Embeddable Apps

General
1

I am new to Backendless and enjoying the platform. A feature that would be great would be the ability to generate embed codes so users can embed my Backendless app in their websites. Products that I have seen this feature in are Caspio and Knack. Very useful feature to offer your app as a service. Caspio and Knack are clunky and limited compared to Backendless though.

https://support.knack.com/hc/en-us/articles/225451907-Viewing-and-Embedding

2

Hi Rod,

Thank you for submitting your idea. Are you talking about embedding something you see within Backendless console? Or you are talking about your own app which you built on top of Backendless?

Cheers,
Mark

3

I’m talking about creating an app (html, cs, js) built on top of Backendless. Say, for example, the app is a map. My user could select options such as the map’s center location and some optional data to overlay a map pins. They also may type in a domain where the embedded app is allowed to be called from. This would allow the ability to create a Saas essentially.

4

Thanks for clarifying, Rod.

You can deploy your app in Backendless within the File storage associated with your backend. You can assign a custom domain name to your Backendless installation. The domain is mapped to the /web directory of the file storage. This way you host both the client side and the server side entirely in Backendless. Here’s more info:
https://backendless.com/docs/rest/doc.html#mgmt_custom_domain

As for embedding your app on another site, I believe it is something that’s quite trivial. All your app would need to do is have another screen where you generate some iframe html with a link to your app. Say exactly the same way as Youtube does it:
http://support.backendless.com/public/attachments/f11aeae8c3c7926991aa71a13330c4e4.jpg</img>

f11aeae8c3c7926991aa71a13330c4e4.jpg

5

I am trying to avoid iframes, and also be responisive. I want the user’s site to able to be indexed with the embedded content. Google can index dynamic content (to some extent)

6

Here’s a couple of links that talk about creating javascript widgets. One of the main reasons that this method is needed is that some SEO benefits are passed on to subscribers. If Backendless could generate the embed code, one could use it to offer a powerful solution. Ideally, this solution would have as few dependencies as possible.