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Crust releases Corteza 2021.3, including a new visual workflow builder

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Cork, Ireland, 6 April 2021.

Crust Technology, the driving force behind the open-source low-code platform Corteza, is excited to announce a new major release: Corteza 2021.3. The highlights of this release are a visual drag-and-drop workflow editor, a new UI, a template editor and authentication improvement.

New features and improvement in Corteza 2021.3

Corteza Workflow

The new workflow editor enables users to automate simple and complex processes, without the need for programming knowledge. It’s based on BPMN 2.0 standards, and easy and fast to use. Simply drag and drop the elements you need on the canvas, configure and connect them. Main features include:

  • Unlimited workflows anywhere in Corteza
  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Zoom in, zoom out and move the canvas
  • Single or multiple start points (triggers)
    • On create, update or delete
    • On a manual interaction (a click on a button, such as “Covert this lead”)
    • On a scheduled interval (for example, every day at 1 am)
    • On a set date and time (you can define multiple “timestamps” for the same trigger)
  • Expressions (interact with values in your workflow. For example: calculate the grand total of a quote)
  • Functions (list of predefined functions, such as find records create a new record, find a template, send an email etc)
  • Iterators (loop through a list of records)
  • Error-handling
  • Gateways (check a value and continue with the workflow in the desired path)
  • Delay (pause the workflow at a certain point for a set time)
  • User interactions:
    • Alerts (for example, a confirmation message on the screen)
    • Choice prompt (select one of the two buttons. For example, yes and no)
    • Single input (ask the user for a value that the user can type in)
    • Option select (ask the user to select a value from a list)
  • Testing and debugging tools

Extensive documentation on workflows has been created, explaining each feature in great detail. This documentation also provides useful examples.

New UI

In collaboration with experts from the Dutch Accessibility Foundation, significant changes have been made to the UI. The fully responsive design follows the WCAG standard compliance (World Content Accessibility Guidelines), which makes Crust the leading innovator in accessibility in the Low-Code sector.

Template Editor

The new template editor allows you to define the generic document structure (such as a welcome email message or a quote PDF), which is then converted into an actual document based on the provided data. Templates are written in HTML and allow placeholders, functions and conditional rendering. After creating templates they can be rendered in Corteza workflow.

Authentication

This release comes with an OAuth2 server with Authorization code and client credentials flows. All authentication interfaces used by Corteza can now fully be modified and styled to your needs. Personalization is performed by defining a series of templates and assets (e.g. images and JavaScript code). This allows you to make the authentication screen match the company style guide.

Messaging Changes

Support for a Matrix-based federated messaging solution will be provided as of Corteza version 2021.6. The goal is to align with Corteza Record Federation, ensuring that using organisations can create richer, federated relationships, not limited to static records only. In preparation for this, the legacy Corteza Messaging solution has now been deprecated.

Other changes

  • Upgraded to Go 1.16
  • Removed obsolete asset embedding and move to //go:embed
  • Messaging code and endpoints removed
  • OAuth2 server with Authorization code and client credentials flows
  • Compose record federation now supports Activity Stream protocol
  • Codebase cleanup and removed With(ctx) anti-pattern
  • Added Envoy file encoders (export support)
  • Fixed UserBeforeUpdate/UserBeforeDelete
  • Auth web application is now deprecated

View the full changelog.

How to install Corteza

You can follow the local setup instructions for a local development or demonstration instance of Corteza. If you are looking for setting up a live deployment, check out the extensive production setup instructions. If you have questions, you can engage with other community members on the Corteza forum.

How to upgrade your Corteza instance

To upgrade your instance to the latest version of Corteza, please check out our Upgrade Guide.

Online demo

Crust Technology has an online demo available of this latest release. In it, you can try out the Low-Code platform, build your own apps, try out the existing apps (such as the CRM or Service Solution)  and much more.

Screenshots

 

What Is the Total Cost of Ownership and Why Is It Important?

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Many vendors offer products that claim to give you the best products and also products: but that does not mean that you will get the best product for free. If you check the fine print, you will realise that these so-called free products can cost you more than a paid service. This is because free products generally come with limited features, and in order to use the relevant features, you end up paying a hefty amount. Or, even worse, you pay with your personal data.

The exception here is free and open-source software. Software such as LibreOffice (document editor), GIMP (image editor) or Corteza are completely open and 100% free. Costs that influence the Total Cost of Ownership here are defined by if you need professional support or, in the case of Corteza, hosting (you can host Corteza yourself, but if you don’t want to, you can outsource this). So, what is  Total Cost of Ownership? Read more

Corteza Discovery – UI Prototype

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Crust Technology, the leading open-source Low-Code Development platform and Salesforce alternative, is being funded through the NGI0 Discovery Fund to deliver Corteza Discovery. The objective of Corteza Discovery is to add the three pillars of local search, federated data search and global federated search to the Corteza user features in a seamless and familiar manner to users. The NGI0 Discovery Fund is a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme, under the aegis of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No 825322.

In this post the UI prototype you can find the UI Prototype, which includes high-fidelity wireframes of all user interface changes, within the new Corteza design.

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What is Health Insurance Software?

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If there is an industry that does not have the liberty to make mistakes, it is the healthcare and medical insurance industry. Systematic protection of human life and overall social well-being requires a well-guarded, scientifically inept system that offers minimal room for error. That is why we need health insurance software to automate healthcare systems and increase the security and efficiency of the healthcare services they provide.

A health insurance software is a system that helps authenticate and manage consumer medical claims, process customer requirements and display this information appropriately. According to policyadvice.net, the number of people enrolled in private health insurance plans has tripled since 2004. With the increase in the favourability towards private health insurance plans, the need for health insurance software has only increased in the last few years.

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What does an HR department do?

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Even with the sudden surge in automation and machine learning, human resource still remain an indispensable part of organizations. With only 14% of departments daring to invest in artificial intelligence, humans continue to be at the centre of all corporate functions and emotional intelligence continues to be one of the most influential features of employee management.

The HR approach operates on the notion that employees are more than just workers. They have their own sets of challenges, aspirations and motivations to cater to. This brings in the need for a department dedicated to managing these needs and aspirations and if possible, use them for the benefit of the employee and the company.

The HR department of a company is dedicated to catering to the needs and aspirations of the employees. It manages the time schedules, delegates work and makes decisions about disciplinary actions. Along with general human resource management, the HR department has the following functions:

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What is the definition of a Smart City?

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Over the past few years, smart cities have dominated conversations revolving around revolutionizing economic growth, local geographical development accessibility. But even with global spendings on smart cities exceeding massive figures like 608 billion USD, the exact meaning of smart cities is still unknown to many.

A smart city is a regional area that uses electronic and technology-based infrastructure such as information and communication technology (ICT) to collect real-time data and insights, provide certain important services, and solve city problems.

Smart cities are also used to improve the city’s day to day operations, such as public transportation, power and water supply, and sanitation systems. Using this data, the local government can then make informed decisions on creating effective solutions to rectify these prevailing city problems. Read more

What is the Difference Between the Low-Code and No-Code Platforms?

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The main difference between Low-Code and No-Code Platforms is that in Low-Code platforms you can use code in certain areas, giving you more flexibility and power. So, let’s dive into each platform with some more details.

Technology lies at the crux of the 21st-century world. No sector can survive without the means of digitization. Technology plays a key role in global businesses that are moving towards digital transformation. It is a crucial task for companies to make perfect choices about their technology stack for business. One of the vital aspects of this digital transformation is application development. That’s where low-code and no-code application development platforms play an important role. Read more

Crust Technology releases the first Low-Code Platform with Federated Cloud capabilities

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Cork, Ireland, 22 December 2020.

Crust Technology, the leading open-source Low-Code Development platform and Salesforce alternative and the driving force behind the free and open-source project Corteza, is excited to announce a new major release: Corteza 2020.12. This release comes with many new features and improvements, and includes experimental support for record federation. As a result, this makes the Corteza platform the first open-source federated cloud solution for record sharing in the world.

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What is a Software Release?

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Software is always changing. There would always be a scope for improvement or some bugs and issues that would affect the performance of the software, and indirectly the hassle-free experience that every end-user wants. And that’s why in agile software development, there are always software releases before the end of every iteration. Read more

Corteza Releases 2020.09 Stability Patches

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Today a new Corteza version has been released. In this minor release there are patches that improve stability and security. Crust, the driving force behind the Corteza Project, is the principal contributor of this release.

Corteza version 2020.09.4 includes:

  • Improved boolean field type value handling
  • Record list prefilter is now properly applied when exporting
  • RTE field now properly triggers the required flag when empty
  • Prevent possible double record submit when double-clicking the ‘Save’ button
  • Closed a potential SQL injection attack vector

To upgrade your Corteza instance to this latest version, please check out the Corteza documentation.

Later this month Corteza 2020.12 is expected to be releases, bringing many new features and updates. So, keep an eye out on upcoming posts!