
    • Details views for individual records
    • Reports for data summaries and analytics
  • Navigation Elements: Menus for moving between pages
  • Content Elements: Rich Text for static content like images and formatted text

Building Your Live App

Managing Pages

  1. Start with your Home page
  2. Add pages using the "+" button in the All Pages section
  3. Preview your work using:
    • Live data
    • Sample data
    • "Go to Live App" button

Adding Elements

  1. Click "Add Element" on your page
  2. Select an Element type
  3. Choose the data table to connect (except for Menu and Rich Text Elements)
  4. Customize the Element's settings

Creating Navigation

Build user-friendly navigation with:

  • Page menus for main navigation
  • Menu Elements for secondary navigation
  • Action links within Elements for record-specific actions

Advanced Features

Access Control

  • Enable user logins for secured access
  • Set page-level login requirements
  • Customize user permissions

Connected Records

  • Display related data across Elements
  • Show linked records automatically
  • Create dynamic relationships between different types of data

Pro Tip: Plan your page structure and navigation before building to create an intuitive user experience.

[Learn more about Pages →]

[Learn more about Elements →]

[Learn more about User Access →]