Please note that this is a beta feature which is still in development and needs to be enabled by your dedicated Customer Success Manager. For further information, please reach out to your BRYTER Customer Success Manager or support@bryter.io. Additional pricing may apply.
This article will help you:
- understand how a service frontend can combine various components of a Service (modules and data views) on one single page
- explain why you would use service frontends
- see how you can configure your own service frontends
- understand what limitations apply
What are Service frontends?
Service frontends allow authors to select and combine various components of a Service on one single landing page. With Service frontends, you can now deliver complete Services (several modules and - soon natively - data views).
Please note: Data views need to be made available with separate modules that only contain a redirect result.
Why would you use Service frontends?
With Service frontends, you can merge different "entry points", i.e. several module URLs, into one stand-alone page. This will also allow easy navigation between the compontents of your Service.
You know only need to share one URL for the Service frontend which can be shared and accessed by any authenticated end-user. This authenticated end-user can be anyone with a user role mapped in the Admin Console or in your identity provider when using a SAML integration.
With Service frontends:
- Authors can create one service frontend per service and select individual components that should be included on the service frontend page
- The service frontend can be tested before activating the LIVE service frontend
- The URL can be shared and accessed by any authenticated user
Example use cases
Data Breach Assessor
The Data Breach Assistant helps companies assess, document and report suspected data breaches according to requirements set out in the GDPR. The tool saves valuable hours for companies by simplifying their complex obligations.
Innovation Tracker: Use case pipeline
A service frontend allows project managers to offer one page to submit new use case ideas and assess their feasibility. Colleagues can view an overview of all submitted use case ideas - through a data view - and add their own - through a module. Whereas project manager can use modules and dataviews to qualify and prioritize submitted ideas as well as to keep track of their status.
How do Service frontends work?
Structure of Service frontends
Access control
Only authenticated end-users can access the service frontend. This refers to end-users with a admin, author or user role attributed in the BRYTER Admin Console.
Which modules actually appear and can be used by these authenticated end-users this depends on access settings in the publishing menu of each module. More information and a step by step guide on how to restrict access to only authenticated end-users can be found in the article 🚀 How to restrict access to published modules for selected end-users.
❗ Please note that modules secured via Only accessible via an API key will not appear in service frontend navigation.
How to setup and use Service frontends
Service frontend configuration
In a Service, select Service Frontend to open the Service frontend configuration.
Adding modules to a service frontend page
Configure the page by selecting the modules that should appear in the service frontend navigation.
Authors can also change the display name of the service frontend or modules and can rearrange the order of modules. Changes to the name in the configuration will only affect the execution view for end-users and not change the name of the modules in the Service.
Save changes and test your Service frontend or use the generated URL to share it with end-users.
When ready, activate “Live” toggle to activate Live service frontend. This will create a unique URL for the LIVE environment of the service frontend.
Adding data views to a service frontend
Data views cannot be directly selected in the service frontend configuration. But authors can use Modules that only contain a redirect result node to link to a data view and display a data view in a service frontend.
In a newly created module, add a redirect result node (and delete the automatically added input node) and choose Data View. Select the correct data view from the list below.
In the service frontend configuration, add this new module and save the new configuration. The data view will now appear on the service frontend page.
Adding custom views or integrating external pages in a service frontend
Following a similar approach to data views, authors can also integrate external webpages. Repeat the steps shown above to integrate a URL using a Custom URL in a Redirect result node in a separate module.
If the website has no conflicting security settings (see limitations below), it will be displayed in the service frontend and can be used as expected.
Testing and sharing a service frontend
Save changes in the configuration in case you haven't done it yet and activate the Test toggle. The Test service frontend is now available. Click Open Test to test the service frontend configuration or Copy link to share with colleagues
Please note:
- When saving changes, any updates will be applied automatically to the Test and Live service frontend pages
- When ready activate Live toggle, to activate Live service frontend
- Open Live to test the service frontend configuration or Copy link to share with colleagues
Known/current limitations
- Select data views in service frontend configuration is not yet available and data views don't appear in the navigation. They can only be included with a module and a redirect to the data view.
- Save & continue later will link to individual module, not back to the service frontend
- Resume module session when switching between components (when switching between components of a service frontend, the session data won't be stored)
- Modules secured via Only accessible via an API key will not appear in service frontend navigation
- Custom theming
- Responsive design for smaller devices
- Configuration of landing page
- Websites can only be included with a module containing a redirect result if the website in question allows iframe embedding. Websites setting a
x-frame-options: SAMEORIGINheader cannot be displayed due to their security settings
The following limitation is by design:
- Service frontend can only be used by authenticated users