From CSV Uploads to CRUD Controls: Storytell's Key Improvements

In our engineering demo session last week, Jan. 10th, our engineering team demonstrated new tools and key updates. Here’s what we covered:

New homepage redesign

Andi from the engineering team presented the new homepage, highlighting a substantial redesign focused on improving user experience and visual clarity.

• Improved Navigation: The redesign provides more intuitive access to frequently used features, ensuring users can find what they need faster.
• Enhanced Visual Design: The homepage now features updated design elements that align with user feedback, creating a cleaner and more engaging layout.

Watch Andi’s walkthrough to see the new homepage in action:

CRUD on Collections

Graeme demonstrated the new Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) functionalities for managing collections. This feature prioritizes user control, data integrity, and error prevention. Key features include:

• Double confirmation for deletions: To prevent accidental data loss, users are now prompted to confirm deletion actions twice.
• Tombstone feature: Aaron explained this functionality, which allows soft deletions of collections. Instead of permanent removal, data is archived, ensuring it can be restored if needed.

Check Graeme showcasing this new update:

Structured and Semi-Structured CSVs

Another key update discussed in the demo are improvements with handling structured CSV files and plans on improving how Storytell handles semi-structured CSVs.

• The team discussed differentiating between structured (tabular) and unstructured (messy or semi-structured) CSV files. Structured CSVs have clear header rows and organized columns, while unstructured files lack consistent formatting.
• This classification aims to improve how unstructured or semi-structured CSVs are processed, ensuring the system can provide meaningful feedback or functionality for diverse file types.

MP4 Uploads

Also discussed was the status of MP4 uploads:

• Testing observations: Some MP4 uploads were successful during tests, while others encountered issues. Discussed were steps for diagnosing failures, such as inspecting network logs and retrieving relevant URLs for debugging.
• Background processing: Shelby mentioned exploring background processes to handle larger uploads more effectively and mitigate issues caused by lengthy API calls.
• Future enhancements: Planned updates include video playback and annotation features to further enhance the platform’s multimedia capabilities.

Changelog

Discover all the updates from this session and beyond in our Changelog. Stay up-to-date with the latest features and improvements as we continue to evolve the platform.

Become an Alpha or Beta Tester

Become an alpha or beta tester to tell us what you'd like us to build! It's a great opportunity to shape the future of Storytell and get a sneak peek at what's coming next. Sign up here: https://web.storytell.ai/early-access

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