Twixl Publisher consists of several components:
- Twixl platform: an online platform where you'll manage your app and its content.
- Twixl app: install this app on your mobile device and you can scan the QR code of your app on the platform, so you can experience the complete look and feel of your app before building it.
- Twixl macOS app: when your app is ready, then build your app on a Mac using the Twixl Publisher application.
Twixl Publisher has a lot more to offer. With our InDesign plugin you can export your InDesign files and import them on the Twixl platform. With the Twixl macOS app you can preview your app in the iOS simulator or on a device (tablet or phone) with the Twixl Viewer Classic app. You can share this with other people so they can review your app's content before it's published on the App Store or Google Play Store.
This 'Getting Started' guide is intended to help you understand the basic concepts of Twixl Publisher. So let us guide you first through the different steps of creating apps with Twixl Publisher.
2. Your app on the Twixl platform
The next big step is to create your app(s) on the Platform. Here you can follow the steps that explain how to do that for the first time.
On the Twixl platform, all apps are considered 'Projects'. They will be listed on the Projects page, which is where you arrive after you login on the platform.
After creating a project, select it on the Projects page to manage its settings and content. You’ll notice that projects are divided into various sections, such as Content, Design, Access, etc. In the Twixl documentation, we typically begin by guiding you through the options in the left-hand menu bar.
These are the components of a projects page on the Twixl platform:
- User menu: Here you can find all user and admin elements, a help section and a search bar.
- Breadcrumb: Allows you to check where you are on the Twixl platform and lets you navigate to other sections easily.
- Left-hand menu bar: Contains all the different sections of your app project.
- Page title: So you know where you are and you can already perform quick actions by selecting an icon.
- Page section: Depending on the selection you made in the left-hand menu bar, you will get to different page sections that contain the content, design elements, and so much more.
3. Design the interface of your project
The success of your app largely depends on a good user interface. To control all design elements, there is a 'Design' section in the left-hand menu bar. There you will find (amongst others):
- App Interface: General design settings for your navigation bar and specific pages. More info: App Interface.
- Grid Styles: When browsing your app, all elements on the page are displayed in a grid. You can define different grids that you can use on different browse pages. More info: Grid Styles.
- Item Styles: The thumbnails of your content will be displayed on the selected grid for that page. But how these thumbnails will be presented, is defined by item styles. You can use different item styles on one grid and use them across different grids. More info: Item Styles.
To help you with the interface in your app, there are 2 special types of collections:
- Root Collection: This is the first page, the 'home page' if you like, that users will see when they start the app. It is a starting point in the app.
- Hamburger Menu: This is an optional feature that we strongly recommend. It will show a hamburger icon in the title bar of the app so your app user can navigate to other sections or perform some general actions (like logging in) easily.
More information about the concept of Twixl Collections can be found in the next chapter.
Except for the Root Collection, all other collections are equal. So, for your interface, you can link from all collections to all collections as there is no hierarchy between collections.
4. Add content to your project
In the Twixl terminology, these are the 2 most important concepts:
- Content items: These are all different kinds of content that you want to show to your user. These can be Twixl InDesign export files, HTML files, PDFs, movies, images,... Check: Content Items.
- Collections: All content items are uploaded in Collections with Root Collection and Hamburger Menu as special collections (see above). More info: Collections.
Although we consider one should start with some design elements in your project, the Content section is positioned just below the Home segment. This is because, once your app has been set up and designed, you will use the upload features in Content a lot more.
5. Check your interface and content
In the sample apps, we have already uploaded some content items in collections with specific item styles in grid styles. So you can already preview it as is with our free Twixl App.
Install and use the Twixl App:
- On your mobile device (phone or tablet), download the “Twixl App" from the App Store or from the Google Play store.
- Open the Twixl app, then scan the QR-code for your app on the Twixl platform, and you can check the preview.
You can always easily access your QR code by clicking on the scanning icon in the breadcrumb bar.
6. Other options for your app
Twixl offers a lot more settings and features for your app.
Manage what your users can see for free or what is offered as a purchase by using subscriptions and/or entitlements. Make your app accessible on desktops using the Browser Client. Alert your users about new content using Push Notifications. Upload content automatically via RSS feeds or more. And much more!
7. Build your app
The last step is to build a 'real' iOS and/or Android app with the Twixl macOS application. Note that you need a production app (i.e. an active Twixl subscription) for this. Read all about building your app here: Getting started with the Twixl macOS app
WHAT'S NEXT?
Now you know the basic steps to create and build an app with Twixl Publisher and master the most important terminology, you can dive in to each of these more into detail on this next help page:
When you want to add colleagues to your Twixl account that will be working on the Twixl platform too:
Some important general pages: