So we are a dev agency and have been using Fibery for storing our client and worker data. I’ve spent a decent amount of time using Fibery including using the API. Which makes it really surprising how easy it was to accidentally delete our entire Clients app - I’m sure you can guess what its used for.
Hopefully support can help me un-delete this, as I know its a feature already in the works. But this post isn’t really about that.
This post is about how constantly getting those “You are about to delete “XXX” field
This is an irreversible action.” warnings during the process of iterating on table fields desensitizes you when you get a nearly identical warning for deleting your App when you actually meant to delete an unused Type. Which is easy to do because the three dot option buttons for both is one inch apart.
Yes, the App deletion also tells you what types you are about to delete - which made me realize my mistake and try to click Cancel (it was too late). But the odd thing to me is that there is a very serious looking warning (see below) for deleting certain fields, but when you go to delete the entire app that this field belongs to the warning is less serious looking.
I can agree that a slightly different interface here (change of colors, or the confirmation text itself) could go a long way to indicate what portion of the schema/data will be deleted.
Maybe there are some changes to the interface that require a different interface altogether to delete an App (maybe, only from the app whiteboard) to make this harder to confuse.
I’d like to hear more about how you work with fields.
I actually refuse to work with Fibery as a v1 for tables because of how cumbersome it is to change field types & visualization and opt instead to work in Excel, Airtable, or Coda and then build in Fibery when I already know what I want. I consider Fibery a better application builder and a not-so-great database/table designing experience.
I’ve for this reason, wanted an “editing mode” where fields can easily be deleted and created (like Airtable) and then a “production” mode that mimics the current setup with all the reminder modals.
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Yeah creating fields in Fibery definitely takes a different perspective than the one you would have when creating rows in a Excel or Sheets.
I’m very stingy with the number of fields I create, making sure that a field has a very specific function and use-case. This also helps minimize unnecessary data entry for new entities.
I leverage Types and data relationships as much as possible. For example, I should only ever need to enter a name, email, etc. for a specific contact one time, in one place in Fibery. Then pull it in via a relationship and remember I can view it in entity view (Alt + Click).
Another huge tip is to let third-party services hold as much of their application-specific data as possible, then using Fibery to give it context. For example, we use Xero for accounting and instead of duplicating all the contact fields into Fibery or setting up syncing its a lot easier to just have the Xero contactId (for API purposes) or link to that contact like: https://go.xero.com/Contacts/View/6cc60367-fAk3-u53r-b58d-2768fa606628
The last tip when editing fields is to do it in two windows and Alt + Tab between them. One window for the Configure App page and one window for the Table view in that App.
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