Introduction
Once you have set up your device and have access to Cogniss Creator, it is time to create your application. Here are some key areas you may wish to configure and modify first.
Create a new app in your environment
On the Creator homepage, press the Create new app button on the top right side to create your new application.
You will be presented with a pop-up window that prompts you to enter basic app attributes such as a description. This is optional and can be added later if required.
You also have the option to create a blank app or start with a sample app.
Choose a name for your application and click Create app to confirm the action.
Home configurations
Here, you can modify your app name and select an icon image for identification and branding purposes. If you are creating a web app, please set a web favicon (the icon that will be displayed on the browser tab of your web app).
Style configurations
Next, you may want to edit the general appearance of your application. You can customize the primary and secondary colors to reflect the brand and tone you wish to create. You can also change the font typeface and button styles which will impact the general user interface.
Content configurations
The content section in Creator is where all your app content will be stored. These are split between Subjects, Topics, Activities, and Content Blocks. Each is important to create the app experience you want your users to have.
Create a Subject
Subjects are a hierarchical layer used to group Activities within Cogniss applications and are the highest level of content.
You can set an image icon for your Subjects, which will be displayed in the mobile/web app's Explore tab.
The Profile Data rules allow you to customize a specific time for a user to view an Activity. This is useful if you wish to customize the user experience to control what is available to the user at a specific time and in response to a specific interaction.
Instructions
In Content, click Create new subject on the top right-hand corner and input a name and icon as required.
Optional: Add a Description, Profile Data Rules, or enable the Hidden checkbox to hide the subject in the Explore tab.
Click Save changes. Now if you navigate to the Explore tab in the mobile/web application, you will see your newly created Subject (if it is not hidden).
Create a Topic
A Topic is made up of a collection of Content Blocks.
Please refer to the Activity Template guide to get an idea of the corresponding Content Type supported by a particular Activity Template. This impacts how Content Blocks are interpreted by the application.
Instructions
In Content, click Create new Topic on the top right-hand corner and input a name and icon as required.
Select the relevant Topic type and Content type according to the Activity Template you wish to use.
Optional: Add description, tags, or enable the Hidden checkbox to hide a Subject from the web/mobile app's Explore tab.
Click Save changes. The Topic will not be visible in the Explore tab until it is linked to an Activity and Activity Template.
Create an Activity
An Activity is created to link a Topic and Activity Template together. An Activity is what your user will experience in your application.
Instructions
In Content, navigate to the Activity tab within the relevant Subject.
Click Create new Activity and input the following attributes: Name, Template, and Topic. Under Topic, select the corresponding Topic you are creating the Activity for.
Click Save changes. Now if you navigate to the Explore tab in the web/mobile application, you will see your newly created Activity.
Additionally, an Activity can be configured to include different components independent of the actual content within the Activity. Each configurable element helps to create specific user experiences.
Component 1: Activity start screen
The Start Screen provides users with a summary/description of the Activity before they start. The user has the option of closing the Activity. This component can be used if you want to provide the user with more information before they begin an Activity. This screen is optional and disabled by default — the user will launch directly into the Activity.
To enable this screen, navigate to the specific Activity and tick the Enable checkbox under the Start Screen header.
Component 2: Content and interaction
The content within an Activity that is presented to the user. Remember: The type of content you present is determined by the Activity Template that you choose.
Component 3: Feedback page
This is a screen presented to the user after they have completed an Activity. This can include Feedback based on the user's interaction(s) or Activity-specific response(s). It can also be used to display earned rewards such as coins, XP (experience points), badges, or other rewards. If an Activity involves a scoring component, the Feedback page can be used to display the score the user has received.
By default, there is no Feedback connected to an Activity, therefore the user will be automatically taken to your app's Explore page/screen or Dashboard (depending on where they previously started the Activity). The post-Activity series of screens can be assigned to specific Activities as required.
Create Content Blocks
Content Blocks are the most basic unit of content in Cogniss. There are various content types depending on the Activity Template used — which can store different types of content. Text, images, videos, and audio files are all content types stored in a Content Block.
Instructions
Head into a Topic of your choice. Click Create new content block on the top right-hand side of the page.
Select the Type of content you wish your Content Block to be displayed as. (If you need to display multiple types of Content, ensure that the Content-type in Topic is set to Mixed. This means you can choose different ways to display your Content Blocks — from plain text content and images, to survey-style content such as multiple-choice questions.)
Configure your content with relevant attributes (e.g. upload image, add user face label)
Click Save changes.
Create Views
Your app users get to experience Content Blocks within an Activity based on the Views they are grouped in.
By default, each Content Block is displayed on a separate page/screen of your mobile/web app. If it remains in this default mode, users will need to press Continue to view each subsequent Content Block. This will result in a bad user experience, especially if your Activity has many Content Blocks.
Using Views will allow you to control how Content Blocks are grouped together, similar to having chapters in a book.
Instructions
Head to Subject, then Topic. Next, click on the Views tab (next to Content Blocks).
Click Create new view on the top right-hand corner and input the following attributes:
Title: Internal data label (not visible to the app user).
Button label: The button text your users will click on.
Select the Content Blocks you wish to include in this specific View by clicking on the dropdown menu. You can add as many Content Blocks as needed into a single View by selecting Add content block.
Repeat the process for the desired number of Views.
Click Save changes.
Settings configurations
In Settings --> Platforms, click the Web app enabled checkbox if you wish to create an application that can be accessed via the web browser. Otherwise, leave this unchecked if you only wish to have your app viewed on mobile.
In Settings --> Footer, you can show/hide your app's footer bar content such as the Home and Explore tab buttons. This is useful if you want to direct users to specific menu tabs from the Homepage of your mobile/ web app.