Major Infrastructure Upgrade 🚀

Squibler is now powered by Kubernetes!

We’ve made a major architectural upgrade by moving Squibler from Google App Engine to Kubernetes. This upgrade brings:

✅ Better Performance – Faster response times even during high-traffic hours.
✅ More Reliability – No more 5xx server errors due to heavy usage spikes.
✅ Scalability – Squibler can now handle many more user requests at the same time.

This means you can write, generate books, and collaborate smoothly without disruptions, even during peak usage!

• Better Handling of Errors in Invitations & Alerts: Fixed an issue where alerts and invitations were sometimes failing due to missing profile or email data. Now, users should experience smoother collaboration without invitation failures.
• Project List Issue Resolved: Some users reported errors when trying to access projects that no longer existed. We’ve fixed this so that project lists now load correctly without unexpected errors.
• Improved Navigation & Error Handling
  • Broken URLs now properly redirect to the 404 page, instead of showing a blank white screen.
  • If you enter an incorrect or non-existent Squibler page, you’ll now see a helpful 404 error message, making it easier to navigate back to the right place.

• Static Error Pages for Better User Experience: Introduced dedicated static error pages for 5xx and 4xx errors, ensuring users get informative messages instead of generic error screens.
• Updated Terms of Service: Squibler’s Terms of Service have been updated to address recent user concerns and clarify platform policies.
• Sequential Book Generation for Higher-Quality AI Books: Major improvements in AI-generated books using Celery and Firebase:
  • Implemented a sequential book generation approach that enhances structure and coherence.
  • Replaced onboarding book generation’s blocking call with Firebase and Celery, significantly improving speed and responsiveness.
  • Added logfire tracing for PostgreSQL and SQLite3 (for local testing), improving tracking and debugging.
• Performance Monitoring & Debugging Enhancements: 
  • Integrated Graphene middleware for more efficient performance monitoring of Squibler’s backend services.
  • Sentry added for frontend tracking, helping detect and resolve production issues more effectively.
• SEO & Performance Optimization: Improved Core Web Vitals for better page load speeds and SEO rankings:
  • Serving images in modern formats like .webp to reduce file size and improve loading speeds.
  • Lazy loading images, ensuring faster initial page rendering.
  • Removed unused CSS rulesets, streamlining website performance.

• Signup Flow Fixes: If an outline title is missing during signup, it now defaults to "Untitled Project" instead of being blank.
• General UI & Website Fixes
  • Fixed the About Us page link issue to ensure correct navigation.
  • URLs on the main site (excluding the blog) now correctly handle trailing slashes, working both with and without them.
  • Resolved pricing description visibility issues, ensuring accurate and clear differentiation between annual and monthly plans.
• Book Generation & Logging Enhancements
  • Improved logfire.span usage for book generation, leading to better event logging and debugging.
  • Fixed errors related to deleting or updating documents that don’t exist, preventing unnecessary system crashes.
• Character Generator Fix: Removed the default "male" keyword in prompts, ensuring gender-neutral character generation when no gender is specified.
• Event Sorting Fix: Resolved an issue where events on the Squibler events page were not sorting correctly, improving chronological organization.

• New Book Proposal Step for Onboarding: Before jumping into full book generation, users can now go through a Book Proposal step. This applies to Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Screenplay generation. It helps refine the initial idea and structure before the final output, providing a better sense of how the story will shape up.
• Improved Readability for Project, Folder & File Titles: Now, hovering over project, folder, and file names will display tooltips showing the full title, making navigation easier.
• Enhanced Import Functionality
  • Imported documents now retain their original formatting, including fonts, headings, and bullet points.
  • Images in imported documents are now placed correctly while maintaining their original quality and size.
• Improved AI Book Generation & Storytelling Flow
  • Landing Page Enhancements: The AI Book Generator and AI Story Generator now provide a more seamless transition from idea generation to full-length book creation.
  • Users can now generate a full-length book without getting redirected to onboarding options unnecessarily.

• UI Fixes Across the Platform
  • Fixed an issue where AI Content Generator and AI Text Generator button loaders were not showing on click.
  • Night Mode Fix: Resolved a UI issue in the Share Model feature.
  • Find and Replace: Complete UI overhaul to ensure smooth functionality.
  • Fixed misalignment in the Generate Full-Length Book button when using Book Outline Selection.
  • New Footer Design: Resolved alignment issues for better presentation.
  • Split Mode Fixes:
    • Icons overlapping the screen are now properly spaced.
    • Nested files and folders now correctly appear in Split Mode.
  • Screenplay Mode Fixes:
    • Pressing "Enter" no longer scrolls the page to the bottom.
    • Fixed cover image issue in Trash > Screenplay Template.
  • Mobile & Responsive UI Fixes:
    • On Microsoft Edge, the active radio button color is now correctly displayed.
    • Tabs in Mobile Lite Mode were not center-aligned, and the blue selection line was missing.
    • Switching from mobile to desktop mode no longer keeps the mobile layout active.
    • Front Matter and Back Matter sections now correctly display bold formatting in mobile view.
    • Pricing Model UI now displays correctly in Inspect Mode.
    • Fixed responsiveness issues for testimonials on both laptops (1024×365 resolution) and mobile views.
• File & Folder Management Fixes
  • Empty Trash now properly deletes multiple files instead of only one at a time.
  • Free Plan Folder View Fix: When a user has more than 15 files, folders were incorrectly editable when switching between files and folders. Now, folders remain non-editable as expected.
  • Drag & Drop Fix: Users can now successfully drag and drop files without folders disappearing.
• Onboarding & Book Generation Fixes
  • After signing up, book progress no longer gets stuck at 96% before restarting from 12%.
  • Book proposal and outline generation now display correctly on AI landing pages.
  • Fixed an issue where selecting a genre in the AI Story Generator was not redirecting users to the relevant page.
  • Importing documents now retains the original chapter structure instead of rearranging sections.
• Editor & Writing Fixes
  • Version History Fix: Fixed occasional data loss by implementing lazy loading and backend improvements for image detection, compression, and storage.
  • Manuscript Generation & Book Proposal Fix: Resolved "articulation failed" errors by updating AI parameters and prompt handling.
  • Token Limit Issues:
    • Validation messages now appear when exceeding token limits.
    • Smart Writer Tab Scrolling Fix: After entering a long description and clearing the field, the field now properly resets to default, and users can scroll as expected.
• Backend & System Enhancements
  • Payment Flow Fix: Clicking "Upgrade" after using the back button on the payment page no longer creates unintended projects.
  • Updated Moderation System: OpenAI moderation code has been refined to prevent unnecessary content blocks.
  • Fixed AI Safety Filter Issue: Modified the AI prompt approach to prevent errors where responses were blocked by safety filters.
  • Added Functionality for User Whitelist: Some users can now be added to a whitelist for specific AI features.

• New Mobile Lite Version for Book Reading: Introduced a Mobile Lite version that allows users to read through their generated book during onboarding. Previously, this feature was disabled on mobile devices. Now, users can seamlessly preview their book before proceeding further.

• UI Updates on Landing Pages
  • Reset scroll height when all data is cleared to improve user experience.
  • Fixed the issue with adding any genre option in the Title Generator and Story Generator pages.
  • Improved dropdown navigation for better usability on the Title Generator landing page.
• General UI & SEO Fixes
  • Updated the About Us page with refreshed content and layout improvements.
  • Fixed a minor SEO issue by ensuring alt text is properly added to images for better accessibility and search optimization.
• AI & Moderation Code Improvements
  • Refactored OpenAI moderation code to enhance performance and prevent misclassifications.
  • Updated robots.txt file to correctly restrict access where necessary while allowing proper indexing of landing pages.
• Testing & Integration Enhancements: Removed static Cypress URLs and integrated Slack notifications for Cypress test reports, improving test monitoring and reporting.
• AI Toolkit Enhancements: Improved AI Toolkit functionality in Book Title Generator landing pages for smoother performance and better results.
• Mobile Lite & Responsiveness Fixes: 
  • On Microsoft Edge, tabs were not center-aligned, and a blue underline was appearing under selected tabs.
  • The Dashboard Book Processing status was not showing correctly after the first-time signup with book generation.
  • Switching from mobile to desktop view was retaining the mobile version even after a reload.
  • Bold formatting for Front Matter and Back Matter sections was not appearing in mobile view.
  • Pricing model UI was misaligned in inspect mode; now properly functional.
• Email & Signup Fixes
  • Resolved the duplicate email issue for signups.
  • Desktop email link is now correctly enabled for Mobile users.

• Automated Test Scripts for AI Book & Screenplay Generation: Introduced automated test suites to ensure ongoing quality and accuracy in AI-driven content generation for books and screenplays.
• Smart Writer Scroll Enhancement: Fixed a display issue where scrolling to the far right caused text to disappear. Now, users can scroll without losing sight of their writing.
• AI Model Updates Across the Product: Upgraded AI models on existing landing pages and the custom rewrite use-case, enhancing the relevance and creativity of AI-generated content.
• Landing Page Improvements: Streamlined the landing pages for the AI Book Idea Generator and AI Story Generator, ensuring all available options work seamlessly and improving the user journey.
• Image Generation Model Upgrades: Refined elements related to image generation, producing higher-quality visuals and more accurate results based on user prompts.
• Re-Generate Responses on AI Landing Pages: Added the ability to quickly re-generate AI responses from all AI landing pages, giving users more flexibility in refining their content.
• Twelve New Landing Pages: 
  • Expanded creative possibilities with dedicated landing pages for the following Book Title Generators – Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Poetry, Comic, Mystery, Dystopian, Dragon, Children, Western, Nonfiction.
  • Each landing page is tailored to its genre, offering targeted tools and prompts.
• Updated Testimonials: Incorporated the latest customer feedback into all landing pages, showcasing real-world success stories and reinforcing user trust.

• Sidebar Visibility in Corkboard/Editor View: Fixed an issue where hiding the right sidebar in the Corkboard view and then switching to the Editor mode caused the sidebar to remain hidden unintentionally. Now, the sidebar’s visibility accurately reflects user preferences across views.
• Settings Cog Icon Alignment: Corrected alignment issues with the settings cog icon in the Dashboard, Editor, and Settings pages for a cleaner and more consistent interface.
• Settings Page Scroll Position: Ensured that the Settings page loads from the top by default, preventing the page from jumping to lower sections on initial load.
• Updated Email Sequence: Improved email sequences for new users, particularly those onboarding via draft uploads and those starting a script/screenplay, ensuring timely and relevant communications.
• Minor UI Adjustments: Made small rearrangements to footer items for better visual balance and improved user navigation.
• Production Error Logs: Addressed multiple production errors that surfaced in logs, including:
  • InvalidRequestError: “Model’s maximum context length exceeded.”
  • AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'id' in export_file function.
  • IndexError: “list index out of range” in resolve_ai_create_outline.
  • ValueError: “Response has no candidates…” likely blocked by safety filters.
  • TypeError: “not all arguments converted during string formatting” in .getMessage.
  • Exception: “The prompt length must be shorter than 2000 words” in resolve_ai_text_to_image.

• Enhanced Image Generation Quality: We've significantly improved the quality of image generation with the new AI Visualize functionality. Users can now select unlimited text for visualization and have greater control over output styles, aspect ratios, and more customization options.
• Optimized Onboarding Experience: New users signing up for the first time can now access upfront discounts on the annual plan during the onboarding process, making it easier to get started with premium features.
• Full-Length Screenplay Generation: Responding to user requests, we’ve added the ability to generate full-length screenplays. Simply provide an idea, choose the desired length, and within minutes, a complete screenplay will be ready to review and refine.

• Word Counter Accuracy: The word counter now correctly sums up word counts for folders and entire projects, ensuring accurate counts across all child files.
• Smart Editor Improvements: Resolved text overflow issues in the description field and fixed UI inconsistencies in the split mode view and element attribute editing.
• Event Page Navigation Fixes: Fixed bugs in the event page navigation, ensuring smooth redirection when using the browser back button or clicking the logo. These actions now reliably lead to the intended destination without unintended project creation.
• Screenplay Onboarding Fixes: Addressed issues where elements and book cover images were not displaying for screenplay users during onboarding. Older cover images for existing users have also been corrected for consistency.
• Promo Code Application: Improved promo code validation by disabling conflicting actions during application, ensuring a seamless and error-free user experience.
• Element Management Fixes: Resolved errors with adding, editing, and listing elements in dropdowns and folders. Issues like the "NonType Object" error and cross-button design inconsistencies have been fixed.
• Project Management Enhancements: Fixed problems with multiple read-only projects being created, enabled proper scrolling to view all projects, and addressed visibility issues in template dropdowns.
• UI & Accessibility Updates: Improved onboarding tour functionality in the AI Script Generator, refined UI for folder views, and ensured proper rendering of elements in guided writing mode.
• Cover Image Consistency: Fixed issues where outdated book cover images were displayed for mobile and existing users, ensuring cover images match user content.
• Backend Improvements: Updated sitemaps and robots.txt for better SEO, expanded backend test coverage for stability, and fixed Stripe related issues during pro-plan users.

• Events Page: We’ve launched a new events page that showcases all upcoming live events and provides on-demand access to past events. Users can now register for live sessions and revisit previous events focused on various writing topics.
• Enhanced Mobile Onboarding: The onboarding experience, especially book previews for the AI Book Generator, is now optimized for mobile devices to improve usability for mobile users.
• Removal of Book Progress Card in Editor: To reduce distractions, we’ve removed the manuscript generation progress loader from the editor; it is now only visible on the dashboard.
• AI-Generated Book Covers During Onboarding: AI-generated book covers are now featured in the AI Book Generator onboarding, creating covers more aligned with each user's unique story idea.
• Project Status Indicator on Dashboard: Projects in progress now display a status field in the dashboard project list, allowing users to easily track active generation.

• Responsive & UI Improvements: Fixed alignment issues for buttons in the Novel and Book Idea Generators, improved responsiveness for the Thesis Statement Generator, and corrected text overlap on the Book Preview page.
• Element Tab Adjustments: Disabled certain insertion options after login to prevent unintended actions and improved element display on mobile and after signup.
• Project Management Fixes: Resolved issues with the Trash Delete function to prevent deleted projects from reappearing, fixed project counter inaccuracies for free plans, and restored consistent restore functionality after permanent deletion.
• Editor & Account Settings Fixes: Resolved blurring in the editor upon upgrading to Pro, improved navigation in onboarding and pricing screens, and fixed cover image display inconsistencies.
• Template & Element Dropdown Improvements: Corrected element dropdown visibility in Write Guided mode and prevented nickname entries beyond character limits. Validation messages now clear correctly when nicknames are removed.
• Book Preview Page Responsiveness: Fixed recurring responsiveness issues, ensuring consistent display across different stages.
• Cursor Interaction Update: Updated cursor behavior to change only on button hover, enhancing the visual feedback for users.
• Redirection in Book Generators: Fixed the AI Novel Generator’s error redirection, keeping users on the same page instead of redirecting to other generator pages.
• Conversion Flow for Free to Pro: Verified and resolved issues in converting from free to pro, ensuring smooth access to project creation and templates post-upgrade.
• Script/Screenplay Generator UI Fixes: Addressed UI inconsistencies in the AI Script Generator, especially with cover images on the onboarding and pricing screens, and ensured screenplay-specific covers display for screenplay users.
• Updated URL Structure for SEO: Improved SEO by updating the generator page URL structure to enhance search engine visibility.
• Screenplay Import Fixes: Corrected alignment issues in the AI Script Writer so that the screenplay title centers properly, and the correct cover image displays on re-imports.
• Free Plan Export Permissions: Ensured that PDF export is available to free users consistently across both the dashboard and editor.
• Payment Modal Display Fix: Prevented multiple instances of the payment modal from opening when navigating between account settings and upgrade options.

• AI Outline: We are thrilled to introduce the AI Outline feature, a powerful new tool designed to help users create structured outlines for books, novels, scripts, screenplays, and short stories effortlessly. By providing a brief description of your story, our AI will generate a comprehensive outline tailored to your needs. This feature is currently available during onboarding and will soon be integrated into the main product for broader use, enhancing your creative process from the very start.
• New Onboarding Experience: We've completely revamped our onboarding process with a fresh UX design that showcases the value of Squibler even before you sign up. The new onboarding flow allows users to experience a preview of their story or script and complete a signup questionnaire, all without needing to input an email upfront. This seamless introduction to Squibler ensures users can immediately appreciate the platform's capabilities.
• Community Pages Automation: Added Cypress automation testing scripts for the Squibler community pages, ensuring smoother and more reliable performance for our user-driven spaces.

• Nested Folder Deletion Issue in List View: Fixed an issue where deleting a nested folder in list view was not reflected, with the deleted items still appearing even after reloading the page. This is now resolved, and the list view accurately updates upon deletion.
• Multiple Bugs with Smart Writer:
  • Text Disappearance During Processing: Resolved an issue where selected text would disappear if the backspace key was pressed during AI processing, with the request continuing despite the error. Users are now prevented from removing text while a request is processing, ensuring a smoother workflow.
  • Screen Switching During Request Processing: Addressed a problem where users could switch to other screens (footnotes, summary, research, comments) during AI response processing, disrupting the process. Screen switching is now disabled while AI-generated responses are loading.
  • CTA Button State Issue: Fixed the issue where the Call to Action (CTA) button remained enabled incorrectly after switching between screens. The button will now correctly reflect its active or disabled state based on the context.
• Undo and Redo Functionality Issues:
  • Data Disappearance with "Undo": Corrected a bug where using the "Undo" action after creating a new project or opening an existing one caused the entire data of the first file to disappear. "Undo" will now only reverse the last action without affecting the file's data.
  • Undo/Redo with External Data: Fixed issues where the "Undo" and "Redo" functionalities did not work properly with data copied from external sources. These actions now function seamlessly across all data types, ensuring consistent user experience.

• Export Functionality Improvements:
  • Enhanced export styling to support screenplay and script formatting.
  • Migrated document conversion processes to a Compute Engine VM instance, utilizing an NGINX server for improved performance.
• Tool-tip Updates for Blank Templates: Introduced a new onboarding flow with tooltips for users who sign up with blank templates, enhancing the editor's guidance.

• Corrected Email Sequence: Fixed the welcome email sequence; the 5th email on the "Visualize Functionality" was incorrectly sent before the 1st email on "Write Functionality."
• Pricing Model Title Update: Updated the pricing model title for AI elements image generation to "Generate unlimited visuals with Squibler Pro" instead of "Write credits limit."
• Subscription Cancellation Email: Addressed an issue where users were not receiving the subscription cancellation email.
• Cursor Position Issue: Fixed a cursor positioning issue that occurred in projects loaded from templates and when copying data from other sources into the editor.
• Resolved multiple UI issues including:
  • Project icon highlight issues when creating a new draft or opening an existing project.
  • Improved document import modal in night mode.
  • Fixed cover image display issues in project trash.
  • Corrected grid view book cover image display in the "All Projects" section.
  • Enhanced the Technical Verification Status flag readability by adjusting the contrast between the background and text colors.
• Multiple Project Creation in Split Mode: Fixed an issue where multiple projects were unintentionally created when creating a new file in Split Mode.
• Empty Folder Display in Split Mode: Corrected an issue where an empty folder was displayed with a grey screen when Split Mode was enabled.
• Text Alignment Issue: Resolved a problem where text alignment options from the menu bar were not functioning correctly.

• On-boarding Video Enhancements: Resolved an issue where all users were seeing onboarding videos for screenwriters, regardless of their chosen template. Different onboarding videos have been added for specific customer segments (e.g., book writers, screenplay writers).
• Prompt Re-Engineering for AI Visualize: Improved accuracy for AI visualization generation. Previously,responses with multiple characters and descriptions might have shown mixed-up character traits. This update ensures descriptions are incorporated correctly for each character.
• AI Visualize Credit UX Enhancements: Added a separate counter to track remaining AI visualization credits.
• Zoom Enhancements: Added phone number input for sending text message notifications for scheduled sessions.
• AI Generator Pages Enhancement: Improved functionalities within the AI Generator pages.
• New Pages: Added Careers and Affiliate Marketing pages to the platform.

• Trial Email: Fixed an issue where the second reminder email to cancel trials was not being sent 24 hours before the end of the period.
• Zoom Event Scheduling: Resolved an issue where clicking "skip" on a scheduled Zoom event email resulted in unintended behavior.
• Zoom Event Emails: Usernames are now split into first and last names for improved clarity in Zoom event emails.
• Subscription Downgrade: Addressed issues related to subscription downgrades and end dates for improved subscription management.
• Editor Performance: Improved performance when adding multiple files (over 15-20) to a project. This update resolves the issue where some files became uneditable.
• Tooltip and Editor Formatting: Fixed issues with AI tooltip selection and persistence within the editor. Tooltips should now accurately reflect the chosen AI use case.
• Unsaved Changes: Improved user experience (UX) for handling unsaved changes in the editor. Users will no longer see constant alerts when attempting to navigate away from the editor screen.
• Smart Writer: Disabled Smart Writer functionality when a project is read-only.
• Element Renaming: Resolved an issue where renaming elements within the editor converted them to plain text.
• Element Spacing: Fixed an issue where inserting elements added unnecessary indentation.

• Pro Plan Trial: Introduced a 3-day trial period for the Pro plan, allowing users to experience its features before committing to a subscription.
• Smart Writer:
  • Updated Description field placeholders to provide clearer guidance on feature use.
  • Enhanced Smartwriter Write, Generate Scene, and Ask Me Anything features with additional input parameters for user control over outputs (e.g., dialog balance, creativity).
  • Increased context input for AI Smartwriter Write from 500 words to 200,000 words, enabling generation of higher quality responses.
  • Implemented negative prompts for AI visualization.
• Pricing Modal: Revamped design layout and copy for the Pricing Modal to better reflect the 3-day trial plan and improve user experience.
• Trial Email Scheduling: Implemented two emails – one to notify users about their Pro plan trial start and another as a reminder before the trial ends and billing begins.
• Discount Coupons: Added a discount/promo code option at checkout to attract new customers and partners.

• Goals Feature:
  • Updated calculation for File/Daily Goals for AI Generated Content and copy/paste functionality.
  • Fixed issues where Goals value would reset to 0.
  • Resolved text selection issues for tooltips within the Goals feature.
• Smart Writer:
  • Improved overall AI functionalities to deliver better results.
  • Added the ability to provide the entire project as context for AI writing.
  • Implemented negative prompts for AI visualization.
• Fixed an issue where Community app responses were not loading.
• Elements:
  • Resolved issues where element groups weren't accessible within the editor.
  • Fixed the functionality of the disable checkbox for custom elements and settings.
  • Addressed a bug where element color would default to black and not allow changes.
• Landing Page Updates: Revamped landing pages to reflect recent product changes.

Introduced new skeletal loaders

We have redesigned the skeletal loaders with the best UX practices in mind to improve the overall user experience of the product. The new skeletal loader will be displayed when opening the editor.

Improved the "open project" modal in the editor

We have made several improvements and bug fixes to the "open project" modal in the editor, including:

• All projects now show up in the modal
• The scroll bar is no longer hidden below the list
• Grid and list items now have margin around them

Fixed issues with the password update field under the profile

We have resolved several issues that were encountered when users tried to update their password through the account settings page, including:

• The placeholder now disappears when clicked instead of when typing begins
• Saving and profile updates will only occur if both fields are filled in
• An incorrect message was displayed for an incorrect current password, which has been fixed

Fixed split mode issues

The split mode was not functioning properly, particularly in vertical split mode where the screen was getting cropped on one half of the screen. This issue has been fixed.

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Engineering Improvements

Removed frontend code debt

The Angular version is upgraded to the latest version i.e V14

Optimized database query insights

We have made optimizations to improve the performance of database queries.

Microsoft word Image issue on Importing document

While importing a .docx file, the images aren't uploaded to the Squibler Editor. The issue has been fixed with the following limitations - 

• It will not properly parse all paragraphs and may miss a few lines of text during parsing
• It will not retain the same font styling
• It will not format the lists created project created in Docx
• It will not import charts and tables

Label change

The following label has been changed from Rename to Rename Project.

Changed the graphql endpoint

Currently, the default graphql endpoint, i.e /graphql is in use, which is not good in terms of security purposes, so it has been changed to a non-default one.

Editor UX improvements

The Cut, Copy and Delete options under the edit menu are disabled when no text in the editor has been selected.

Rename under file menu not working

Renamed the label from Rename to Rename project to help users understand what it would exactly rename and Made the project label editable after clicking on it.

Multiple UI bugs on the Home page

• Contents under Owner and Shared with fields are overlapping with smaller-sized screens.
• The gap between the Owner and Shared with fields is not non-uniform on larger screen sizes.
• Tile and list view icons overlap on the home page with smaller-sized screens.
• Broken UI on the Home page if the Project Title is too long

UX improvement with the Elements

Removed the Editor, Board, and List view with the Elements window

Redirect to login page after session expiry

Currently, after the session expiry, the dashboard is visible with an empty list of projects, and the user cannot create and load Projects. To fix that, users would now be redirected to the login page in such a scenario.

Pagination issue with List view

The last item in the list would be partially hidden

Unresponsive Open Project modal

When user clicks on the Open project under File in an editor window, a modal pops up, which is non-functional and unresponsive. The cross doesn't close the modal, there is no way to close this modal, and no projects are being displayed.

New Elements

The new Elements is a completely redesigned features of the older version. Some of the major changes included are -

• Arranging elements into different groups to help create organizational charts and hierarchies
• Deletion of Element groups and individual elements
• Ability to restore deleted elements or groups from the trash
• Redesign sidebar for elements
• Improve elements loader

Login UX improvement

• Users can now `return key` to perform the same operation as clicking on `Continue with email` or `Login`. As there is just one CTA on each screen.
• The `Continue with email` button was unresponsive with blank input instead of showing any error message
• Username and password data were being sent to the backend for validation even with a blank password instead of showing error before clicking on `Log in`

Irresponsive project trash

When there are multiple projects in the trash, it would load very slowly or even it times it would freeze the application. It was found that it was happening because all of the items are being loaded at once. Pagination with infinite scroll has been implemented to resolve this issue.

Removed dotted lines from file

Having the dotted lines in the folder makes sense to separate files but it wasn’t making much sense in files.

Issues with clone projects

Cloned projects are getting added to the bottom of the list. If the list is too long users wouldn't even know that the clone has been created or not. Along with that contents and other relevant details such as owner name, last modified are being missed out. It now gets added on top along with fixes for the other bugs

Code debt removal

• Deprecated DIrective, Components, Pipes, and Services
• Cross-browser CSS support

Editor Issues:

• Restructuring according to flow,(In return we can be ready to take on future bugs on shorter notice due to well-organized data flow)

Performance improvements

The increase in performance can be seen in the following - 

• Dashboard -  On Loading the Project list (dashboard performance)
• Opening existing projects / creating new projects
• Project exports
• Folders - Open Saved Writing
• Starred projects
• Adding templates
• Editor specific  scenarios: 
  • Increased number of folders
  • Nested folders
  • Sub - Nested Folders:  Add new folders and files and loader pop-up time has been decreased

Note: Application Performance is inversely varying with the  User Data - App Performance Decrease as User Data Increases

New files and folders placed towards the end of the list

Previously when creating new files and folder creation is was getting added non-uniformly at any places. Sometimes on the top, or in-between files or even towards the end. Now considering the best UX practices and to maintain the uniformity new items would be placed towards the end

Safari compatibility issue for right side bar

Here are some UI issue in the right side bar from the editor window which were occurring only in the Safari browser

• Formating tool icons above the sidebar were getting hidden
• Additional navigation icons were getting displayed unintentionally in the right sidebar tab area without any functionality

Both of these issues has been fixed

Automatic creation of new projects

When users create new draft or open any project, multiple new projects were created automatically and was getting populated in the dashboard. This issue has been fixed

UI bug with the folder view

When a folder contains little to no contents within it, the editable page area was getting cropped off. It has been now fixed and covers the whole height

Editor UI bug in dark mode

When switching from day mode to night mode while in a folder view, the consecutive files were getting milaligned.

Font size mis-match

In Squibler the font size appears tiny despite having similar font style and size as compared to any other editor. This issue has been fixed and now the font sizes are comparable to any other writing product

Engineering Improvements

Removed irrelevant event trackers

There are too many segment events that are triggered falsely or inaccurately. It was contributing hugely to the amount of bad data being collected. Along with that being mindful of users privacy, kept only the ones that are absolute necessity for our Product’s sucess

Created UI/UX Testing checklist

Keeping design team in loop, the checklist has been made to improve the quality of deliverables in the coming days.

Highlighted project title

Previously when the project was selected, which provided a preview of the entire contents, there was no feedback provided to the users to help them understand whether it has been selected or not. Hence, upon selecting, it would now get highlighted.

New files/folders created towards the end

When creating a new file/folder, it was getting created intermittently both towards the end of the list and at the beginning or in between. Considering the best UX practices and maintaining consistency, we decided to place new items towards the end.

Removed phrase "Recent Project" from the dashboard

We used to see the phrase "Recent project" every time we loaded the dashboard. But it disappeared as soon as the page was fully loaded. 

Deprecated version history

The current version of version history is broken and deletes user data upon creating a new version. We have a new version of this feature coming up soon, and hence it will remain deprecated until then.

Production issue: KeyError: 'section_id'

Traceback (most recent call last): File "/srv/apps/projects_app/schema.py", line 335, in mutate if kwargs and kwargs['section_id']: KeyError: 'section_id' 

Homepage redesign

Redesign of the homepage to accommodate all the latest happenings around the product. Eliminated all of the prior UX flaws that were present in it.

New Login Flow

A new flow for the login has been implemented keeping in mind about the best UX practices

Editable folders

Users can edit contents of a file present in a folder right from it without directly directly going into the file.

Fixes around elements

After adding an element, category group was not getting collapsed it remained opened

Fixes around project opening

There was an issue, occurring intermittently, where users were getting a blank editor screen when opening any saved projects from the home page

Engineering Improvements

Added fixtures for users

During Squibler project setup on local machine, developers need to create a squibler account manually and then enter card details, we can automate this process using Django fixtures, hence created a fixture for users

Instrumented new events

The following events have been intrumented to track usage which was not done previously -

• Split screen
• Editor trash
• Edit label
• Mode mode
• Export
• List, etc.

UX improvements around the editor

• Incorrect hover effect for 3 dots and plus icon for the files/folder
• Incorrect folder view containing files with blank or less content
• On reloading or after creating a project, the active cursor appears over the project title instead of the editor
• Issues around the split screen
• Fixes for smaller screens

Removed cover page

Offsetting this feature by creating a feature flag around it. Future plans to make any page a cover page. 

UI fixes around the corkboard

• UI issue of long string Title
• Fixed long string error on Corkboard Titles
• Making summary editable from Corkboard and right sidebar simultaneously
• Simultaneous updation of summary on both right sidebar and corkboard irrespective of where it’s been done
• Space issue between Corkboards
• Left aligning of the corkboards instead of center align

UI fixes around editable file label

• Non-uniform naming conventions for newly created file/folder or project
• Prevent User entering leading white space in filename/folder and project name
• The filename should remain there when editing a project or filename
• When editing a folder name, the padding between icon and label was disturbed

Other bug fixes and UX improvements

• Fixing production incident
• Multiple issues with story elements
• Multiple minor issues around export functionality
• Fixes around update file/folder/project label

Editable corkboard

The corkboard gives an overview of the contents along with their summary. The summary was view-only. To edit it users must go to the summary section in the right sidebar corresponding to that corkboard to make the edits. But now, users can directly edit from the corkboard.

A new way to update file/folder/project label

UX Improvements around the label updation by making the title editable instead of a modal.

Export functionality not working

When users try to export projects either in pdf or Docx, it downloads empty files instead of their content in it.

Right sidebar disappearing

When one clicks on split editor/screen, the right sidebar disappears.

Login from Gmail is not working

A user reported this issue in particular. After a successful subscription, the user cannot log in from Gmail.

Element settings display all available types

In element settings, esp. for the color change, all the possible element types were shown, which should not be happening. Only the relevant ones are to be shown.

Multiple bug fixes and UX improvements

• Uniform spacing between files/folder tree in the editor
• Dark mode fixes around the files/folder tree 
• Improvements in empty state design for a folder

Export user data

Users can request their data, even after canceling their subscription and we can export it for them in docx format.

Created new scroll-less menus

It will enable users to find tools and features that were otherwise hidden at first glance under different menus and improve the overall UX

R&D for the upcoming features

Multiple bug fixes from elements 

• Users cannot add more than one custom element type with the same name.
• Users could not select an Element from the suggestions dropdown in the editor window.
• Empty element groups are formed based on the pre-existing element types when creating a new draft instead of having a blank element tab.
• All available element types appear under element settings (color change) instead of showing the ones that are only being used.

Scroll not working after merging changes from new folder structure

Import with existing font

Fonts change when previous work is imported or is copy pasted from other sources

User Issues

Multiple users reported a loss of their data from the editor. This issue has been investigated to find its root cause and has been fixed to recover the user data and place them right where it belongs.

Engineering Improvements

New files and folders structure

The new files and folder structure has been implemented keeping in mind the wide variety of users that can use Squiber, ranging from technical writers to screenplay writers and everything in between. Using this new structure users can create an unlimited hierarchy of files and folders to create a wide range of documents and organize their work in an efficient way.

Trash functionality within the editor

A hugely requested feature from our users! Users can now finally delete and recover individual files or folders directly from the editor. In our earlier versions users could only delete and recover the projects from the dashboard.

R&D for the upcoming features

Updated list view

Here's a little preview of the updated List feature that is going to come soon. These updates will improve on the project management side of squiber for teams.

Summary of file/folder not appearing in the Board View has been fixed and changed to accommodate the new files and folder structure

The issue when some text is copy pasted the cursor jumps to the start of the page has been fixed

Ex. Suppose we are writing the Book and are on the 20th page of a file, when some text is copied from another source and pasted, suddenly the page jumps to the start point. We have to scroll to the 20th page manually to continue writing.

The issue of Setting and Help icon not aligned on dashboard has been fixed

The issue of missing cursor upon pressing return key in the editor has been fixed

Application slowing down with multiple editors opened at once

When multiple Quill Editors are opened at once. Which is occurring when we have the folder view. It is slowing down the application. This issue has been fixed.

First two characters of the Word/Text changed on Opera/Chrome browser

The issue of user needs to click on settings page to scroll on page has been fixed for various browsers

Loader screen is not responsive when we select any Template from bottom

When we are on Dashboard and select any template from Screenplay. After selecting the loader screen moved to the upside instead of the whole screen 

Search Element should displays all element by default

Multiple fixes related to the new files and folders structure

Multiple Improvements in dashboard 

• Change the text from `All documents` to `All projects`
• `My writing` to `Home` and also change the according icon accordingly
• Change the search bar according to the design

Created brand specific icons and Integrated Squibler font-awesome library

Some improvements in the trash functionality 

• Removed the right side nav bar from the trash screen
• Minor UI improvements

Improvements in editor window

• ‘Untitled document’ placeholder and pointer should start from the beginning of the page
• Implemented Empty state design for files and folder in editor and board view
• Added feedback to communicate to users that the folders are not editable
• Ability to create both files and folders from the '+' icon beside the folder

Improvements in landing page: Homepage

• Fix invalid footer links in homepage
• Removed min character requirements for the name field
• Display password requirements with respect to the logic that has been implemented in the backend
• Log in Spelling with capital 'L' in the header
• Fixed incorrect Login flow
• Resolved the differences between design and the developed page

Engineering Improvements

Added support for production deployments in Github Actions

R&D for the upcoming features

Recently our engineering team started a new initiative to dedidate significant amount of time to do in-depth R&d and understand the requirements inside out with respect to engineering, value addition and business before started to develop a new feature. Or overhaul a big feature for that matter. 

Updated Find and Replace

Here's a little preview of the new Find and replace feature that is going to come soon.

Updated Share Functionality

Here's a quick preview of the new Share functionality that is going to come soon. It will make squibler an easy to use and intuitive collaborative product.

Resolved Share project Issues

• Move to folder feature for all documents was not working (fixed)
• Move to folder feature for shared documents was not working (fixed)
• Download pdf, docx was not working (fixed)
• After Restore project was not going to its new folder (where it was moved) (fixed)
• New folder state does not update when we delete it

Using Tab for forward space but when we use Backspace to come back it comes character by character

When some text is copy paste, page jump to start of the page

Write an action for loading fixtures

Summary on File or Folder does not appears in the Board View ( unlimited Section )
 

Engineering Improvements

CI: Slack Alerts for successful deployments

Created IAM Roles and Service File for Cloudwerkx team

Updated Pull request templates to add more context into them to make them more clear for reviewers

-Add "Untitled" preview text for newly created projects without titles

-Enabled the ability to drag, drop, and re-order elements

-Change Element Details to Attributes

-Made auto-filling elements the default setting

-Added Search and Filter features to the Elements dashboard

-Added a customizable category to Elements labeling

-Added ability to add many images to each Element (slideshow feature)

-Fixed Squibler onboarding YouTube video

-Put "coming soon notification" on language and print features 

-Fixed first-time pricing modal not redirecting

-Remove starred button and allow only "open in new tab" ability in the action menu on shared folders

-Fixed minor design issues with Element functionality

-Fixed issue with font changing when typing

-Fixed issue of invited team members unable to change the font face or double space at the beginning of a new sentence.

-Added Zoom in feature to make the text more readable

-Put "coming soon notification" on language and print features and clean up header

-Added a placeholder for views without subsections 

-Fixed the UI lag from switching preview to list or board view

-Fix backspace tab issue and moving text issue

-Enabled zoom feature to work properly

-New onboarding UI implementation 

-New onboarding backend api 

-When you edit an element, it changes the first character image and name 

-When you add an element and then switch from menu script to element and change the element name but it doesn't change

-When you put a title on a board, it doesn't change in the left sidebar

-When you click on the section title, the placeholder "section" is removed 

-In split-screen, when you activate the screenplay toolbar it shows extra space

-The "Your work has been saved" message is showing double when editing element from the right sidebar 

-When we click the profile name it redirects to the answer page 

-Knowledge center category accordions did not hide after expanding

-When you click the "Cancel" button on the template model the dashboard shows a blur

-After signup, the user name doesn't show

• Removed scroll from the "Squibler Onboarding tutorial" 
• Fixed apply "Strike" and press space disturbing the UI 
• Fixed if the list view hasn't any subsection then add subsection button should display
• Fixed if subsection does not rename from the left sidebar to the corkboard
• Fixed when applying page layout and orientation it breaks the right sidebar
• Fix when element color doesn't change after changing its type
• Fixed if when switching to board mode, sections or subsections moves right to left 
• Fixed when updating element, the type of character icon is missing 
• Fixed issue with selected subsection not deleting from the left sidebar 

Hey Squibler members, we made a number of improvements this last week. 

1. Implemented a list-view to better project manage your work.

2. Implemented element tracking so you can keep track of all your story elements

3. Made the corkboard draggable to better organize your work

To learn more about these, watch our video update here where we walk you through all the new features.

1. Fixed a strange bug with the split-screen mode that messed up the dimensions when writing

2. Fixed a bug with element tracking where it didn't show the element you were typing

Hey Squibler members, we released a number of updates this week to ensure we continue to improve your experience.

1. You can now view your entire document at once in edit mode

2. You can now add story elements that appear on the right-hand of your editor

1. Fixed split-screen mode showing strange page margins

Hey Squibler members, we released a number of updates this week to ensure you continue to have a great experience.

1. Added an onboarding tutorial video for all new users

2. Change the word "project" in our editor and product homepage to "document." This is mean to better reflect our value proposition.

3. Added a help link to the header on the product homepage so you can quickly access tutorials.

1. Updated colors of the editor's sidebar buttons to ensure they reflected our branding

2. Updated blog homepage links that were broken

3. Added Squibler YouTube link to footer

Hey there,

We haven't focused on release notes in quite some time as we've been busy building the product with our small team. We're now making a commitment to do them regularly every week. Here's what we've done recently.

-Added page margins

-You can now add elements to your document including characters, settings, items, and more

-You can have a corkboard preview of your editor (notecard view)

-Introduced dark mode

-Moved goal setting to the footer to better sync experience

-Fixed importing screenplay format where sections and scenes wouldn't align properly

New Landing Page Designs:

https://www.squibler.io/

https://www.squibler.io/novel-writing-software

https://www.squibler.io/book-writing-software

https://www.squibler.io/screenwriting-software

Toolbar Menu Spacing and Overlap

Spelling Issues on Feature Text

Night Mode Optimization

Corkboard Heading Improvements

Accessible switch between Editor and Cork Board

Import Functionality Improvements:

Import functionality now supports the following stylistic features:

1. Section & Subsection wise
2. Bold
3. Italic
4. Underline
5. Bullets (Order and Unordered list)
6. Headings
7. Hyperlinks

Dark Mode Improvements

Import Feature MVP: Ability for users to import their work and automatically break it down into sections and subsections based on # and ## respectively. 

General improvements in writing experience:

- Improving Author Bio section usability.

- Improving the color of the background to create a better writing experience.

- Several bugs and fixes in the Story Board experience. 

- Dark Mode improvements for story elements.

- Background color change from grey to white for the writing experience. 

Story Elements

Cork Board

Removal of Google reCAPTCHA

Built our own security and screening for bots. Removed third-party integration of security from Google. We no longer depend on third-party for core product experience and user security.

None

Fixed a bug on Plot Generator Page that was preventing writers from generating a random prompt. 

(1) On-Demand Table of Content Page

You can see your document structure with a table of contents. Each item in the table of contents links to your project section or sub-section title.You can aad/delete, and show/hide table of content when you want.

• Fixed a bug that caused ambiguous behavior of subsections after drag and drop.

• Fixed a bug that caused text overflow of Title from header of editor.

(1) Custom, On-Demand Cover Page

1. Given the option to add a cover page in the Header Menu
2. A pop to choose from templates for the cover page
3. Change the color of the Cover Page on preview mode

(2) Prompt Generator

Never run out of short story ideas with this writing prompt generator. Generate a Prompt. Try Dangerous Mode, Over 500+ first line suggestions to get you started with this writing app. 

• Fixed a bug that caused invisibility of toolbar icons when the cursor on section or subsection title.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Image to add option can be accessed from Insert > Image while on Section Title or Subsection Title.
• Fixed a bug that caused Selected Subsection is not deleted or extra subsections are creating.
• Fixed a bug that caused "New Project Title" is not prominent on Dark mode.
• Improved tweaks while deleting sections & subsections.
• Fixed a bug that caused the "Tell your story..." placeholder is missing in the section.
• Fixed a bug that caused the rename button does not work in section & subsection in the Firefox browser.
• Fixed a bug that caused an unexpected scrollbar in editor and preview mode in the Firefox browser.
• Make improvements in project sorting e.g. order by last modified and order by title.
• Make improvements in the focus mode feature.
• Fixed a bug that caused "Template choose Modal" is closed on clicking outside the pop-up modal.
• Restrict users to not open editor on mobile or small screen devices.
• Fixed a bug that caused adding Subsection is not opening the current Section in which it is added.