Creating your first interface

An interface is the design of a website or app: its routes (pages), blocks, menus, styles and code. You build it once in the interface builder, then an application puts it live on a domain. This article walks you through creating your first one.

Before you start

• You need permission to create interfaces. If you can't see New Interface, ask your organisation's admin for a role that includes it.
• An interface is the design. An application is a deployment of that design, with a domain, an access token and its own permissions. One interface can be used by several applications. See Applications.

Create the interface

1. In the dashboard sidebar, open Apps.
2. In the Interfaces panel, click New Interface. (If your organisation has no interfaces or applications yet, the page shows a Create your first application button instead, which does the same thing.)
3. On the Select a template screen, choose a starter template. The template gives you a set of routes, blocks and styles to start from; you can change everything afterwards.
4. Fill in the details:
   • Title: the name of the interface, as shown in the dashboard.
   • Scope: which scope the interface (and any applications created with it) belongs to. This controls who in your organisation can see and edit it.
   • Create a production application: on by default. Creates an application that shows the Latest production milestone of the interface.
   • Create a staging application: on by default. Creates an application that shows the Latest published version, so you can check a release before it goes live.
5. Save. Qik creates the interface and opens it in the interface builder.

What Qik sets up for you

If you left either application option switched on, Qik also creates:

• A role called <your title> Website Visitor. It lets the application view articles, images, files, audio and video (only the fields a website needs to display them), in the scope you chose.
• A production application on a temporary address ending in -production.sandbox.qik.dev, and a staging application (titled <your title> (Staging)) ending in -staging.sandbox.qik.dev. Both use the visitor role for their application permissions.
• The builder's preview is set to emulate the production application (or the staging one if you only created that), so the preview loads content with the same permissions your visitors will have.

You can change domains, permissions and the interface version later in each application's settings. See Application Settings and Custom Domains and SSL.

Your first changes in the builder

1. Pick a route. Use the route selector at the top left, or the Routes tool in the left toolbar. Click New Route to add a page. See Routes.
2. Add blocks. Click the Add Blocks (plus) tool and drag a block from the Kits, All or Mine tab onto the preview. See Blocks.
3. Edit a block. Click a block in the preview, or in the Block Tree, to open its options.
4. Add a menu. Use the Menus tool to build navigation. See Menus.
5. Save often. Click Save at the top right. This saves the working draft only; nobody else sees it yet.
6. Publish. When you're ready, click Publish to create a release. Tick Production Ready to make it a milestone, which is what the production application shows. See Saving & Publishing and Staging, Production and Milestones.

Tips

• If an image or list shows in the dashboard but not in the preview, the emulated application probably can't see that content. See Emulation, Context and Permissions.
• To open an existing interface later, go to Apps and pick it from the Interfaces panel, or click View All.

FAQs