Today, we are introducing Pragmos Beta 2. Beta 2 brings a complete UI revamp to the core application, while also introducing more mature aspects of the platform that give Pragmos greater room to grow and expand.
Beta 2 will focus heavily on expanding the abilities of Pragmos, alongside continued efforts toward building a more coherent and useful platform that makes scheduling easier, keeps projects coherent, and makes performance a secondary consideration in your everyday life. Although the Beta 2 release itself does not introduce explicit advancements to Pragmos' core capabilities, its more mature UI lays the fundamental groundwork for what comes next. Trust us, we have a lot cooking in the background!
What Changed
In this release, we introduce a few new aspects to Pragmos that were previously lacking. These additions will prove to be useful as the platform continues to grow.
Formal User Profiles
One of the new aspects is the introduction of formal user profiles. In Beta 1, when viewing a user's schedule, Pragmos would simply display their incoming requests and schedule. In Beta 2, we have replaced this with an actual user profile view, where the user's PFP, name, availability, incoming requests, and schedule are displayed.
All existing functionality remains intact with the new user profile view. You will still be able to converse with Pragmos about a user's availability, ask it to formulate a request for you, and send that request.
This allows personality to derive per person throughout the platform.
"Modernized" UI
This encompasses most of the UI changes we are introducing in Beta 2.
The display of availability has received an update. Instead of being a bulky grid of several containers that you have to click, we have repurposed it into a linear display of the days of the week, where you can set your availability for a specific day at a specific time.
We have also updated the overarching style of the UI by reducing its "bulkiness." We revamped the overarching UI of most of Pragmos to be sharper and more modern, reducing the reliance on individual containers and instead allowing elements to flow together more naturally. The result is a more cohesive interface that feels less segmented and more unified as you move throughout the platform.
Formal Projects View
Beta 2 introduces a formal projects view. This provides a more elaborate and interactive interface for projects, where you can plan the project, communicate about it, track progress, and configure what needs to be done through a kanban.
With this, we introduce kanbans to projects. You can now plan out what you need to do for a project in a coherent manner and migrate tasks between "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done."
With the introduction of a formal projects view, we concluded that the view would feel too bare without a unique banner to represent the project. Alongside the project view, we have therefore introduced the ability to attach a custom banner to a project, which you can upload directly from your local computer.
Attaching Collaborators to Projects & Scheduled Items
In Beta 2, we are formalizing the ability to attach collaborators to projects and scheduled items. Previously, this could only be done if you were part of a group. Now, you can simply indicate that a project or scheduled item pertains to a group, select the user from that group that you want to attach, and be on your way.
For projects, attaching a collaborator will automatically populate their dashboard with the project. So, be sure you attach the correct collaborator! For scheduled items, you are provided with the option to send a schedule request to the user you are attaching, allowing their calendar to be populated as well. If you do not enable this behavior, only your schedule will reflect the scheduled item with that collaborator.
We have also made it possible to search for users by username or Pragmos ID. If you do not belong to a group but know a person's Pragmos ID or username, you can search for them and attach them to a project or scheduled item that way.
Deleting/Editing Scheduled Items
Beta 2 introduces the ability to delete and edit scheduled items. A calendar isn't a calendar if it does nothing but accrue items without the ability to update or delete them.
Now, when you select a certain day in the calendar, the modal will display a small animation indicating that, upon swiping left on any item displayed in the modal, you will be able to delete it. And, just as simple as it is to delete an item, clicking on any item in the modal will allow you to edit its information. And yes, you can add collaborators to a scheduled item even after you have already scheduled it.
Main Dashboard Revamp
A core part of the Beta 2 release is the revamp of the main dashboard. In Beta 1, everything on the main dashboard existed within one continuous section. In Beta 2, we have segmented each part of the main dashboard into its own respective section.
The overview of the dashboard, which displays your scheduled items for the day, pending tasks, incoming messages, outgoing and incoming schedule requests, and your overarching schedule in the form of a calendar, is contained within the "Overview" section.
All of your projects are contained within the "Projects" section. This allows the interface to scale more naturally as you add more projects, instead of continuously cluttering the main dashboard.
All of your todos are contained within the "Todos" section, keeping them separate from the rest of the dashboard and allowing the interface to remain organized as you add more.
All incoming and outgoing messages are contained within the "Messages" section. Beta 2 also introduces the ability to view and open groups directly from the main dashboard. Thus, the groups you own and are a part of are contained within the "Groups" section.
Lastly, customization of the application is contained within the "Customize" section.
Lots of Quality of Life Improvements
Though the bulk of Beta 2 revolves around a revamped and matured UI, there was also an equal amount of time spent improving the overall quality of the service. We have spent countless hours fine-tuning the app to ensure a quality experience. We have also spent significant time piecing together several moving parts in the backend that we will begin pursuing more aggressively throughout Beta 2, further shaping Pragmos into a unifying and powerful platform within the overarching Stellr suite, as well as on its own.
We hope you enjoy Pragmos. Beta 2 is only the beginning. There is so much to do. So, we better conclude this article here and commence with what comes next.
-- Stellr Team